Task Master AI - Claude Code Integration Guide

Essential Commands

Core Workflow Commands

# Project Setup
task-master init                                    # Initialize Task Master in current project
task-master parse-prd .taskmaster/docs/prd.txt      # Generate tasks from PRD document
task-master models --setup                        # Configure AI models interactively

# Daily Development Workflow
task-master list                                   # Show all tasks with status
task-master next                                   # Get next available task to work on
task-master show <id>                             # View detailed task information (e.g., task-master show 1.2)
task-master set-status --id=<id> --status=done    # Mark task complete

# Task Management
task-master add-task --prompt="description" --research        # Add new task with AI assistance
task-master expand --id=<id> --research --force              # Break task into subtasks
task-master update-task --id=<id> --prompt="changes"         # Update specific task
task-master update --from=<id> --prompt="changes"            # Update multiple tasks from ID onwards
task-master update-subtask --id=<id> --prompt="notes"        # Add implementation notes to subtask

# Analysis & Planning
task-master analyze-complexity --research          # Analyze task complexity
task-master complexity-report                      # View complexity analysis
task-master expand --all --research               # Expand all eligible tasks

# Dependencies & Organization
task-master add-dependency --id=<id> --depends-on=<id>       # Add task dependency
task-master move --from=<id> --to=<id>                       # Reorganize task hierarchy
task-master validate-dependencies                            # Check for dependency issues
task-master generate                                         # Update task markdown files (usually auto-called)

Key Files & Project Structure

Core Files

• .taskmaster/tasks/tasks.json - Main task data file (auto-managed)
• .taskmaster/config.json - AI model configuration (use task-master models to modify)
• .taskmaster/docs/prd.txt - Product Requirements Document for parsing
• .taskmaster/tasks/*.txt - Individual task files (auto-generated from tasks.json)
• .env - API keys for CLI usage

Claude Code Integration Files

• CLAUDE.md - Auto-loaded context for Claude Code (this file)
• .claude/settings.json - Claude Code tool allowlist and preferences
• .claude/commands/ - Custom slash commands for repeated workflows
• .mcp.json - MCP server configuration (project-specific)

Directory Structure

project/
├── .taskmaster/
│   ├── tasks/              # Task files directory
│   │   ├── tasks.json      # Main task database
│   │   ├── task-1.md      # Individual task files
│   │   └── task-2.md
│   ├── docs/              # Documentation directory
│   │   ├── prd.txt        # Product requirements
│   ├── reports/           # Analysis reports directory
│   │   └── task-complexity-report.json
│   ├── templates/         # Template files
│   │   └── example_prd.txt  # Example PRD template
│   └── config.json        # AI models & settings
├── .claude/
│   ├── settings.json      # Claude Code configuration
│   └── commands/         # Custom slash commands
├── .env                  # API keys
├── .mcp.json            # MCP configuration
└── CLAUDE.md            # This file - auto-loaded by Claude Code

MCP Integration

Task Master provides an MCP server that Claude Code can connect to. Configure in .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "task-master-ai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "--package=task-master-ai", "task-master-ai"],
      "env": {
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "GOOGLE_API_KEY_HERE",
        "XAI_API_KEY": "XAI_API_KEY_HERE",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "OPENROUTER_API_KEY_HERE",
        "MISTRAL_API_KEY": "MISTRAL_API_KEY_HERE",
        "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY": "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
        "OLLAMA_API_KEY": "OLLAMA_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Essential MCP Tools

help; // = shows available taskmaster commands
// Project setup
initialize_project; // = task-master init
parse_prd; // = task-master parse-prd

// Daily workflow
get_tasks; // = task-master list
next_task; // = task-master next
get_task; // = task-master show <id>
set_task_status; // = task-master set-status

// Task management
add_task; // = task-master add-task
expand_task; // = task-master expand
update_task; // = task-master update-task
update_subtask; // = task-master update-subtask
update; // = task-master update

// Analysis
analyze_project_complexity; // = task-master analyze-complexity
complexity_report; // = task-master complexity-report

Claude Code Workflow Integration

Standard Development Workflow

1. Project Initialization

# Initialize Task Master
task-master init

# Create or obtain PRD, then parse it
task-master parse-prd .taskmaster/docs/prd.txt

# Analyze complexity and expand tasks
task-master analyze-complexity --research
task-master expand --all --research

If tasks already exist, another PRD can be parsed (with new information only!) using parse-prd with --append flag. This will add the generated tasks to the existing list of tasks..

2. Daily Development Loop

# Start each session
task-master next                           # Find next available task
task-master show <id>                     # Review task details

# During implementation, check in code context into the tasks and subtasks
task-master update-subtask --id=<id> --prompt="implementation notes..."

# Complete tasks
task-master set-status --id=<id> --status=done

3. Multi-Claude Workflows

For complex projects, use multiple Claude Code sessions:

# Terminal 1: Main implementation
cd project && claude

# Terminal 2: Testing and validation
cd project-test-worktree && claude

# Terminal 3: Documentation updates
cd project-docs-worktree && claude

Custom Slash Commands

Create .claude/commands/taskmaster-next.md:

Find the next available Task Master task and show its details.

