td - Task Management for AI Agents

Overview

td is a minimalist CLI for tracking tasks and maintaining agent memory across context windows. When your AI session ends, td captures what was done, what remains, and what decisions were made—so the next session picks up exactly where the last one left off.

Core capability: Run td usage and get everything needed for the next action—current focus, pending reviews, open issues, recent decisions.

Quick Start

Session Start (Every Time)

td usage --new-session  # Auto-rotation + see current state

Output tells you:

Active work sessions and recent decisions
What issues are pending review (you can review these)
Highest priority open issues
Recent handoffs from previous sessions

Single-Issue Workflow

For focused work on one issue:

td start <issue-id>                    # Begin work
td log "OAuth callback implemented"    # Track progress
td log --decision "Using JWT tokens"   # Log decisions
td handoff <id> --done "..." --remaining "..."  # Capture state
td review <id>                         # Submit for review

Multi-Issue Workflow (Recommended for Agents)

For agents handling related issues:

td ws start "Auth implementation"      # Start work session
td ws tag td-a1b2 td-c3d4             # Associate issues (auto-starts them)
td ws tag --no-start td-e5f6          # Associate without starting
td ws log "Shared token storage"       # Log to all tagged issues
td ws handoff                          # Capture state, end session

Key Workflows

Workflow 1: Starting New Work

# 1. Check what to work on
td usage          # See current state
td next           # Highest priority open issue
td critical-path  # What unblocks most work

# 2. Start work
td start <id>

# 3. Begin logging
td log "Started implementation"

Workflow 2: Handing Off Work

This is critical for agent-to-agent handoffs:

td handoff <id> \
  --done "OAuth flow, token storage" \
  --remaining "Refresh token rotation, error handling" \
  --decision "Using JWT for stateless auth" \
  --uncertain "Should tokens expire on password change?"

Keys:

--done - What's actually complete (be honest)
--remaining - What's left (be specific)
--decision - Why you chose approach X
--uncertain - What you're unsure about

Next session will see all this context with td usage or td context <id>.

Workflow 3: Reviewing Code

# 1. See reviewable issues
td reviewable

# 2. Check details
td show <id>
td context <id>

# 3. Approve or reject
td approve <id>
# Or:
td reject <id> --reason "Missing error handling"

Important: You cannot approve work you implemented. Session isolation enforces this.

Workflow 4: Handling Blockers

# 1. Log the blocker
td log --blocker "Waiting on API spec from backend team"

# 2. Work on something else
td next              # Get another issue
td ws tag td-e5f6   # Add to work session

# 3. Come back to blocked issue later
td context td-a1b2  # Refresh context when blocker resolves

Commands by Category

Checking Status

td usage - Current state, reviews, next steps
td usage -q - Compact view (after first read)
td current - What you're working on
td ws current - Current work session state
td next - Highest priority open
td critical-path - What unblocks most work

Working on Issues

td start <id> - Begin work
td unstart <id> - Revert to open (undo accidental start)
td log "msg" - Track progress
td log --decision "..." - Log decision
td log --blocker "..." - Log blocker
td show <id> - View details
td context <id> - Full context for resuming

Handing Off

td handoff <id> --done "..." --remaining "..." - Single issue
td ws handoff - Multi-issue work session

Reviews

td review <id> - Submit for review
td reviewable - Issues you can review
td approve <id> - Approve (different session only)
td reject <id> --reason "..." - Reject

Creating/Managing Issues

td create "title" --type feature --priority P1 - Create
td list - List all
td list --status in_progress - Filter by status
td block <id> - Mark as blocked
td delete <id> - Delete

File Tracking

td link <id> <files...> - Track files with issue
td files <id> - Show file changes

Other

td monitor - Live dashboard
td session --new "name" - Force new session
td undo - Undo last action

See quick_reference.md for full command listing.

Resources

quick_reference.md

Complete command reference organized by task type.

ai_agent_workflows.md

Detailed workflows for common AI agent scenarios:

Single-issue focus
Multi-issue work sessions
Handling blockers
Resuming work
Code review process
Tips for AI agents

Issue Lifecycle

open → in_progress → in_review → closed
         |              |
         v              | (reject)
     blocked -----------+

Key Principles

Session Isolation: Every terminal/context gets a unique session ID. The session that implements code cannot approve it. Different session must review. This forces actual handoffs and prevents "works on my context" bugs.

Structured Handoffs: Don't just say "here's what I did"—structure it with done/remaining/decisions/uncertain so next agent has clear context.

Minimal: Does one thing. Single binary, SQLite local storage (.todos/), no server, works with any AI tool.

For AI Agents

Always start conversation with:

td usage --new-session

This auto-rotates sessions and gives you current state. Then:

Single focused issue → Use single-issue workflow
Multiple related issues → Use td ws start for work sessions
Before context ends → Always td handoff or td ws handoff
Log decisions → Use --decision flag to explain reasoning
Log uncertainty → Use --uncertain flag to mark unknowns
Track files → Use td link so future sessions know what changed

See ai_agent_workflows.md for detailed examples.