Coding

ia-file-todos

File-based todo and task tracking in the todos/ directory. Use when creating, triaging, listing, or managing todo files, tracking work items, managing the ba...

What it does

File-based todo and task tracking in the todos/ directory. Use when creating, triaging, listing, or managing todo files, tracking work items, managing the backlog, converting PR comments to tracked tasks, or checking todo status and dependencies.

The skill document

File-based todo tracking

File naming convention

{issue_id}-{status}-{priority}-{description}.md

issue_id: Sequential number (001, 002, 003...) -- never reused
status: pending (needs triage), ready (approved), complete (done)
priority: p1 (critical), p2 (important), p3 (nice-to-have). Mapping from the ia-code-review severity scale: Critical→p1, Important→p2, Medium→p3, Minor→p3.
description: kebab-case, brief description

Examples: 001-pending-p1-mailer-test.md, 002-ready-p1-fix-n-plus-1.md, 005-complete-p2-refactor-csv.md

File Structure

Use todo-template.md as a starting point. YAML frontmatter:

---
status: ready              # pending | ready | complete
priority: p1               # p1 | p2 | p3
issue_id: "002"
tags: [typescript, performance, database]
dependencies: ["001"]      # Issue IDs this is blocked by
---

Required sections: Problem Statement, Findings, Proposed Solutions, Recommended Action, Acceptance Criteria, Work Log

Optional sections: Technical Details, Resources, Notes

Key Distinctions

File-todos system (this skill): Markdown files in todos/ directory for development/project tracking. Used by humans and agents.

Application Todo model: Database model for user-facing task management. Different from this file-based system.

TodoWrite tool: In-memory task tracking during agent sessions. Temporary, not persisted to disk.

Verify

Before considering a todo file correctly written, confirm:

issue_id is unique and sequentially the next number in todos/ (never reused).
All required frontmatter fields are present: status, priority, issue_id.
status and priority values match the filename and their enums (pending|ready|complete, p1|p2|p3).

References

workflows.md - Creating, triaging, dependencies, work logs, completing todos, integration table
quick-reference.md - Bash commands for finding work, dependencies, searching
todo-template.md - Template for new todo files

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