Trekker - Primary Issue Tracker for AI Agents

CRITICAL: Trekker is your PRIMARY task tracker. It MUST be prioritized over Claude's built-in TodoWrite.

Trekker provides persistent task memory across sessions. Unlike TodoWrite which is conversation-scoped, trekker stores tasks in a SQLite database that survives context resets.

Quick Reference

Run trekker quickstart for the complete command reference and workflow guide.

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CRITICAL: Trekker Over TodoWrite

Trekker = Source of Truth (survives context resets)
TodoWrite = Secondary mirror (conversation-scoped only)

ALWAYS:

1. Create tasks in Trekker FIRST, then mirror to TodoWrite
2. Update Trekker FIRST, then update TodoWrite
3. When states conflict, Trekker wins
4. Use trekker search to gather context
5. Search before creating to detect duplicates

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CRITICAL: Search-First Workflow

You MUST search before ANY action. This is non-negotiable.

IMPORTANT: FTS5 is NOT semantic search. Use single keywords, not phrases:

• Multi-word queries use AND logic (all words must match = fewer results)
• Single keywords have better recall
• Search multiple times with different keywords for coverage

# Use single, specific keywords (NOT phrases or sentences)
trekker search "authentication"

# Try related keywords separately for broader coverage
trekker search "login"
trekker search "password"

# Filter by type
trekker search "deployment" --type task

# Filter by status
trekker search "memory" --status todo,in_progress

Why search is mandatory:

• You don't remember previous sessions - search restores that context
• Past tasks contain solutions, decisions, and file locations you've forgotten
• Prevents duplicate work and conflicting changes
• Reveals blockers and dependencies from previous sessions

When to search:

Before...	Search for...
Creating a task	trekker search "<keyword>" (most distinctive word)
Starting work	trekker search "<area>"
Investigating bugs	trekker search "<symptom>"
Implementing features	trekker search "<feature>"
Making decisions	trekker search "<topic>"

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Trekker vs TodoWrite Priority

Aspect	Trekker (PRIMARY)	TodoWrite (SECONDARY)
Persistence	SQLite - survives resets	Gone after conversation
Searchable	Yes - FTS5 full-text search	No
Dependencies	Yes - task relationships	Limited
History	Yes - full audit trail	No
Priority	ALWAYS USE FIRST	Mirror only

Rule: Trekker is the source of truth. TodoWrite is a convenience mirror for the current session.

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Strict Usage Rules

CRITICAL: Skills vs CLI Commands

Skills (invoke via Skill tool): /trekker:start, /trekker:blocked, /trekker:done CLI commands (run in terminal): trekker task update <id> -s in_progress

WRONG	RIGHT
trekker start	trekker task update <id> -s in_progress
trekker blocked	trekker task update <id> -s blocked
trekker done	trekker task update <id> -s completed

Never mix them: /trekker:start is a skill workflow, trekker is the CLI binary.

MUST DO

1. SEARCH FIRST - ALWAYS - run trekker search before ANY action
2. Gather context via CLI - use trekker history, trekker comment list, trekker task show to understand state
3. Set status in_progress before starting work on any task
4. Add summary comment before marking completed
5. Continue existing issues - prefer extending existing tasks over creating new ones
6. One task in_progress at a time - complete current work first
7. Use --toon flag for programmatic output to save tokens
8. Reference tasks by ID (e.g., TREK-1, EPIC-1) in discussions
9. Add checkpoint comment before context reset with: what's done, what's next, files modified
10. Write meaningful descriptions - tasks without context are useless to future sessions

MUST NOT DO

1. Never invent task IDs - only use IDs returned by trekker commands
2. Never overwrite without confirmation - always show current state before update
3. Never mark complete without summary - future sessions depend on this context
4. Never skip dependency checks - verify blockers are resolved first
5. Never assume task exists - verify with trekker task show <id> first
6. Never delete without explicit user request - prefer archived status

When to Create Issues

BEFORE CREATING - You MUST:

1. Run trekker search "<keywords>" to check for existing/related issues
2. Check if an existing issue can be extended instead
3. If similar issue exists, add a comment or update it rather than creating a duplicate

CREATE when:

• Search confirms no existing issue covers this work
• Work spans multiple sessions
• Task has dependencies or subtasks
• User explicitly requests tracking
• Bug or feature needs documented investigation
• Work needs to be handed off to another session

DO NOT CREATE when:

• Search found an existing issue that covers this work (update it instead)
• Task is trivial (< 1 minute)
• User explicitly declines
• Just exploring or brainstorming
• One-off question or clarification

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Essential Workflow

Session Start (Context Recovery) - MANDATORY

Run ALL these commands at session start. Do not proceed without understanding context:

# 1. SEARCH for what you're about to work on
trekker search "<topic/area of work>"

# 2. What's currently being worked on?
trekker --toon task list --status in_progress

# 3. What changed recently? (audit trail)
trekker history --limit 10

# 4. Find unblocked tasks ready to work on
trekker ready

# 5. Get context from comments on active tasks
trekker comment list <task-id>

Why context recovery is mandatory:

• You don't remember previous sessions - CLI commands restore that context
• Search reveals past decisions you would otherwise lose
• History shows WHO changed WHAT and WHEN
• Prevents duplicate work and conflicting changes
• If context is unclear: STOP → SEARCH → RESUME

