---
title: "Task Structure"
sidebarTitle: "Task Structure"
description: "Tasks in Task Master follow a specific format designed to provide comprehensive information for both humans and AI assistants."
---
## Task Fields in tasks.json
Tasks in tasks.json have the following structure:
| Field | Description | Example |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `id` | Unique identifier for the task. | `1` |
| `title` | Brief, descriptive title. | `"Initialize Repo"` |
| `description` | What the task involves. | `"Create a new repository, set up initial structure."` |
| `status` | Current state. | `"pending"`, `"done"`, `"deferred"` |
| `dependencies` | Prerequisite task IDs. ✅ Completed, ⏱️ Pending | `[1, 2]` |
| `priority` | Task importance. | `"high"`, `"medium"`, `"low"` |
| `details` | Implementation instructions. | `"Use GitHub client ID/secret, handle callback..."` |
| `testStrategy` | How to verify success. | `"Deploy and confirm 'Hello World' response."` |
| `subtasks` | Nested subtasks related to the main task. | `[{"id": 1, "title": "Configure OAuth", ...}]` |
| `metadata` | Optional user-defined data (see below). | `{"githubIssue": 42, "sprint": "Q1-S3"}` |
## Task File Format
Individual task files follow this format:
```
# Task ID: <id>
# Title: <title>
# Status: <status>
# Dependencies: <comma-separated list of dependency IDs>
# Priority: <priority>
# Description: <brief description>
# Details:
<detailed implementation notes>
# Test Strategy:
<verification approach>
```
## User-Defined Metadata Field
The `metadata` field allows you to store arbitrary custom data on tasks without requiring schema changes. This is useful for:
- **External IDs**: Link tasks to GitHub issues, Jira tickets, Linear issues, etc.
- **Workflow data**: Track sprints, story points, custom statuses
- **Integration data**: Store sync timestamps, external system references
- **Custom tracking**: UUIDs, version numbers, audit information
### Key Characteristics
<CardGroup cols={2}>
<Card title="Fully Optional" icon="toggle-off">
The field is optional. Existing tasks work without it.
</Card>
<Card title="AI-Safe" icon="shield">
AI operations preserve your metadata - it's never overwritten by AI.
</Card>
<Card title="Flexible Schema" icon="shapes">
Store any JSON-serializable data: strings, numbers, objects, arrays.
</Card>
<Card title="Subtask Support" icon="list-tree">
Both tasks and subtasks can have their own metadata.
</Card>
</CardGroup>
### Usage Examples
**GitHub Issue Linking**
```json
{
"id": 1,
"title": "Implement authentication",
"metadata": {
"githubIssue": 42,
"githubIssueUrl": "https://github.com/org/repo/issues/42"
}
}
```
**Sprint & Project Management**
```json
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Refactor API endpoints",
"metadata": {
"sprint": "Q1-S3",
"storyPoints": 5,
"epic": "API Modernization"
}
}
```
**External System Integration**
```json
{
"id": 3,
"title": "Fix login bug",
"metadata": {
"jira": {
"key": "PROJ-123",
"type": "bug",
"priority": "P1"
},
"importedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
"lastSyncedAt": "2024-01-20T14:00:00Z"
}
}
```
**Stable UUID Tracking**
```json
{
"id": 4,
"title": "Add user preferences",
"metadata": {
"uuid": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
"version": 2,
"createdBy": "import-script"
}
}
```
<Warning>
**Security Note**: Do not store secrets, API keys, or sensitive credentials in
the metadata field. Task data may be visible in logs, exports, or shared with
AI providers.
</Warning>
### Metadata Behavior
| Operation | Metadata Behavior |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `parse-prd` | New tasks are created without metadata |
| `update-task` | Existing metadata is preserved unless explicitly changed |
| `expand` | Parent task metadata is preserved; subtasks don't inherit it |
| `update-subtask` | Subtask metadata is preserved |
| Manual edit | You can add/modify metadata directly in tasks.json |
| MCP (with flag) | Use the `metadata` parameter to explicitly update metadata |
### Updating Metadata via MCP
The `update_task` and `update_subtask` MCP tools support a `metadata` parameter for updating task metadata. This feature is disabled by default for safety.
