Checklist

Collaborative task checklist manager for AI agents with sequential, parallel, and looping execution. Features agent coordination, dependencies, deadlock prev...

Collaborative task checklist manager for AI agents with advanced execution modes.

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🎯 When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Multi-agent collaboration - Multiple AI agents need to coordinate
• Sequential tasks - Steps must execute in order
• Parallel tasks - Steps can run simultaneously
• Looping workflows - Repeat until condition is met
• Complex coordination - Avoid deadlocks and infinite loops

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🌐 Execution Modes

1. Sequential (串行)

Steps execute one after another:

A → B → C → D

2. Parallel (并行)

Steps execute simultaneously:

A
B ← Branch together
C

3. Loop (循环)

Repeat until exit condition:

while condition:
    A → B
    if exit_condition:
        break

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⚡ Quick Commands

Execution Control

# Set execution mode
checklist mode sequential   # 串行
checklist mode parallel    # 并行
checklist mode loop       # 循环

# Configure loop
checklist loop set 5                 # Set max 5 iterations
checklist loop condition "<expr>"   # Set exit condition
checklist loop count                 # Show current loop count

# Run checklist
checklist run                        # Execute with current mode
checklist run --dry-run             # Preview without executing

# Safety
checklist check                      # Check for deadlocks
checklist validate                   # Validate entire workflow

Agent Commands

checklist agent register <name>
checklist agent use <name>
checklist assign <item> <agent>
checklist claim
checklist status

Task Commands

checklist create <template>
checklist done <item>
checklist depend <item> <dep>
checklist tree

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🔄 Execution Modes Detail

Sequential Mode

✅ Sequential: Items execute in order
   1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5

✅ Item 3 can only start after Item 2 completes

Parallel Mode

✅ Parallel: Items in same "group" run together
   Group 1: [1, 2] (parallel)
         ↓
   Group 2: [3, 4] (parallel)
         ↓
   Group 3: [5] (final)

Loop Mode

✅ Loop: Repeat until exit condition

Loop Config:
  - Max iterations: 5 (default, configurable)
  - Exit conditions:
    - All items done
    - Custom condition met
    - Manual break

Loop Example:
  Iteration 1: [1, 2, 3] → Check exit → Continue
  Iteration 2: [1, 2, 3] → Check exit → Continue
  Iteration 3: [1, 2, 3] → Exit condition met → Stop

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🛡️ Safety Features

1. Loop Protection

# Default: Max 5 iterations
checklist loop set 5

# After 5 loops, automatically exits
# Even if not all items complete

2. Exit Conditions

# Exit when specific item done
checklist loop condition "item.5.done == true"

# Exit when all required items done
checklist loop condition "all_required_done"

# Exit when iteration count reached
checklist loop condition "count >= 5"

3. Deadlock Prevention

# Check for potential deadlocks
checklist check

🔍 Deadlock Detection:
   - Circular dependencies: NONE
   - Unreachable items: NONE
   - Agent conflicts: NONE
   ✅ Workflow is safe to execute

4. Validation

# Validate entire workflow
checklist validate

🔍 Validation:
   - All items have valid references: ✅
   - No circular dependencies: ✅
   - Agents assigned: 3/15
   - Max loop iterations: 5
   - Exit condition: defined
   ✅ Checklist is valid

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📋 Usage Examples

Example 1: Sequential Deployment

User: Deploy app sequentially

AI: [Execute: checklist create deploy]
[Execute: checklist mode sequential]

✅ Mode: Sequential

Execution Order:
  ⏳ 1. Run tests
  ⏳ 2. Build
  ⏳ 3. Deploy to staging
  ⏳ 4. Verify
  ⏳ 5. Deploy to prod

Example 2: Parallel Testing

User: Run tests in parallel

AI: [Execute: checklist create test-suite]
[Execute: checklist mode parallel]

✅ Mode: Parallel

Parallel Groups:
  Group 1 (concurrent):
    🔄 Unit tests
    🔄 Integration tests  
    🔄 Lint checks
    ↓ All complete →
  Group 2:
    ✅ Generate report

Example 3: Loop with Exit

User: Poll API until successful, max 5 times

AI: [Execute: checklist create api-poll]
[Execute: checklist mode loop]
[Execute: checklist loop set 5]
[Execute: checklist loop condition "item.3.done == true"]

Loop Config:
  - Max iterations: 5
  - Exit: item #3 (API success)
  - Current: 0/5

Iteration 1:
  ⏳ 1. Send request
  ⏳ 2. Check response
  ⏳ 3. Verify success
  → Not done, continue...

Iteration 3:
  ⏳ 1. Send request
  ⏳ 2. Check response
  ✅ 3. Verify success ← Exit condition met!
  
🔄 Loop exited at iteration 3
✅ Exit condition satisfied

Example 4: Deadlock Prevention

User: Create conflicting dependencies

AI: [Execute: checklist add "Task A"]
[Execute: checklist add "Task B"]
[Execute: checklist depend 1 2]
[Execute: checklist depend 2 1]

[Execute: checklist check]

🔍 Deadlock Detection:
   ⚠️  WARNING: Circular dependency detected!
   
   1 → 2 → 1
   
   Resolution suggestions:
   - Remove one dependency
   - Merge into single item
   
✅ Checklist NOT safe - fix before running

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🔧 Implementation

Loop State

{
  "loop": {
    "enabled": true,
    "mode": "sequential|parallel|loop",
    "max_iterations": 5,
    "current_iteration": 0,
    "exit_condition": "item.3.done == true",
    "exit_reason": "condition_met|max_reached|manual"
  }
}

Safety Checks

Before Execution:
1. Validate all references ✓
2. Check circular dependencies ✓
3. Verify agents available ✓
4. Check loop config ✓
5. Confirm exit condition ✓

During Execution:
- Monitor for infinite loops
- Track iteration count
- Check exit conditions

After Execution:
- Final validation
- Generate completion report

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🎯 Best Practices

1. Always Set Exit Conditions

# Good
checklist loop condition "item.success.done == true"

# With timeout
checklist loop set 10

2. Use Sequential for Dependent Tasks

checklist mode sequential
checklist depend 2 1
checklist depend 3 2

3. Use Parallel for Independent Tasks

checklist mode parallel
# Items in same group run together

4. Check Before Running

checklist check   # Deadlock check
checklist validate   # Full validation

5. Monitor Loop Count

checklist loop count   # Show current iteration

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⚠️ Important Notes

Loop Safety

Scenario	Behavior
No exit condition	Uses max_iterations (default: 5)
Exit condition never met	Stops at max_iterations
Deadlock detected	Blocks execution, shows warning
Circular dependency	Prevents running, suggests fix

Maximum Limits

Limit	Default	Max
Loop iterations	5	100
Parallel items	10	50
Total items	100	500

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🦞 Summary

One line: Complex task → Choose mode (sequential/parallel/loop) → Set safety limits → Run with confidence → Automatic exit

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