Tasks and Dependencies

PRIMA Project Management tracks work at the level of projects, and tasks are optional. When a project has a task file, the dashboard reads it and draws task bars, dependency arrows and progress. When it has none, the dashboard shows the project without them.

Note

In this release no PRIMA Project Management command, rule or skill creates or edits task files. The product ships no schema for them either, and the dashboard only reads them. A task file exists in your workspace when you, another tool or your own process writes it, and every other part of the product works without one.

Where Task Files Live

Each project keeps its tasks in a file named after the project ID.

.claude/state/tasks/P012.json

The file holds a tasks array. When a project has no task file, the dashboard looks for a todos list of plain text items on the project. It shows each item as a task with status todo.

Task Fields

The dashboard reads the fields below from each task. A task with an id, a title and a status appears in the task lists and the dependency graph. It also needs at least one date to appear as a bar on the Gantt chart.

Field	What the dashboard does with it
id	Identifies the task, such as T001, and links dependencies to it
title	The task name on bars, in lists and in the graph
status	Colours the task and decides whether it counts as done or blocked
dependencies	The tasks this one depends on (see below)
startDate	Where the task bar starts on the project Gantt chart
dueDate	Where the task bar ends, and the date on the Calendar view
created	Shown in the task details and used to sort the Recent Tasks list
completed	The completion date shown in the task details
updated or lastUpdated	The last change date shown in the task details
assignee	Shown in the task details when present
estimatedHours	Shown in the task details when present
notes	Shown in the task details on the Recent Tasks list

A task with only a due date gets a bar that starts seven days earlier. A task with only a start date gets a bar that ends seven days later.

Older Field Names

Task files written over time use different names for the same thing. The build script reads these names and converts them, so you do not need to rewrite old files.

Older name	Read as
dependsOn	dependencies
A dependency written as a plain task ID, such as "T001"	A finish-to-start dependency on that task
A dependency with id in place of taskId	taskId
createdAt, createdDate, added	created
completedAt, completedDate	completed
due	dueDate

Task Statuses

Status	How the dashboard treats it
todo	Open, shown in grey
in-progress	Open, shown in light blue
done	Counted as done, shown in green
on-hold	Counted as blocked, shown in amber
cancelled	Not counted as done or blocked, though it still counts towards the task total

Dependencies

A dependency says that one task waits on another. Write each one as an object with a type and the ID of the task it depends on.

{
  "projectId": "P012",
  "tasks": [
    { "id": "T001", "title": "Book the venue", "status": "done", "dueDate": "2026-11-02" },
    {
      "id": "T002",
      "title": "Send invitations",
      "status": "todo",
      "dueDate": "2026-11-09",
      "dependencies": [{ "type": "FS", "taskId": "T001" }]
    }
  ]
}

Type	Meaning
FS	Finish to start, the default when no type is given
SS	Start to start
FF	Finish to finish
SF	Start to finish

The project Gantt chart draws a finish-to-start dependency as an arrow with a right-angled elbow. It draws the other three types in a second arrow style. The Dependency Graph tab lays the tasks out in columns by depth and labels each arrow with its type.

How Counts Are Worked Out

The dashboard counts the tasks in each file afresh on every build, so the figures always match the file.

• Task count is every task in the file, done tasks included.
• Done is every task with status done.
• Blocked is every task with status on-hold. It also includes every open task that depends on an unfinished task in the same file.

The count ignores a dependency on a task ID that is not in the same file. A task that waits only on a dependency keeps its own status colour on the charts, and only the blocked count reflects it.

Untracked Work

The dashboard can mark a project that you worked on recently but whose tasks show no movement. A marked project shows “At risk” in place of its status on the Projects view. The dashboard marks a project when all three of these conditions hold.

1. Its status is in-progress or overdue, because the dashboard never marks paused or archived projects.
2. Its lastWorked date falls within the last 14 days of the build date.
3. Its task file holds no tasks, or no task carries a created, completed, updated or start date from the last 14 days.

The dashboard never marks a project that has no task file, unless you switch that on. A workspace that has never used task files therefore sees no “At risk” labels.

Switching It On or Off

Setting	Where	Effect
taskEnforcement.enabled: false	.claude/state/state.json	Switches the marking off for every project
taskEnforcement.enabled: true	.claude/state/state.json	Also marks projects that have no task file at all
taskTrackingEnabled: false	The project’s detail file, or its entry in state.json when it has no detail file	Switches the marking off for that project

Neither setting is part of the state schema that ships with the product. The dashboard reads them when they are present.

Related Pages

• Dashboard Views shows where tasks appear on the page.
• State Files Explained describes the project register and the optional detail files.
• Pausing, Archiving and Milestones covers the milestones the timeline and dashboard draw.