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micro-task-workflow

Micro-task development patterns with 50% context budget. Use for task decomposition, context management, escape hatch protocols, and orchestration patterns.

personAuthor: jakexiaohubgithub
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micro-task-workflow Skill

Micro-task constraints and context budget management.

For workflow entry point, run ./worktree.py start

When to Use This Skill

  • Understanding micro-task constraints
  • Escape hatch protocol when hitting context limits
  • Planning dependencies between tasks

The Problem: Context Exhaustion

Agents running out of context mid-task produce broken, incomplete work:

❌ OLD: Issue #100 "Implement Feature X"
├── Read 8 files to understand (~20% context)
├── Plan changes (~10% context)
├── Edit 4 files (~30% context)
├── Debug issues (~20% context)
├── Run tests (~15% context)
└── CONTEXT EXHAUSTED at 95% - work incomplete, uncommitted

The Solution: 50% Budget

✅ NEW: Issue #100 "Implement Feature X"
├── Micro-Task 100.1: Setup + config changes (45% context) ✓ committed
├── Micro-Task 100.2: Core implementation (45% context) ✓ committed
├── Micro-Task 100.3: Tests + documentation (45% context) ✓ committed
└── All work committed, PR ready

Micro-Task Constraints

| Constraint | Limit | Rationale | |------------|-------|-----------| | File reads | ≤ 5 files | Minimize exploration | | File edits | ≤ 3 files | Single logical change | | Tool calls | ≤ 80 total | ~50% of context capacity | | Commits | 1-2 | Checkpoint + final | | Scope | Single concern | Complete in one session |

Context Budget Breakdown

| Phase | Budget | Purpose | |-------|--------|---------| | Startup overhead | ~20% | Load AGENTS.md, read issue, read source files | | Productive work | ~50% | Actual implementation | | Safety margin | ~30% | Unexpected complexity, debugging |

Escape Hatch Protocol

At 60% context usage (or ~60 tool calls):

  1. Commit current progress (even if incomplete):

    git add -A && git commit -m "WIP(#100): partial progress"
git push

  2. Write session state to .claude/session-state.md

  3. Exit cleanly - do not continue until fresh session

Dependency Types

Serial micro-tasks (must run sequentially):

  • Same file modified by both (merge conflicts)
  • Output of one is input to another
  • Database schema changes before queries
  • API endpoint before frontend integration

Parallel micro-tasks (can run simultaneously):

  • Different files entirely
  • Same issue, independent concerns (e.g., tests vs docs)
  • Different issues with no shared files
  • Frontend and backend on different endpoints

Parallelization Rules

| Scenario | Parallel? | Reason | |----------|-----------|--------| | Different issues, different files | Yes | No conflicts | | Same issue, independent files | Yes | No conflicts | | Same file modified | No | Merge conflicts | | Sequential dependency | No | Output needed | | Database migration + queries | No | Schema dependency |

Worktree Strategy

Single worktree per issue (recommended):

  • All micro-tasks for issue #51 run in worktree 51-feature-name
  • Sequential micro-tasks commit to same branch
  • Squash to single commit before PR

Squash before PR:

git rebase -i main           # Squash all commits
git push --force-with-lease