Agentic Backlog Scrum

Use this skill whenever you are doing implementation work and need task tracking discipline.

What this skill is

• This skill is documentation for agent behavior.
• It defines workflow, guardrails, and tool usage conventions.
• It is not a database, API server, or business-logic runtime.

This skill assumes a local MCP server named agentic-backlog is available.

Runtime boundary

• The running backlog API/application is the source of truth.
• MCP is how the agent reads context from and sends operations to that running API.
• This skill only tells the agent how to behave when using MCP tools.

Trigger phrases

Use this skill proactively when the user says things like:

• \agentic-backlog:add
• \agentic-backlog:remove
• \agentic-backlog:update
• \agentic-backlog:read
• \agentic-backlog:board
• \agentic-backlog:in-progress
• \agentic-backlog:show-task
• \agentic-backlog:update-task

Expected behavior by trigger:

• \agentic-backlog:add -> create a task (backlog.create_task)
• \agentic-backlog:remove -> delete only with explicit confirmation (backlog.delete_task + confirm: "DELETE")
• \agentic-backlog:update -> update task fields or status (backlog.update_task / backlog.update_task_status)
• \agentic-backlog:read -> fetch board/task snapshot (backlog.get_board / backlog.get_console_table)
• \agentic-backlog:board -> return board overview (backlog.get_board + backlog.get_console_table)
• \agentic-backlog:in-progress -> list active WIP (backlog.list_tasks with status: in_progress)
• \agentic-backlog:show-task -> find a specific task by title keywords, then show it (backlog.find_tasks_by_title + backlog.get_task)
• \agentic-backlog:update-task -> find a specific task by title keywords, then update it (backlog.update_task_by_title)

Task-by-name behavior:

• Use user-provided title keywords to search current project tasks.
• Prefer exact title match; otherwise use best partial match.
• If multiple close matches exist, show top candidates and ask which one to use.
• For updates, always echo the matched task title/id before applying the change.

Core tools (CRUD)

• backlog.create_task
• backlog.get_task
• backlog.list_tasks
• backlog.find_tasks_by_title
• backlog.update_task
• backlog.update_task_by_title
• backlog.delete_task

Goal

Keep a shared backlog that multiple AI agents can update consistently.

Mandatory workflow

1. Identify project
   • Call backlog.identify_project first.
   • Store returned project.id.
2. Get current board
   • Call backlog.get_board and inspect WIP.
   • Refresh board before each major implementation step.
   • When reporting progress to the user, call backlog.get_console_table.
3. Ensure active task exists
   • If no suitable task exists, call backlog.create_task.
4. Start work
   • Move task to in_progress with backlog.update_task_status or backlog.update_task.
5. During work
   • Add short progress notes with backlog.add_task_note.
   • Re-read the board after each note/status transition.
6. On completion
   • Move to review or done.
7. On blockers
   • Move to blocked and include reason.

Status model

• backlog
• todo
• in_progress
• blocked
• review
• done
• cancelled

Tool usage contract

Always include metadata when available:

• source: agent/client name (for example opencode, claude-code)
• agent_id: stable agent identity when available
• session_id: current conversation/session id when available

Planning mode

Use backlog.plan_from_context for fast task drafting from plain text.

• Default behavior is preview mode.
• Use apply=true to persist generated actions.
• Apply only if actions are relevant to the current project scope.

Guardrails

• Do not perform large code changes without linking to a task.
• Keep notes objective and short.
• Prefer one active in_progress task per agent/session.
• Deletions must be explicit: call backlog.delete_task with confirm: "DELETE".
• Keep updates frequent: at least one status or note update per completed sub-step.