Task Management

Learn how to create, manage, and track tasks with Knowns CLI

Tasks are the core of Knowns. They help you track work items with acceptance criteria, time tracking, and status management.

Use this page when you want to create better tasks, keep work moving through a consistent workflow, and write task content that AI or teammates can act on quickly.

Quick Start

knowns task create "Add user authentication" \
  -d "Implement JWT-based auth system" \
  --ac "User can register" \
  --ac "User can login" \
  --priority high \
  -l "auth,feature"

knowns task list --status in-progress --plain
knowns task edit 42 -s in-progress -a @me
knowns task edit 42 --check-ac 1

Creating Tasks

Create a task with the task create command:

knowns task create "Add user authentication" \
  -d "Implement JWT-based auth system" \
  --ac "User can register" \
  --ac "User can login" \
  --ac "User can logout" \
  --priority high \
  -l "auth,feature"

Options

Option Short Description
--description -d Task description
--ac Acceptance criterion (repeatable)
--priority low, medium, high
--labels -l Comma-separated labels
--assignee -a Assign to user (@me or @username)

Viewing Tasks

List all tasks

knowns task list --plain

Filter by status

knowns task list --status in-progress --plain

View single task

knowns task 42 --plain
knowns task view 42 --plain

Updating Tasks

Change status

knowns task edit 42 -s in-progress

Assign to yourself

knowns task edit 42 -a @me

Check acceptance criteria

knowns task edit 42 --check-ac 1 --check-ac 2

Add implementation plan

knowns task edit 42 --plan $'1. Design API\n2. Implement endpoints\n3. Add tests'

Add notes

knowns task edit 42 --notes "Completed implementation with 95% coverage"

Task Workflow

A typical task workflow:

  1. Create the task with clear acceptance criteria
  2. Assign to yourself and set status to in-progress
  3. Start time tracking: knowns time start 42
  4. Check acceptance criteria as you complete them
  5. Add implementation notes
  6. Stop timer: knowns time stop
  7. Complete the task: knowns task edit 42 -s done

For the end-to-end AI workflow around those steps, see Workflow.

Status Values

Status Description
todo Not started (default)
in-progress Currently working on
in-review Submitted for review
blocked Waiting on dependency
done Completed

Best Practices

Good Acceptance Criteria

Write outcome-oriented criteria, not implementation steps:

# Good
--ac "User can login and receive JWT token"
--ac "Invalid credentials show error message"

# Bad
--ac "Add handleLogin function"
--ac "Use bcrypt for hashing"

Clear Titles

Use action-oriented titles that describe what needs to be done:

# Good
"Add password reset flow"
"Fix timeout on slow networks"

# Bad
"Auth stuff"
"Bug fix"