Task Master AI

An AI-powered task management system that integrates seamlessly with AI Agents to manage specification-driven development workflows.

Quick Start

Three Ways to Use Task Master:

• MCP Tools (Recommended) - Direct integration via Model Context Protocol

• CLI Commands - Terminal-based task management

• Tagged Contexts - Multi-branch/feature task isolation

Core Capabilities

Task Management

• Parse PRDs into actionable tasks automatically

• Break down complex tasks into manageable subtasks

• Track task dependencies and status

• Support for multiple task contexts (tags) for features/branches

AI-Powered Features

• Complexity analysis with recommendations

• Research-backed task expansion

• Intelligent task updates based on implementation drift

• Fresh information gathering beyond knowledge cutoff

Development Workflow

• Specification-driven development (SDD) support

• Iterative subtask implementation logging

• Git branch-aligned task contexts

• Team collaboration with isolated task lists

When to Use This Skill

✅ Use Task Master when:

• Starting a new project from a PRD

• Managing complex multi-step features

• Working on feature branches with isolated tasks

• Need to track task dependencies and priorities

• Want AI-assisted task breakdown and planning

• Collaborating with team members on shared codebase

• Need to log implementation progress iteratively

❌ Skip Task Master for:

• Simple single-file changes

• Quick bug fixes

• Trivial tasks with no dependencies

• Projects without formal requirements

Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js installed

• API keys for AI providers (Anthropic, Perplexity, etc.)

• Git repository (optional, for branch-based workflows)

Installation

Global Installation:

npm install -g task-master-ai

Project-Local:

npm install task-master-ai

MCP Configuration

Add to your MCP config file (.cursor/mcp.json , .vscode/mcp.json , etc.):

{ "mcpServers": { "task-master-ai": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "task-master-ai"], "env": { "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY_HERE", "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY_HERE" } } } }

For complete setup details, see references/SETUP.md .

Basic Workflow

1. Initialize Project

Initialize taskmaster-ai in my project

2. Create PRD

Create your Product Requirements Document at .taskmaster/docs/prd.txt

3. Parse PRD

Parse my PRD at .taskmaster/docs/prd.txt

4. View Tasks

Show me the task list

5. Work on Tasks

What's the next task I should work on? Can you help me implement task 3?

6. Track Progress

Mark task 3 as done Update subtask 3.2 with my implementation findings

Key Concepts

Tagged Task Lists

Organize tasks into separate contexts (tags) for:

• Feature branches (feature-auth , feature-dashboard )

• Experiments (experiment-zustand )

• Team collaboration (alice-work , bob-work )

• Versions (v1.0 , v2.0 , mvp )

Task Structure

• ID: Unique identifier (e.g., 1 , 1.2 )

• Title: Brief description

• Description: What needs to be done

• Status: pending , in-progress , done , deferred

• Dependencies: Prerequisites (e.g., [1, 2.1] )

• Priority: high , medium , low

• Details: Implementation notes

• Subtasks: Breakdown of complex tasks

Complexity Analysis

AI analyzes task complexity (1-10 scale) and recommends:

• Number of subtasks needed

• Areas requiring research

• Implementation approach

Common Commands

Task Viewing

List all tasks Show me task 5 Show me tasks 1, 3, and 5 What's the next task?

Task Creation & Modification

Add a task to implement user authentication Expand task 4 into subtasks Update task 5 with new requirements Mark task 3 as done

Task Organization

Move task 5 to become subtask 7.3 Add dependency: task 8 depends on task 5 Create a new tag called feature-auth Switch to the feature-auth tag

Research & Analysis

Research the latest best practices for JWT authentication Analyze task complexity for all pending tasks Expand all pending tasks based on complexity

Advanced Workflows

PRD-Driven Feature Development

• Create dedicated tag for feature

• Write comprehensive PRD

• Parse PRD into tag

• Analyze complexity

• Expand complex tasks

• Implement iteratively

Team Collaboration

• Create personal tag for your work

• Copy tasks from master

• Work in isolation

• Merge back when ready

Branch-Based Development

• Create git branch

• Create matching tag from branch

• Develop feature with isolated tasks

• Merge code and tasks together

Integration with Development

Iterative Implementation

• View subtask details

• Plan implementation approach

• Log plan to subtask

• Begin coding

• Log progress and findings

• Mark complete

• Commit changes

Specification-Driven Development

Task Master supports full SDD workflow:

• Requirements gathering

• PRD creation

• Task generation

• Complexity analysis

• Implementation tracking

• Progress documentation

Resources

• references/SETUP.md

• Complete installation and configuration

• references/WORKFLOW.md

• Detailed development workflows

• references/COMMANDS.md

• Comprehensive command reference

• references/BEST_PRACTICES.md

• Tips and patterns

References

• Task Master GitHub

• Task Master Website

• MCP Documentation

Quick Tips:

• Always start with a detailed PRD

• Use complexity analysis before expanding tasks

• Log implementation findings to subtasks

• Leverage tags for feature isolation

• Use research tool for fresh information