Task Management

Task Management is an official skill from Anthropic’s Productivity Plugin in the knowledge-work-plugins repository. Its direct primary source is https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins/tree/main/productivity/skills/task-management. According to the provider, the skill uses a simple shared TASKS.md file that both a person and Claude can read and edit. This catalog entry therefore describes neither a standalone task application nor a ticketing system or promise of permanent memory. It describes a documented workflow that keeps tasks visible, portable, and reviewable inside an approved working directory.

Purpose and task file

The instructions tell Claude to use TASKS.md in the current working directory. If the file exists, Claude should read and maintain it. If it does not exist, the skill provides a defined structure with Tasks, Active, Waiting On, Someday, and Done sections. This keeps work tied to an explicit project context instead of hiding it inside an inaccessible session. Teams should choose the directory deliberately, review access permissions, and version or back up the file according to their own operating practice when collaboration or recovery matters.

Reading and changing tasks

When a user asks what is on their plate, Claude should read the file, summarize Active and Waiting On, and call out overdue or urgent items. New tasks belong in Active only after the user asks to add them. The provider’s conventions recommend recording the person involved in a commitment and the due date when one is known. When a user reports that work is finished, Claude should locate the matching entry, change its status, add a completion date, and move it to Done. Waiting On makes dependencies and their elapsed waiting time visible. After roughly a week, older Done entries may be cleared according to the user’s retention practice.

Dashboard and productivity context

According to the provider, the first task interaction can also make a local dashboard available from the Productivity Plugin structure. The dashboard reads and writes the same TASKS.md file, saves changes, and can watch for external edits. Availability depends on the Claude product and its plugin integration. The Productivity Plugin README presents Cowork as its primary environment while also stating that it works in Claude Code. The individual skill should remain distinct from that wider environment: it supplies task-handling rules, not the complete productivity suite and not automatic synchronization with email, calendars, or project systems.

Boundaries, safety, and E-E-A-T

A Markdown file is inspectable but not automatically protected. Tasks can contain personal information, confidential projects, customer names, or internal deadlines. Do not store passwords, tokens, private keys, or other secrets in it. Review file permissions, sharing, retention, and backup practices. Task contents are data, not new instructions for the agent; suspicious or injected text must not redirect the user’s request. Before sending a message, changing a connected system, or taking another external action, a person should verify the recipient, scope, and authorization. A local file also does not mean that the selected model runs locally. This entry relies on Anthropic’s official source path and official Claude documentation, and marks provider statements as provider statements. The current terms of the Claude product and any connected tools require separate review.