Tasks

The tasks server gives agents a structured way to break down complex work into trackable tasks with dependencies and status tracking. Tasks are stored as JSONL files in .aether-tasks/.

Tools

Tool	Description
task_create	Create a new task or subtask
task_get	Get a task by ID
task_list	List tasks with filters such as assignee, status, tree, or ready-only
task_update	Update status, ownership, dependencies, or research metadata

Note

The primary task schema uses camelCase field names such as parentId, treeId, readyOnly, nextSteps, and filesRead. Snake_case aliases like parent_id, tree_id, ready_only, next_steps, and files_read are also accepted.

Task IDs

• Root tasks: at-a1b2c3d4
• Subtasks: at-a1b2c3d4.1, at-a1b2c3d4.2, etc.

Status values

Status	Meaning
pending	Not yet started
inProgress	Currently being worked on
completed	Done
blocked	Waiting on dependencies

Common examples

Create a root task:

{
  "title": "Research multi-agent systems",
  "description": "Investigate orchestration patterns",
  "assignee": "orchestrator"
}

Create a subtask:

{
  "title": "Analyze paper X",
  "parentId": "at-a1b2c3d4",
  "assignee": "worker-1"
}

List ready work:

{
  "readyOnly": true
}

Update progress and findings:

{
  "id": "at-a1b2c3d4.1",
  "status": "completed",
  "summary": "Found 5 issues",
  "facts": ["All use deprecated API"],
  "nextSteps": ["Migrate to the new API"],
  "filesRead": ["src/auth.rs"]
}

Research metadata

Tasks support structured metadata for long-running investigations and multi-step implementation work:

Field	Purpose
summary	High-level summary of findings
decisions	Key decisions made
facts	Important facts discovered
nextSteps	What to do next
blockers	What’s blocking progress
filesRead	Files that were examined
resources	External resources referenced

Storage format

Each root task tree is stored as JSONL in .aether-tasks/at-<hash>.jsonl, which makes task state easy to inspect and version in git.