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.
