task-summary

Task Summary

Produce a focused summary of a completed task, capturing only decision-critical knowledge.

When to Use

The backward-looking factual record of a finished task — what was decided and why. It is due at document → review: summary.md is what the reviewer opens, so it is attached before the card enters review, not after it leaves (see hatrack's per-edge table). Two siblings to keep distinct:

• self-retrospective is the improvement analysis (5-whys, systemic fixes) of how the work went — run that when there were failures or backtracks; this skill just records the outcome.
• context-handoff is the forward brief for whoever continues the work — task-summary looks back, handoff looks ahead.

Procedure

1. Identify the task: Locate the task card in <ai_hats_dir>/tracker/backlog/tasks/<ID>/.

2. Extract decision-critical information:

   • Architectural decisions — what structural choices were made and WHY
   • Decision forks — where were there multiple viable options? Document: what options existed, which was chosen, and the key reason
   • Pitfalls discovered — non-obvious traps that cost time or could bite again
   • Deviations from plan — where did execution diverge from the original plan and why

3. Draft the summary at a scratch path outside the backlog — e.g. /tmp/<ID>-summary.md. Do not write it under tasks/<ID>/ yourself; step 4 puts it there:

# Summary: <task title>

Completed: YYYY-MM-DD
Result: <done | failed>

## What Was Done

<2-5 sentences. Outcome, not play-by-play.>

## Key Decisions

| Decision | Why This Way | Alternative Rejected |
| -------- | ------------ | -------------------- |
| ...      | ...          | ...                  |

## Pitfalls

- <Non-obvious trap> — <impact or how to avoid>

## Deviations from Plan

- <What changed> — <why>

4. Attach it to the card:

   rack transition <ID> --attach /tmp/<ID>-summary.md:summary.md
   

   The file is copied to tasks/<ID>/summary.md — a document, discovered live by rack context (name + digest computed on the fly, fs-as-truth). --attach is the sanctioned way in: the backlog gate refuses a hand edit under tasks/<ID>/**, carving out plan.md alone. Re-attaching the same name overwrites (the op notes it); --freeze summary.md pins its digest.

What NOT to Include

• Step-by-step log of actions (that's work_log in the task card)
• Routine operations (git commits, file reads, linting)
• Information already in the code or commit messages
• Full error traces (reference file paths instead)

Completion

• Summary drafted outside the backlog tree, then attached via rack transition --attach
• Contains at least: What Was Done, Key Decisions
• rack context <ID> lists summary.md under its documents

Anti-Patterns

• Summarizing everything — the point is filtering, not transcription
• Missing the WHY — a list of facts without reasoning helps nobody
• Writing the summary without reading the task's work_log first — you'll miss context
• Writing the summary under tasks/<ID>/ by hand — summary.md there, or a summary_file: key in task.yaml. Both break the backlog gate, and no CLI writes either. rack transition <ID> --attach is the door