maceff-todo-hygiene
Use BEFORE significant TODO modifications (adding subtrees, marking complete, reorganizing, collapsing). Ensures policy compliance through extractive questions. Run proactively when planning TODO changes.
When & Why to Use This Skill
The maceff-todo-hygiene Claude skill is a specialized workflow tool designed to enforce organizational policy compliance during task management. By utilizing a structured Policy Engagement Protocol (PEP) and CLI-based extraction, it ensures that all modifications to TODO lists—including additions, completions, and reorganizations—adhere to strict formatting, verification, and documentation standards. This skill is essential for maintaining project hygiene, preventing technical debt, and ensuring long-term traceability in complex development environments.
Use Cases
- Pre-Commit Validation: Automatically extract and apply structural and formatting requirements before adding new subtrees or items to a project's TODO list.
- Completion Verification: Ensure all mandatory verification steps and traceability metadata are included before marking a task as finished to prevent UI disappearance or loss of context.
- Safe Project Reorganization: Maintain critical context and hierarchy depth when moving, collapsing, or removing task items to ensure project history remains intact.
- Policy-Driven Archiving: Identify correct archive locations and naming conventions for cross-repository mission work based on specific policy guidelines.
- SOP Integration: Use 'Policy as API' to integrate complex project management rules directly into the agent's planning phase, reducing manual oversight.
| name | maceff-todo-hygiene |
|---|---|
| description | Use BEFORE significant TODO modifications (adding subtrees, marking complete, reorganizing, collapsing). Ensures policy compliance through extractive questions. Run proactively when planning TODO changes. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Grep |
Policy Engagement Protocol
Navigate todo_hygiene policy using CLI tools:
First access: Get CEP navigation guide
macf_tools policy navigate todo_hygieneIdentify relevant sections: Based on your planned action (adding, modifying, completing, removing)
Selective read: Read only sections relevant to your current action
macf_tools policy read todo_hygiene --section N # For specific section macf_tools policy read todo_hygiene --from-nav-boundary # Skip CEP guide
Why CLI tools: Caching prevents redundant reads, line numbers enable precise citations.
Questions to Extract from Policy (Action-Oriented)
Before Adding Items:
- What structure requirements apply when adding new TODOs?
- What format requirements apply to new TODO items?
Before Modifying Items: 3. What preservation requirements apply when editing existing TODOs? 4. What context must be maintained when reorganizing?
Before Marking Complete: 5. What verification is required before marking a TODO complete? 6. What must be added to completed items for traceability? 7. What minimum pending item requirement exists to prevent UI disappearance?
Before Removing/Collapsing Items: 8. What must happen before removing or collapsing completed work? 9. What are the requirements for reducing TODO hierarchy depth? 10. Is this cross-repo MISSION work? What determines archive location? 11. How should archive filenames identify the MISSION being archived?
General: 12. What documentation integration requirements exist for TODOs? 13. What backup requirements apply to significant TODO modifications?
Execution
- Identify your action type: Adding, modifying, completing, or removing
- Read relevant policy sections using CEP navigation
- Extract requirements for your specific action
- Apply requirements to your planned TodoWrite operation
Critical Meta-Pattern
Policy as API: This skill uses macf_tools policy CLI commands for reading policies. CLI tools handle framework path resolution, provide caching, and output line numbers for citations.
Version History
- v1.0 (2025-11-25): Initial creation with timeless extractive questions