Next

What's Next?

Analyze MASTER_PLAN.md tasks, score by priority/status, and let the user pick interactively.

Triggers

• /master-plan:next - Main command
• "what should I work on", "pick a task", "next task", "what's next"

Arguments

| Argument | Filter | |----------|--------| | bugs | Only BUG-XXX tasks | | progress | Only IN PROGRESS tasks | | planned | Only PLANNED (backlog) tasks | | review | Only REVIEW tasks | | active | IN PROGRESS + REVIEW | | all | Include DONE tasks |

Example: /master-plan:next bugs or /master-plan:next planned

Workflow

Step 1: Find MASTER_PLAN.md

Search for the plan file in order:

1. docs/MASTER_PLAN.md
2. MASTER_PLAN.md
3. master-plan.md
4. docs/master-plan.md

If not found, tell the user: "No MASTER_PLAN.md found. Run /master-plan:task to create your first task, or create one from the template."

Step 2: Parse Tasks

Read the file and extract tasks from ### headers matching this pattern:

### [optional ~~]TASK-123[optional ~~]: Title (STATUS)

Regex: ^###\s+(~~)?((TASK|BUG|FEATURE|ROAD|IDEA|ISSUE|INQUIRY)-\d+)(~~)?:\s*(.+?)\s*\(([^)]+)\)

For each match, extract:

• ID: e.g., TASK-123, BUG-456
• Title: The text after : and before (
• Status: Text in parentheses. Normalize:
• Contains "DONE", "COMPLETE", "FIXED", "✅", or has strikethrough → DONE
• Contains "IN PROGRESS", "🔄" → IN PROGRESS
• Contains "REVIEW", "👀" → REVIEW
• Contains "PAUSED", "⏸️" → PAUSED
• Otherwise → PLANNED
• Priority: Look in the lines following the header for **Priority**: P0-P3. Default to P2 if not found.

Step 3: Check for Active Work

Look for IN PROGRESS tasks first — these should be finished before starting new work.

Also check git status:

git status --short

If uncommitted changes exist, mention: "You have uncommitted changes — consider committing or running /master-plan:save first."

Step 4: Sort and Filter

Default sort order (what to START next):

1. PLANNED first, then REVIEW, IN PROGRESS, PAUSED, DONE last
2. Within same status: P0 → P1 → P2 → P3

If $ARGUMENTS contains a filter (bugs, progress, planned, review, active), apply it before sorting.

Exclude DONE tasks unless $ARGUMENTS contains all.

Step 5: Present Interactive Selection

Use AskUserQuestion to let user pick from the top tasks:

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [{
    question: "Which task would you like to work on?",
    header: "Task",
    multiSelect: false,
    options: [
      // Top 4 tasks, formatted as:
      { label: "TASK-XXX: Title here", description: "P0 · IN PROGRESS" },
      { label: "BUG-YYY: Another task", description: "P1 · PLANNED" },
      // ...
    ]
  }]
})

Option formatting:

• Label: {ID}: {title (max 40 chars)}
• Description: {priority} · {status}

If there are IN PROGRESS tasks, always show them first with a note: "You have N task(s) in progress."

Step 6: Show Task Details

When user selects a task, show the full section from MASTER_PLAN.md:

• ID, title, status, priority
• Description (everything between this ### header and the next ### or ##)

Step 7: Offer Actions

After showing task details, ask:

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [{
    question: "What would you like to do?",
    header: "Action",
    multiSelect: false,
    options: [
      { label: "Start working on this", description: "Update status to IN PROGRESS" },
      { label: "Pick a different task", description: "Go back to task list" },
      { label: "Just show context", description: "No status change" }
    ]
  }]
})

If "Start working on this" is selected:

1. Update the task's status to IN PROGRESS in MASTER_PLAN.md (all locations — see update rules below)
2. Confirm: "Started TASK-XXX. Ready to begin implementation."

MASTER_PLAN.md Update Rules

Tasks may appear in multiple locations. When updating status, check ALL of:

1. Summary/Roadmap table — Update the status column
2. Detailed ### section header — Update (STATUS) in parentheses
3. Subtask bullet points — Add strikethrough + ✅ if marking DONE

Always verify with a grep after updating.

Rules

1. Finish before starting — Always highlight IN PROGRESS tasks first
2. P0 trumps all — Critical issues come first regardless of status
3. Interactive selection — Always use AskUserQuestion, never just print a list
4. Context on selection — Always show full task details when picked
5. Action oriented — Offer to start work immediately

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: endlessblink
• Source: endlessblink/master-plan
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.