Next Task

Analyze open GitHub issues and recommend the best task to start working on right now.

Step 1: Gather Context

Run these in parallel to understand the current state:

Open issues and board state

gh issue list --repo Destrayon/Connapse --state open --json number,title,labels,milestone,assignees,createdAt,updatedAt --limit 100

Current branch and working state

git status --short
git branch --show-current

Recent activity (what was just worked on)

gh pr list --repo Destrayon/Connapse --state merged --json number,title,mergedAt,labels --limit 5

Check decisions.md and issues.md for blockers or context

Read .claude/state/decisions.md and .claude/state/issues.md for any known blockers, dependencies, or recent decisions that affect prioritization.

Step 2: Score and Rank

Evaluate each open issue against these criteria, in order of importance:

Priority Weight (highest impact)

Milestone Urgency

Issues in the nearest milestone score higher. The reasoning: shipping a complete milestone is more valuable than scattering work across multiple milestones.

Dependency Readiness

An issue that has no blockers and no unmerged dependencies should score higher than one waiting on other work. Check:

• Does the issue body reference other issues it depends on? Are those closed?
• Is the issue marked blocked?
• Would this issue unblock other issues? (check if other issues reference this one)

Momentum Bonus

If recent merged PRs touched the same area, there's context advantage — the codebase patterns are fresh.

Size Preference

Smaller issues are easier to start and finish in a single session. Bias toward completing something rather than starting something large.

Step 3: Present Recommendation

Present the top 3 ranked issues in this format:

## Recommended Next Task

### #1: [Issue Title] (#number)
**Score**: [total] | **Priority**: [P-level] | **Milestone**: [version] | **Size**: [size]
**Why this one**: [1-2 sentences explaining why this is the best pick right now —
reference momentum, unblocking, milestone progress, etc.]
**Quick start**: [Which files to look at first, what interface to implement, etc.]

---

### #2: [Issue Title] (#number)
...

### #3: [Issue Title] (#number)
...

After presenting, ask the user which one they'd like to start — or if they want to see more options.

Step 4: Set Up for Work

Once the user picks a task:

1. Create the branch: git checkout -b <type>/<issue-number>-<short-description>
2. Move the issue to "In Progress" on the project board:

   # Get the project item ID for this issue
   ITEM_ID=$(gh project item-list 3 --owner Destrayon --format json | jq -r '.items[] | select(.content.number == <ISSUE_NUMBER> and .content.repository == "Destrayon/Connapse") | .id')
   # Move to In Progress
   gh project item-edit --project-id PVT_kwHOAldLE84BQszG --id "$ITEM_ID" --field-id PVTSSF_lAHOAldLE84BQszGzg-vn-U --single-select-option-id 47fc9ee4

3. Read the issue details: gh issue view <number>
4. Read the relevant source files mentioned in the issue's implementation notes
5. Summarize what needs to be done and confirm the approach before writing code

Edge Cases

• No open issues: Tell the user the board is clear and suggest running /create-tickets if they have ideas to discuss.
• All issues are blocked: Flag this explicitly and suggest investigating what's blocking progress.
• Working tree is dirty: Warn before creating a new branch — suggest committing or stashing first.
• Already on a feature branch: Note that there may be in-progress work. Ask if they want to continue that or switch to something new.