Tasks

A task is an actionable unit of work. It is a resolvable node: it has a title, body, acceptance criteria, and an initiative, and it can be claimed by one actor at a time. Optional fields such as a definition, domain, tags, references, and metadata add context without changing the dependency model.

Persisted task statesCopy Anchor Link

The task lifecycle is stored on the node:

ready, blocked, and backlog are derived views rather than task lifecycle values. A task marked with backlog: true stays in the backlog pool even when all of its blockers are satisfied.

Readiness and satisfactionCopy Anchor Link

A task is ready when it is an open, non-backlog task and every incoming BLOCKS edge points to a satisfied blocker. It is blocked when at least one incoming blocker is unsatisfied. The same task can move between these derived views when another node changes; no manual ready flag is needed.

A task satisfies a BLOCKS edge only after it reaches done or archived. In particular, submitted means “waiting for validation,” not “complete.” An unknown blocker and a cycle are treated as unsatisfied, so malformed or incomplete graphs remain blocked instead of becoming accidentally claimable.

Example: a dependency becomes readyCopy Anchor Link

Create a task that waits for a review gate:

climier add-initiative publishing \
  --desc "Prepare the public release" \
  --as alice

climier add-gate release-review \
  --initiative publishing \
  --title "Review release" \
  --body "Confirm the release checklist." \
  --purpose approval \
  --as alice

climier add-task publish-docs \
  --initiative publishing \
  --title "Publish documentation" \
  --body "Publish the reviewed documentation." \
  --acceptance "The documentation is available to readers." \
  --blocked-by release-review \
  --as alice

Before the gate is resolved, climier status places publish-docs in tasks.blocked. Resolve the gate and inspect the resulting readiness:

climier resolve release-review \
  --choice approved \
  --rationale "The release checklist is complete." \
  --as alice

climier context publish-docs

The context view now reports derived_status: "ready" and allows claim. The gate is satisfied because it is resolved; the task itself will satisfy downstream work only after its implementation is accepted.

Creating and claiming workCopy Anchor Link

--blocked-by is required when creating a task so that dependency intent is explicit. Pass an empty value when there are no blockers:

climier add-task first-check \
  --initiative publishing \
  --title "Run the first check" \
  --body "Run the project's checks." \
  --acceptance "All required checks pass." \
  --blocked-by "" \
  --as alice

climier take first-check --as alice

Use context to inspect blockers, claims, matching knowledge, and allowed actions before changing work. See Edges and derived status for the graph rules that produce ready and blocked.