Steps:

1. Run `task-master next` to get the next task
2. If a task is available, run `task-master show <id>` for full details
3. Provide a summary of what needs to be implemented
4. Suggest the first implementation step

Create .claude/commands/taskmaster-complete.md:

Complete a Task Master task: $ARGUMENTS

Steps:

1. Review the current task with `task-master show $ARGUMENTS`
2. Verify all implementation is complete
3. Run any tests related to this task
4. Mark as complete: `task-master set-status --id=$ARGUMENTS --status=done`
5. Show the next available task with `task-master next`

Tool Allowlist Recommendations

Add to .claude/settings.json:

{
  "allowedTools": [
    "Edit",
    "Bash(task-master *)",
    "Bash(git commit:*)",
    "Bash(git add:*)",
    "Bash(npm run *)",
    "mcp__task_master_ai__*"
  ]
}

Configuration & Setup

API Keys Required

At least one of these API keys must be configured:

• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (Claude models) - Recommended
• PERPLEXITY_API_KEY (Research features) - Highly recommended
• OPENAI_API_KEY (GPT models)
• GOOGLE_API_KEY (Gemini models)
• MISTRAL_API_KEY (Mistral models)
• OPENROUTER_API_KEY (Multiple models)
• XAI_API_KEY (Grok models)

An API key is required for any provider used across any of the 3 roles defined in the models command.

Model Configuration

# Interactive setup (recommended)
task-master models --setup

# Set specific models
task-master models --set-main claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
task-master models --set-research perplexity-llama-3.1-sonar-large-128k-online
task-master models --set-fallback gpt-4o-mini

Task Structure & IDs

Task ID Format

• Main tasks: 1, 2, 3, etc.
• Subtasks: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, etc.
• Sub-subtasks: 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.

Task Status Values

• pending - Ready to work on
• in-progress - Currently being worked on
• done - Completed and verified
• deferred - Postponed
• cancelled - No longer needed
• blocked - Waiting on external factors

Task Fields

{
  "id": "1.2",
  "title": "Implement user authentication",
  "description": "Set up JWT-based auth system",
  "status": "pending",
  "priority": "high",
  "dependencies": ["1.1"],
  "details": "Use bcrypt for hashing, JWT for tokens...",
  "testStrategy": "Unit tests for auth functions, integration tests for login flow",
  "subtasks": []
}

Claude Code Best Practices with Task Master

Context Management

• Use /clear between different tasks to maintain focus
• This CLAUDE.md file is automatically loaded for context
• Use task-master show <id> to pull specific task context when needed

Iterative Implementation

1. task-master show <subtask-id> - Understand requirements
2. Explore codebase and plan implementation
3. task-master update-subtask --id=<id> --prompt="detailed plan" - Log plan
4. task-master set-status --id=<id> --status=in-progress - Start work
5. Implement code following logged plan
6. task-master update-subtask --id=<id> --prompt="what worked/didn't work" - Log progress
7. task-master set-status --id=<id> --status=done - Complete task

Complex Workflows with Checklists

For large migrations or multi-step processes:

1. Create a markdown PRD file describing the new changes: touch task-migration-checklist.md (prds can be .txt or .md)
2. Use Taskmaster to parse the new prd with task-master parse-prd --append (also available in MCP)
3. Use Taskmaster to expand the newly generated tasks into subtasks. Consdier using analyze-complexity with the correct --to and --from IDs (the new ids) to identify the ideal subtask amounts for each task. Then expand them.
4. Work through items systematically, checking them off as completed
5. Use task-master update-subtask to log progress on each task/subtask and/or updating/researching them before/during implementation if getting stuck

Git Integration

Task Master works well with gh CLI:

# Create PR for completed task
gh pr create --title "Complete task 1.2: User authentication" --body "Implements JWT auth system as specified in task 1.2"

# Reference task in commits
git commit -m "feat: implement JWT auth (task 1.2)"

Parallel Development with Git Worktrees

# Create worktrees for parallel task development
git worktree add ../project-auth feature/auth-system
git worktree add ../project-api feature/api-refactor

# Run Claude Code in each worktree
cd ../project-auth && claude    # Terminal 1: Auth work
cd ../project-api && claude     # Terminal 2: API work

Troubleshooting

AI Commands Failing

# Check API keys are configured
cat .env                           # For CLI usage

# Verify model configuration
task-master models

# Test with different model
task-master models --set-fallback gpt-4o-mini

MCP Connection Issues

• Check .mcp.json configuration
• Verify Node.js installation
• Use --mcp-debug flag when starting Claude Code
• Use CLI as fallback if MCP unavailable

Task File Sync Issues

# Regenerate task files from tasks.json
task-master generate

# Fix dependency issues
task-master fix-dependencies

DO NOT RE-INITIALIZE. That will not do anything beyond re-adding the same Taskmaster core files.

Important Notes

AI-Powered Operations

These commands make AI calls and may take up to a minute:

• parse_prd / task-master parse-prd
• analyze_project_complexity / task-master analyze-complexity
• expand_task / task-master expand
• expand_all / task-master expand --all
• add_task / task-master add-task
• update / task-master update
• update_task / task-master update-task
• update_subtask / task-master update-subtask

File Management

• Never manually edit tasks.json - use commands instead
• Never manually edit .taskmaster/config.json - use task-master models
• Task markdown files in tasks/ are auto-generated
• Run task-master generate after manual changes to tasks.json

Claude Code Session Management

• Use /clear frequently to maintain focused context
• Create custom slash commands for repeated Task Master workflows
• Configure tool allowlist to streamline permissions
• Use headless mode for automation: claude -p "task-master next"

Multi-Task Updates

• Use update --from=<id> to update multiple future tasks
• Use update-task --id=<id> for single task updates
• Use update-subtask --id=<id> for implementation logging

Research Mode

• Add --research flag for research-based AI enhancement
• Requires a research model API key like Perplexity (PERPLEXITY_API_KEY) in environment
• Provides more informed task creation and updates
• Recommended for complex technical tasks

This guide ensures Claude Code has immediate access to Task Master's essential functionality for agentic development workflows.