- Enhance MCP server robustness and usability:
- Implement smart project root detection with hierarchical fallbacks
- Make projectRoot parameter optional across all MCP tools
- Add comprehensive PROJECT_MARKERS for reliable project detection
- Improve error messages and logging for better debugging
- Split monolithic core into focused direct-function files
- Implement full suite of MCP commands:
- Add task management: update-task, update-subtask, generate
- Add task organization: expand-task, expand-all, clear-subtasks
- Add dependency handling: add/remove/validate/fix dependencies
- Add analysis tools: analyze-complexity, complexity-report
- Rename commands for better API consistency (list-tasks → get-tasks)
- Enhance documentation and developer experience:
- Create and bundle new taskmaster.mdc as comprehensive reference
- Document all tools with natural language patterns and examples
- Clarify project root auto-detection in documentation
- Standardize naming conventions across MCP components
- Add cross-references between related tools and commands
- Improve UI and progress tracking:
- Add color-coded progress bars with status breakdown
- Implement cancelled/deferred task status handling
- Enhance status visualization and counting
- Optimize display for various terminal sizes
This major update significantly improves the robustness and usability
of the MCP server while providing comprehensive documentation for both
users and developers. The changes make Task Master more intuitive to
use programmatically while maintaining full CLI functionality.
- Update all tool definitions to use z.string().optional() for projectRoot
- Fix direct function implementations to use findTasksJsonPath(args, log) pattern
- Enables consistent project root detection without requiring explicit params
- Update changeset to document these improvements
This change ensures MCP tools work properly with the smart project root
detection system, removing the need for explicit projectRoot parameters in
client applications. Improves usability and reduces integration friction.
Overhauls the project root detection system with a hierarchical precedence mechanism that intelligently locates tasks.json and identifies project roots. This improves user experience by reducing the need for explicit path parameters and enhances cross-platform compatibility.
Key Improvements:
- Implement hierarchical precedence for project root detection:
* Environment variable override (TASK_MASTER_PROJECT_ROOT)
* Explicitly provided --project-root parameter
* Cached project root from previous successful operations
* Current directory with project markers
* Parent directory traversal to find tasks.json
* Package directory as fallback
- Create comprehensive PROJECT_MARKERS detection system with 20+ common indicators:
* Task Master specific files (tasks.json, tasks/tasks.json)
* Version control directories (.git, .svn)
* Package manifests (package.json, pyproject.toml, Gemfile, go.mod, Cargo.toml)
* IDE/editor configurations (.cursor, .vscode, .idea)
* Dependency directories (node_modules, venv, .venv)
* Configuration files (.env, tsconfig.json, webpack.config.js)
* CI/CD files (.github/workflows, .gitlab-ci.yml, .circleci/config.yml)
- DRY refactoring of path utilities:
* Centralize path-related functions in core/utils/path-utils.js
* Export PROJECT_MARKERS as a single source of truth
* Add caching via lastFoundProjectRoot for performance optimization
- Enhanced user experience:
* Improve error messages with specific troubleshooting guidance
* Add detailed logging to indicate project root detection source
* Update tool parameter descriptions for better clarity
* Add recursive parent directory searching for tasks.json
Testing:
- Verified in local dev environment
- Added unit tests for the progress bar visualization
- Updated "automatically detected" description in MCP tools
This commit addresses Task #38: Implement robust project root handling for file paths.
- Add cancelled status to UI module for marking tasks cancelled without deletion
- Improve MCP server resource documentation with implementation examples
- Update architecture.mdc with detailed resource management info
- Add comprehensive resource handling guide to mcp.mdc
- Update changeset to reflect new features and documentation
- Mark task 23.6 as cancelled (MCP SDK integration no longer needed)
- Complete task 23.12 (structured logging system)
- Update subtask 23.10 with details on resource and resource template implementation
- Add resource management section to architecture.mdc with proper directory structure
- Create comprehensive resource implementation guide in mcp.mdc with examples and best practices
- Document proper integration of resources in FastMCP server initialization
- Create direct function wrapper in add-task.js with prompt and dependency handling
- Add MCP tool integration for creating new tasks via AI
- Update task-master-core.js to expose addTaskDirect function
- Update changeset to document the new command
- Create direct function wrapper in expand-task.js with error handling
- Add MCP tool integration for breaking down tasks into subtasks
- Update task-master-core.js to expose expandTaskDirect function
- Update changeset to document the new command
- Parameter support for subtask generation options (num, research, prompt, force)
- Create direct function wrapper in next-task.js with error handling and caching
- Add MCP tool integration for finding the next task to work on
- Update task-master-core.js to expose nextTaskDirect function
- Update changeset to document the new command
- Create direct function wrapper in show-task.js with error handling and caching
- Add MCP tool integration for displaying detailed task information
- Update task-master-core.js to expose showTaskDirect function
- Update changeset to document the new command
- Follow kebab-case/camelCase/snake_case naming conventions
Split monolithic task-master-core.js into separate function files within
the mcp-server/src/core/direct-functions/ directory. This change:
- Creates individual files for each direct function implementation
- Moves findTasksJsonPath to a dedicated utils/path-utils.js file
- Converts task-master-core.js to be a simple import/export hub
- Improves maintainability and organization of the codebase
- Reduces potential merge conflicts when multiple developers contribute
- Follows standard module separation patterns
Each function is now in its own self-contained file with clear imports and
focused responsibility, while maintaining the same API endpoints.