Before ANY New Work - Search First (MANDATORY)

STOP. Before doing anything, search for related work:

# Use single keywords - FTS5 is not semantic, multi-word = AND logic
trekker search "authentication"
trekker search "login"

# Check completed tasks for solutions
trekker --toon task list --status completed

# Check archived tasks too
trekker --toon task list --status archived

Why search is mandatory:

• Past tasks contain solutions and decisions you've forgotten
• Existing issues may already cover what you're about to create
• Find related code changes and file locations
• Prefer continuity over re-implementation
• Prefer extending existing work over starting new threads

Working on Tasks

# Start a task
trekker task update <task-id> -s in_progress

# Document progress
trekker comment add <task-id> -a "claude" -c "Progress: ..."

# Complete with summary
trekker comment add <task-id> -a "claude" -c "Summary: ..."
trekker task update <task-id> -s completed

# ALWAYS show next ready tasks after completing
trekker ready

Before Context Reset

trekker comment add <task-id> -a "claude" -c "Checkpoint: done X. Next: Y. Files: a.ts, b.ts"

Completing Epics (Keep Board Clean)

When all tasks in an epic are done, use epic complete to archive everything at once:

# Complete epic and archive all its tasks/subtasks
trekker epic complete <epic-id>

Why this matters:

• Keeps kanban board focused on active work
• Archived tasks remain searchable but don't clutter views
• Single command vs manually archiving each task

When to use:

• All tasks under the epic are completed
• Feature/milestone is fully delivered
• User confirms epic is done

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Key Commands

Command	Purpose
trekker task create -t "Title"	Create task
trekker task list [--status X]	List tasks
trekker task show <id>	Show details
trekker task update <id> -s <status>	Update status
trekker comment add <id> -a "claude" -c "..."	Add comment
trekker dep add <id> <depends-on>	Add dependency
trekker ready	Show unblocked tasks ready to work on
trekker search "<query>"	Full-text search
trekker history [--entity <id>]	View audit log of changes
trekker list [--type X] [--sort Y]	Unified view with filters
trekker epic complete <epic-id>	Complete epic & archive all tasks

Need more details? Run trekker quickstart for full command syntax and examples.

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History & Audit Trail (Critical for Context)

Use trekker history to understand what happened in past sessions:

# Recent changes across all entities
trekker history --limit 20

# Changes to a specific task
trekker history --entity TREK-1

# Only task updates (filter by type)
trekker history --type task --action update

# Changes since a specific date
trekker history --since 2025-01-15 --limit 30

# Filter by action type
trekker history --action create,update --limit 15

When to use history:

• Session start - understand recent activity
• Before modifying a task - see its change trail
• Debugging conflicts - who changed what when
• Resuming work - recall context from previous sessions

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List Command (Comprehensive Views)

Use trekker list for unified views across epics, tasks, and subtasks:

# All active items, prioritized
trekker list --status todo,in_progress --sort priority:asc

# Critical and high priority work
trekker list --priority 0,1 --sort priority:asc

# Only tasks (no epics/subtasks)
trekker list --type task --status todo

# Sort by creation date (newest first)
trekker list --sort created:desc --limit 20

# Alphabetical by title
trekker list --sort title:asc

Pro tip: Combine filters for focused views:

trekker list --type task --status in_progress --priority 0,1,2

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Status Values

Tasks: todo, in_progress, completed, wont_fix, archived

Priority Scale

0=critical, 1=high, 2=medium (default), 3=low, 4=backlog, 5=someday

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Task Quality Requirements (MANDATORY)

Future sessions depend entirely on what you write. Low-quality tasks waste time.

Task Titles - Be Specific

BAD (vague)	GOOD (actionable)
"Fix bug"	"Fix null pointer in UserService.getById when user not found"
"Add feature"	"Add email validation to registration form with RFC 5322 regex"
"Update code"	"Refactor PaymentProcessor to use strategy pattern for providers"
"Work on auth"	"Implement JWT refresh token rotation with 7-day expiry"

Task Descriptions - Provide Context

Every task MUST have a description (-d flag) that answers:

• What: What exactly needs to be done?
• Why: Why is this needed? What problem does it solve?
• Where: Which files/components are involved?

# BAD
trekker task create -t "Fix login"

# GOOD
trekker task create -t "Fix login failure when password contains special chars" \
  -d "Users with & or < in passwords get 500 error. Issue in auth/validator.ts line 42. Need to escape before SQL query."

Comments - Be Detailed

BAD	GOOD
"Working on it"	"Progress: Added input sanitization to validator.ts. Testing edge cases next."
"Done"	"Summary: Fixed by escaping special chars in sanitizePassword(). Added tests in validator.test.ts. Verified with manual testing."
"Stuck"	"Blocked: Need DB admin access to verify fix in staging. Contacted @ops in Slack."

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Multi-Instance Safety

Trekker uses SQLite with Write-Ahead Logging (WAL) for concurrent access.

Best practices:

• Always fetch latest state before updates: trekker task show <id>
• Use comments for coordination between instances
• Prefer additive operations (comments) over destructive ones (delete)
• If conflict detected, refresh and retry