Manage Plans and Tasks

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---
title: Manage Plans and Tasks
---

# Manage Plans and Tasks

Mini-me includes a built-in **plan** tool that lets the agent create, track, and manage multi-step todo lists. When you give the agent a list of tasks to do, it automatically creates a plan and tracks progress, showing you the current status after each response.

## Quick Example

```
You: Do these 3 things: 1. Create a README file, 2. Add a license, 3. Commit the changes

Agent: I'll handle this in 3 steps. Starting with: Create a README file
📋 plan: create user-request-1

Agent: README file created.
📋 [2/3] 🔄 Task 2: Add a license (in_progress)

Agent: License added.
📋 [3/3] 🔄 Task 3: Commit the changes (in_progress)

Agent: All changes committed.
📋 [3/3] ✅ All tasks complete!
```

The `📋` line shows you exactly where the agent is in your plan.

---

## How It Works

### The Plan Lifecycle

1. **You state your request** as a list of tasks
2. **Agent detects the plan** and creates it using the `plan` tool
3. **Agent works on tasks** one by one, updating status
4. **Agent reports progress** after each action
5. **Plan completes** when all tasks are done

### Status Icons

| Icon | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| ⏳ | Task not started (open) |
| 🔄 | Task currently in progress |
| ✅ | Task completed successfully |
| ❌ | Task failed |

### Status Line Format

```
📋 [current/total] icon Task N: description (status)
```

Examples:
- `📋 [1/5] ⏳ Task 1: Analyze the code (open)` - First task, not started yet
- `📋 [2/5] 🔄 Task 2: Fix the bugs (in_progress)` - Second task, currently working
- `📋 [5/5] ✅ All tasks complete!` - All done!
- `📋 [3/5] ❌ Task 3: Run tests (failed: connection timeout)` - Task failed with error

---

## User Scenarios

### Scenario 1: Numbered List

**Your input:**
```
Do these 5 things:
1. Check the current version
2. Update dependencies
3. Run tests
4. Fix any failures
5. Deploy to staging
```

**What happens:**
- Agent creates a plan with 5 tasks
- Works through each sequentially
- Shows progress: `📋 [1/5]`, `📋 [2/5]`, etc.
- Completes with: `📋 [5/5] ✅ All tasks complete!`

---

### Scenario 2: Comma-Separated Tasks

**Your input:**
```
Set up the project: create the directory, initialize git, and add a README
```

**What happens:**
- Agent detects this as a multi-step request
- Creates a plan with 3 tasks
- Executes in order

---

### Scenario 3: Multiple Plans

You can have multiple active plans in a single session.

**Your input:**
```
First, fix the auth module: 1. Find the bug, 2. Write the fix, 3. Test it
```

Agent works on the auth plan, shows: `📋 [2/3] 🔄 Task 2: Write the fix (in_progress)`

**Then you say:**
```
Also, update the documentation: 1. Update README, 2. Update CHANGELOG
```

Agent creates a second plan and manages both independently.

**To see all active plans:**
```
What plans do I have?
```

---

## Interacting with Plans

### Check Current Plan Status

**Ask:** "What's the status of my plan?"

**Agent responds:**
```
Current plan: [2/3] 🔄 Task 2: Write the fix (in_progress). Next: Test it
```

### Skip a Task

**Ask:** "Skip the test step, just deploy"

**Agent:**
- Marks the current task as done
- Skips to the next task
- Confirms: "Skipping test step. Deploying to staging..."

### Abandon a Plan

**Ask:** "Never mind, I don't need this anymore"

**Agent:**
- Asks for confirmation
- If you confirm, deletes the plan
- All progress is lost

---

## Plan Management Commands

While the plan tool is primarily model-driven (the agent uses it automatically), you can also interact with plans directly:

### List All Plans

**Command:** `/plans` (not yet implemented in v1 - coming in v2)

**What it shows:**
```
Active plans:
1. setup-project (2/5 tasks complete)
2. fix-bugs (0/3 tasks complete)
```

### View Plan Details

**Ask the agent:** "Show me the details of plan X"

**Agent responds:** Full task list with status for each task

### Delete a Plan

**Ask the agent:** "Delete plan X"

**Agent:** Confirms and deletes the plan

---

## Session Lifecycle

### Plans and /new Command

When you start a new session with `/new`:
- All active plans are **cleared**
- This is intentional: a new session means a fresh start
- If you want to continue an old plan, don't use `/new`

### Plans and Agent Restart

In v1 (current version):
- Plans are stored **in memory only**
- Plans are **lost** when the agent restarts
- This keeps v1 simple and fast

In v2 (future):
- Plans will be persisted to session files
- Plans will survive agent restarts

---

## The plan Tool (For Advanced Users)

The `plan` tool is available for the model to call. It supports these actions:

| Action | Purpose | Required Parameters |
|--------|---------|---------------------|
| `create` | Create a new plan | `tasks` (array of `{description}`) |
| `get` | Get plan details | `name` |
| `update` | Update task status | `name`, `taskId`, `status` |
| `next` | Move to next task | `name` |
| `list` | List all plans | none |
| `delete` | Delete a plan | `name` |
| `status` | Get status line | `name` |

### Status Values

- `open` - Task not started
- `in_progress` - Task currently being worked on
- `done` - Task completed successfully
- `failed` - Task failed

---

## The plan-manager Skill

The agent uses the `plan-manager` skill to know **when and how** to use the plan tool. This skill includes:

- **Detection patterns:** How to recognize when a user gives a multi-step request
- **Usage guidelines:** When to create plans, update tasks, move between tasks
- **Display format:** How to show plan status to the user
- **Error handling:** What to do when things go wrong

You don't need to manually load this skill - the agent does it automatically when appropriate.