The function aimed to abstract the common flow within MCP tool methods (logging, calling direct function, handling result).
However, the established pattern (e.g., in ) involves the method directly calling the function (which handles its own caching via ) and then passing the result to . This pattern is clear, functional, and leverages the core utilities effectively.
Removing the unused simplifies , eliminates a redundant abstraction layer, and clarifies the standard implementation pattern for MCP tools.
Implemented LRU caching for the function to improve performance for repeated requests.
Key changes include:
- Added dependency.
- Introduced a reusable utility function in leveraging a .
- Refactored in to use the caching utility with a key based on task path, filter, and subtask flag.
- Modified to include the boolean flag in the final JSON response structure, nesting the original data under a key.
- Added function and corresponding MCP tool () for monitoring cache performance.
- Improved error handling in for cases where is not found.
This addresses the previous issue of the empty task list likely caused by stale cache entries and provides clear visibility into whether a response is served from the cache.
Relates to #23.9
Ensures that the 'details' field, which can be updated via 'update-subtask', is correctly rendered when viewing a specific subtask.
fix(test): Remove empty describe block causing Jest error
Removes a redundant block in that contained a hook but no tests.
chore: Add npm script
This commit fixes an issue with the dependency management system where
dependencies between subtasks of the same parent task were not being
handled correctly. Previously, when trying to add a dependency between
subtasks (e.g., making 23.8 depend on 23.13), the system incorrectly
interpreted it as a circular dependency of the parent task depending
on itself.
Changes:
- Modified add-dependency and remove-dependency commands to preserve
string format for subtask IDs containing dots instead of converting
them to integers
- Updated dependency detection logic to properly handle string-based
subtask IDs
- Added specific tests verifying both successful dependency chains
and circular dependency detection between subtasks of the same parent
The fix ensures proper task ordering for development workflows where
related subtasks must be completed in sequence (like establishing tests
before implementing a feature). It maintains backward compatibility with
existing task structures while correctly enforcing dependency chains
within subtask groups.
Tests:
- Added tests for valid dependency chains between subtasks of the same parent
- Added tests for circular dependency detection in subtask relationships
- Added specific test for the 23.8->23.13->23.10 subtask dependency chain
Resolves the issue where the suggested task development workflow couldn't
be properly enforced through the dependency management system.
- Add support for comma-separated subtask IDs in remove-subtask command
- Implement MCP configuration in project initialization
- Add package update notification system with version comparison
- Improve command documentation with boolean flag conventions
- Add comprehensive error handling for unknown options
- Update help text with better examples and formatting
- Implement proper validation for command inputs
- Add global error handling patterns with helpful user messages
This commit fixes several issues with command line interface error handling:
1. Fix inconsistent behavior between --no-generate and --skip-generate:
- Standardized on --skip-generate across all commands
- Updated bin/task-master.js to use --skip-generate instead of --no-generate
- Modified add-subtask and remove-subtask commands to use --skip-generate
2. Enhance error handling for unknown options:
- Removed .allowUnknownOption() from commands to properly detect unknown options
- Added global error handler in bin/task-master.js for unknown commands/options
- Added command-specific error handlers with helpful error messages
3. Improve user experience with better help messages:
- Added helper functions to display formatted command help on errors
- Created command-specific help displays for add-subtask and remove-subtask
- Show available options when encountering unknown options
4. Update MCP server configuration:
- Modified .cursor/mcp.json to use node ./mcp-server/server.js directly
- Removed npx -y usage for more reliable execution
5. Other minor improvements:
- Adjusted column width for task ID display in UI
- Updated version number in package-lock.json to 0.9.30
This resolves issues where users would see confusing error messages like
'error: unknown option --generate' when using an incorrect flag."
