Task Management Skill

The task management skill is a comprehensive knowledge base that teaches Claude how to work with the tdn system. When loaded, Claude understands your file format, knows all the CLI commands, and shifts into a productivity-focused mindset.

What the Skill Teaches

The skill gives Claude detailed knowledge of:

The tdn system — The hierarchy of tasks, projects, and areas. What each entity type is for, how they relate to each other, what statuses mean.

CLI commands — Complete documentation for every tdn command with examples. Claude knows when to use --ai mode, how to filter and sort output, and which commands to use for different operations.

When to use what — Guidelines for choosing between CLI commands and direct file access. CLI for creating and updating tasks (handles timestamps and formatting), direct reads for bulk analysis (more efficient).

File format — The YAML frontmatter specification, field types, status values. Claude can work with your files without corrupting unknown fields or breaking the format.

Productivity mindset — When helping with tasks, Claude thinks like a GTD coach rather than a programmer. It focuses on clarity, prioritization, and actionability—even though it retains all its technical capabilities.

Skill Structure

The skill consists of a main file and several reference documents:

Directorytask-management/
- SKILL.md (main skill file, loaded first)
- command-reference.md
- decision-guide.md
- examples.md
- obsidian.md
- reviews.md
- specification.md
- templates.md

File	Purpose
`SKILL.md`	Core knowledge — system overview, critical rules, quick command reference
`command-reference.md`	Complete documentation for every CLI command
`decision-guide.md`	When to use CLI vs direct file access
`examples.md`	Common workflow examples
`obsidian.md`	Guidance for Obsidian users (bases, wikilinks, templates)
`reviews.md`	How to conduct inbox processing, weekly reviews, etc.
`specification.md`	Status values, field definitions, file format details
`templates.md`	Task, project, and area templates for reference

Claude doesn’t load all these files immediately—it reads the main skill file first, then references the detailed docs when needed.

Loading the Skill

The skill loads automatically when you use a slash command like /tdn:today or /tdn:prime. You can also load it manually:

/skill task-management

Once loaded, Claude is ready to help with any task management request.

What You Can Ask

With the skill loaded, Claude can help with a wide range of task management operations:

Querying Tasks

“What’s on my plate today?”
“Show me all blocked tasks”
“What’s the status of the Q1 Planning project?”
“List tasks that are overdue”
“What’s in my inbox?”

Claude will run the appropriate tdn commands and present the results.

Creating and Updating

“Create a task to call the dentist”
“Add a task to review the budget under Q1 Planning, due next Friday”
“Mark the dentist task as done”
“Change the quarterly report task to blocked”
“Reschedule everything due this week to next Monday”

Claude handles the CLI commands, including proper flags and date parsing.

Reviews and Planning

“Help me process my inbox”
“Let’s do a quick weekly review”
“What projects need attention?”
“Are there any stuck tasks I should look at?”

Claude can guide you through structured reviews, asking clarifying questions as needed.

Context and Analysis

“Give me an overview of my tasks”
“What’s the full picture for the Website Redesign project?”
“How many tasks do I have in each status?”

Claude can read files directly for analysis that doesn’t require the CLI.

How Claude Uses the CLI

Claude runs tdn commands with the --ai flag, which produces structured output designed for LLMs. This avoids interactive prompts that would hang, and returns data in a format that’s easy for Claude to parse and explain.

For example, when you ask “What’s due today?”, Claude might run:

tdn today --ai

The output includes task titles, statuses, due dates, and file paths—everything Claude needs to answer your question and take follow-up actions if requested.