---

## Examples

### Example 1: Bug Fixing Workflow

```
You: Fix these issues in the auth module:
     1. Check for null pointer exceptions
     2. Add input validation
     3. Write unit tests
     4. Update the documentation

Agent: I'll handle this in 4 steps. Starting with: Check for null pointer exceptions
📋 plan: create user-request-1

... (agent checks code) ...

Agent: Found 3 potential null pointer issues.
📋 [2/4] 🔄 Task 2: Add input validation (in_progress)

... (agent adds validation) ...

Agent: Input validation added to auth.go.
📋 [3/4] 🔄 Task 3: Write unit tests (in_progress)

... (agent writes tests) ...

Agent: Tests written and passing.
📋 [4/4] 🔄 Task 4: Update the documentation (in_progress)

... (agent updates docs) ...

Agent: Documentation updated with new validation requirements.
📋 [4/4] ✅ All tasks complete!
```

---

### Example 2: Project Setup

```
You: Set up a new Go project with:
     1. Module initialization
     2. Directory structure
     3. Main file
     4. Test file

Agent: I'll set this up in 4 steps. Starting with: Module initialization
📋 plan: create user-request-1

Agent: Module initialized with go mod
📋 [2/4] 🔄 Task 2: Directory structure (in_progress)

Agent: Directories created (cmd, internal, pkg, tests)
📋 [3/4] 🔄 Task 3: Main file (in_progress)

Agent: Main file created with basic structure
📋 [4/4] 🔄 Task 4: Test file (in_progress)

Agent: Test file created with sample tests
📋 [4/4] ✅ All tasks complete!
```

---

### Example 3: Code Review

```
You: Review this PR and:
     1. Check for security issues
     2. Verify tests pass
     3. Review the documentation
     4. Leave comments

Agent: I'll review this PR in 4 steps. Starting with: Check for security issues
📋 plan: create user-request-1

Agent: No security issues found.
📋 [2/4] 🔄 Task 2: Verify tests pass (in_progress)

Agent: All tests passing.
📋 [3/4] 🔄 Task 3: Review the documentation (in_progress)

Agent: Documentation looks good, just needs a typo fix.
📋 [4/4] 🔄 Task 4: Leave comments (in_progress)

Agent: Comments left on the PR.
📋 [4/4] ✅ All tasks complete!
```

---

### Example 4: With a Task Failure

```
You: Do these:
     1. Connect to the database
     2. Run the migration
     3. Import the data

Agent: I'll handle this in 3 steps. Starting with: Connect to the database
📋 plan: create user-request-1

Agent: Database connection established.
📋 [2/3] 🔄 Task 2: Run the migration (in_progress)

Agent: Migration completed.
📋 [3/3] 🔄 Task 3: Import the data (in_progress)

Agent: Error: connection timeout to data source
📋 plan: update user-request-1

Agent: ⚠️ Task 3 failed: connection timeout to data source
📋 [3/3] ❌ Task 3: Import the data (failed: connection timeout)

Agent: 2 of 3 tasks completed. The data import failed due to a connection timeout. Would you like me to retry, or skip this task?
```

---

## Configuration

The plan tool can be enabled or disabled via the YAML configuration file:

```yaml
# In your agent.yaml file
planTool: true  # Enabled by default
```

To disable:
```yaml
planTool: false
```

When disabled, the agent will not have access to the `plan` tool and will not automatically create or track plans.

---

## Troubleshooting

### Agent Not Creating Plans

If the agent isn't creating plans for your multi-step requests:

1. **Make your request clearer** - Use numbered lists
   - ❌ "Fix some things" 
   - ✅ "Do these: 1. Fix A, 2. Fix B, 3. Fix C"

2. **Be more explicit** - Use words like "plan", "steps", "then"
   - ✅ "My plan is to first do X, then do Y"

3. **Check the skill is loaded** - The agent should automatically load the `plan-manager` skill when it detects a plan-like request

### Plans Disappearing

In v1, plans are stored in memory and will be lost when:
- You start a new session with `/new`
- The agent restarts
- You close and reopen the terminal

This is expected behavior in v1. Session persistence is coming in v2.

---

## Best Practices

1. **Be specific** - The more detail in your task descriptions, the better the agent can execute them

2. **Keep plans focused** - One plan per logical request. Don't mix unrelated tasks

3. **Check progress** - The status line shows you exactly where the agent is

4. **Ask for clarification** - If the agent seems stuck or confused, ask "What's the status?"

5. **Start small** - For complex multi-step work, start with a few tasks and add more as needed

---

## Comparison with Other Tools

| Feature | plan tool | skills | slash commands |
|---------|-----------|--------|----------------|
| Purpose | Track multi-step work | Load procedures | User commands |
| Trigger | Automatic (model detects) | Explicit (`/skill`) | Explicit (`/command`) |
| Persistence (v1) | In-memory, session only | File-based | N/A |
| User interaction | Indirect (via model) | Indirect (model loads) | Direct |

The `plan` tool complements other mini-me features:
- Use **skills** for complex, reusable procedures
- Use **plan tool** for ad-hoc multi-step requests
- Use **slash commands** for direct user actions

---

## See Also

- [Slash Commands Reference](../reference/slash-commands.md) - For user commands
- [Tools Reference](../reference/tools.md) - For all built-in tools
- [Skills Overview](../explanation/skills.md) - For the skill system