backlog

Persistent, cross-session task management for Claude Code. Tasks survive sessions so work started by one agent can be picked up by another.

Zero external dependencies — pure TypeScript with event-sourced storage. Install and it works.

Install

/plugin marketplace add backloghq/backlog
/plugin install backlog@backloghq-backlog

From source

git clone https://github.com/backloghq/backlog.git
cd backlog && npm install && npm run build
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/backlog

Standalone MCP server

Add to your project's .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "backlog": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/agent-teams-task-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TASKDATA": "/path/to/task-data"
      }
    }
  }
}

Skills

Skill	Description
/backlog:tasks	Show the current backlog — pending, active, blocked, overdue tasks
/backlog:plan	Break down a goal into tasks with dependencies, priorities, and specs
/backlog:standup	Daily standup — done, in progress, blocked, up next
/backlog:refine	Groom the backlog — fix vague tasks, missing priorities, broken deps, stale items
/backlog:spec	Write a spec document for a task before implementation
/backlog:implement	Pick up a task, read its spec, implement it, mark done
/backlog:handoff	Prepare for next session — annotate progress, stop active tasks, summarize state

Agent

The task-planner agent can be auto-invoked by Claude when someone needs to plan work. It reads the codebase, decomposes goals into tasks with dependencies, and writes specs for complex items.

Hooks

Event	What it does
SessionStart	Shows pending task count when a session begins
TaskCreated	Syncs Claude's built-in tasks to the persistent backlog
TaskCompleted	Marks the matching backlog task as done when Claude completes a built-in task
SubagentStart	Auto-assigns unassigned pending tasks to the spawned agent

Tools (MCP)

24 tools for full task lifecycle management:

Tool	Description
task_list	Query tasks with filter syntax
task_count	Count tasks matching a filter
task_add	Create a task with description, project, tags, priority, due, scheduled, recur, agent
task_log	Record an already-completed task
task_modify	Update existing task(s)
task_duplicate	Clone a task with optional modifications
task_done	Mark task as completed
task_delete	Delete a task
task_annotate	Add a note to a task
task_denotate	Remove a note from a task
task_start	Mark task as actively being worked on
task_stop	Stop working on a task
task_undo	Undo the last change
task_info	Get full details for a task
task_import	Bulk import tasks from JSON
task_purge	Permanently remove deleted tasks
task_doc_write	Attach/update a markdown document to a task
task_doc_read	Read the document attached to a task
task_doc_delete	Remove a document from a task
task_archive	Archive completed/deleted tasks older than N days
task_archive_list	List available archive segments
task_archive_load	Load archived tasks for inspection
task_projects	List all project names
task_tags	List all tags

Filter Syntax

status:pending                    # all pending tasks
project:backend +bug              # bugs in backend project
priority:H due.before:friday      # high priority due before friday
+OVERDUE                          # overdue tasks
+ACTIVE                           # tasks currently being worked on
+BLOCKED                          # tasks blocked by dependencies
+READY                            # actionable tasks (past scheduled date)
agent:explorer                    # tasks assigned to the explorer agent
( project:web or project:api )    # boolean with parentheses
description.contains:auth         # substring match

Supports attribute modifiers (.before, .after, .by, .has, .not, .none, .any, .startswith, .endswith), tags (+tag, -tag), virtual tags (+OVERDUE, +ACTIVE, +BLOCKED, +READY, +TAGGED, +ANNOTATED, etc.), and boolean operators (and, or).

Task Docs

Attach markdown documents (specs, context, handoff notes) to any task:

task_doc_write  id:"1"  content:"# Spec\n\nBuild the auth flow.\n"
task_doc_read   id:"1"
task_doc_delete id:"1"

Writing a doc adds a +doc tag and has_doc:yes, so agents can discover tasks with docs:

task_list filter:"+doc"
task_list filter:"has_doc:yes"

Agent Identity

Tasks support an agent field for tracking which agent owns a task:

task_add  description:"Investigate bug"  agent:"explorer"
task_list filter:"agent:explorer status:pending"

Project Isolation

Each project gets its own task data automatically. When used as a plugin, task data lives in ~/.claude/plugins/data/backlog/projects/<project-slug>/. When used standalone, set TASKDATA explicitly.

Variable	Description
TASKDATA	Explicit path to task data directory (overrides auto-derivation)
TASKDATA_ROOT	Root directory for auto-derived per-project task data

Development

npm install
npm run build          # compile TypeScript
npm run lint           # run ESLint
npm test               # run tests
npm run test:coverage  # run tests with coverage
npm run dev            # watch mode

License

MIT