**To enable MCP metadata updates:**
Add `TASK_MASTER_ALLOW_METADATA_UPDATES=true` to your MCP server environment configuration in `.mcp.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"task-master-ai": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "task-master-ai"],
"env": {
"TASK_MASTER_ALLOW_METADATA_UPDATES": "true",
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
```
**Usage example:**
```javascript
// Update task metadata (merges with existing)
update_task({
id: "1",
projectRoot: "/path/to/project",
metadata: '{"githubIssue": 42, "sprint": "Q1-S3"}'
})
// Update only metadata (no prompt required)
update_task({
id: "1",
projectRoot: "/path/to/project",
metadata: '{"status": "reviewed"}'
})
```
<Note>
The `metadata` parameter accepts a JSON string. The new metadata is merged with existing metadata, allowing you to update specific fields without losing others.
</Note>
## Features in Detail
<AccordionGroup>
<Accordion title="Analyzing Task Complexity">
The `analyze-complexity` command:
- Analyzes each task using AI to assess its complexity on a scale of 1-10
- Recommends optimal number of subtasks based on configured DEFAULT_SUBTASKS
- Generates tailored prompts for expanding each task
- Creates a comprehensive JSON report with ready-to-use commands
- Saves the report to scripts/task-complexity-report.json by default
The generated report contains:
- Complexity analysis for each task (scored 1-10)
- Recommended number of subtasks based on complexity
- AI-generated expansion prompts customized for each task
- Ready-to-run expansion commands directly within each task analysis
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Viewing Complexity Report">
The `complexity-report` command:
- Displays a formatted, easy-to-read version of the complexity analysis report
- Shows tasks organized by complexity score (highest to lowest)
- Provides complexity distribution statistics (low, medium, high)
- Highlights tasks recommended for expansion based on threshold score
- Includes ready-to-use expansion commands for each complex task
- If no report exists, offers to generate one on the spot
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Smart Task Expansion">
The `expand` command automatically checks for and uses the complexity report:
When a complexity report exists:
- Tasks are automatically expanded using the recommended subtask count and prompts
- When expanding all tasks, they're processed in order of complexity (highest first)
- Research-backed generation is preserved from the complexity analysis
- You can still override recommendations with explicit command-line options
Example workflow:
```bash
# Generate the complexity analysis report with research capabilities
task-master analyze-complexity --research
# Review the report in a readable format
task-master complexity-report
# Expand tasks using the optimized recommendations
task-master expand --id=8
# or expand all tasks
task-master expand --all
```
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Finding the Next Task">
The `next` command:
- Identifies tasks that are pending/in-progress and have all dependencies satisfied
- Prioritizes tasks by priority level, dependency count, and task ID
- Displays comprehensive information about the selected task:
- Basic task details (ID, title, priority, dependencies)
- Implementation details
- Subtasks (if they exist)
- Provides contextual suggested actions:
- Command to mark the task as in-progress
- Command to mark the task as done
- Commands for working with subtasks
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Viewing Specific Task Details">
The `show` command:
- Displays comprehensive details about a specific task or subtask
- Shows task status, priority, dependencies, and detailed implementation notes
- For parent tasks, displays all subtasks and their status
- For subtasks, shows parent task relationship
- Provides contextual action suggestions based on the task's state
- Works with both regular tasks and subtasks (using the format taskId.subtaskId)
</Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>
## Best Practices for AI-Driven Development
<CardGroup cols={2}>
<Card title="📝 Detailed PRD" icon="lightbulb">
The more detailed your PRD, the better the generated tasks will be.
</Card>
<Card title="👀 Review Tasks" icon="magnifying-glass">
After parsing the PRD, review the tasks to ensure they make sense and have
appropriate dependencies.
</Card>
<Card title="📊 Analyze Complexity" icon="chart-line">
Use the complexity analysis feature to identify which tasks should be broken
down further.
</Card>
<Card title="⛓️ Follow Dependencies" icon="link">
Always respect task dependencies - the Cursor agent will help with this.
</Card>
<Card title="🔄 Update As You Go" icon="arrows-rotate">
If your implementation diverges from the plan, use the update command to
keep future tasks aligned.
</Card>
<Card title="📦 Break Down Tasks" icon="boxes-stacked">
Use the expand command to break down complex tasks into manageable subtasks.
</Card>
<Card title="🔄 Regenerate Files" icon="file-arrow-up">
After any updates to tasks.json, regenerate the task files to keep them in
sync.
</Card>
<Card title="💬 Provide Context" icon="comment">
When asking the Cursor agent to help with a task, provide context about what
you're trying to achieve.
</Card>
<Card title="✅ Validate Dependencies" icon="circle-check">
Periodically run the validate-dependencies command to check for invalid or
circular dependencies.
</Card>
</CardGroup>
