Task Execution

Use CTX to organize development work as tasks, track the task currently being worked on, and preserve the state of unfinished or blocked work.

Create a task

Create a task when a piece of work needs to be tracked independently.

ctx task create --task="Implement authentication"

CTX creates the task with a pending status and returns its task ID. Use the task ID to manage the task as work progresses.

Start a task when you begin working on it.

ctx task start <TASK-ID>

The task becomes active and represents the work currently being performed.

When returning to a project, review the active and recent tasks before continuing unfinished work.

ctx task

Use the displayed task information to identify the task you need to continue. If the task is not active, start it before resuming work.

ctx task start <TASK-ID>

Create a sub-task when a larger task needs to be divided into smaller pieces of work.

ctx task create --task="Implement token validation" <PARENT-TASK-ID>

The new task is linked to the parent task and can be managed independently.

Record useful information while working on a task, such as an observation, failed attempt, issue, or decision.

ctx log add --note="The token validation fails for expired tokens"

Use a specific tag when the type of information matters.

ctx log add --tag=ISSUE --note="The token validation fails for expired tokens"

The log preserves the information in the project context so it can be reviewed when the task is resumed or handed over.

Block a task when progress cannot continue because of an issue, dependency, or missing information.

ctx task block <TASK-ID> --reason="Waiting for API credentials"

CTX changes the task status to blocked and stores the reason. This makes the blocker visible when reviewing the task later.

Complete a task when its work is finished.

ctx task complete <TASK-ID>

CTX changes the task status to completed and records its completion time.

Query tasks when you need to search beyond the active and recent task view.

ctx task query --expression=COMPLETED

The query returns matching tasks with pagination and sorting information.