diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2fd1cfb..eddbd2e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ module github.com/warrenronsiek/ctask
 
 go 1.26.1
 
-require github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
+require (
+	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
+)
 
 require (
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a6ee3e0..47edb24 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -7,4 +7,7 @@ github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2/go.mod h1:7C1pvHqHw5A4vrJfjNwvOdzYu0Gml16OCs2GRiT
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9 h1:9exaQaMOCwffKiiiYk6/BndUBv+iRViNW+4lEMi0PvY=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
 go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4/go.mod h1:DhzuOOF2ATzADvBadXxruRBLzYTpT36CKvDb3+aBEFg=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/internal/workspace/metadata.go b/internal/workspace/metadata.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3c4d74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/workspace/metadata.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package workspace
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+// TaskMeta represents the task.yaml schema. Exactly these fields, no extras in v0.1.
+type TaskMeta struct {
+	ID            string     `yaml:"id"`
+	Slug          string     `yaml:"slug"`
+	Title         string     `yaml:"title"`
+	CreatedAt     time.Time  `yaml:"created_at"`
+	UpdatedAt     time.Time  `yaml:"updated_at"`
+	Status        string     `yaml:"status"`
+	Category      string     `yaml:"category"`
+	Mode          string     `yaml:"mode"`
+	Agent         string     `yaml:"agent"`
+	WorkspacePath string     `yaml:"workspace_path"`
+	ArchivedAt    *time.Time `yaml:"archived_at"`
+}
+
+// WriteMeta writes a TaskMeta to a YAML file.
+func WriteMeta(path string, meta *TaskMeta) error {
+	data, err := yaml.Marshal(meta)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return os.WriteFile(path, data, 0644)
+}
+
+// ReadMeta reads a TaskMeta from a YAML file.
+func ReadMeta(path string) (*TaskMeta, error) {
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var meta TaskMeta
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, &meta); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &meta, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/workspace/metadata_test.go b/internal/workspace/metadata_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68dee28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/workspace/metadata_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+package workspace
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestWriteAndReadMeta(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	path := filepath.Join(dir, "task.yaml")
+
+	now := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
+	meta := &TaskMeta{
+		ID:            "20260405-143022",
+		Slug:          "arch-notes",
+		Title:         "arch notes",
+		CreatedAt:     now,
+		UpdatedAt:     now,
+		Status:        "active",
+		Category:      "general",
+		Mode:          "local",
+		Agent:         "claude",
+		WorkspacePath: "/home/warren/ai-workspaces/general/20260405_arch-notes",
+		ArchivedAt:    nil,
+	}
+
+	if err := WriteMeta(path, meta); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("WriteMeta: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	got, err := ReadMeta(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadMeta: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if got.ID != meta.ID {
+		t.Errorf("ID: got %q, want %q", got.ID, meta.ID)
+	}
+	if got.Slug != meta.Slug {
+		t.Errorf("Slug: got %q, want %q", got.Slug, meta.Slug)
+	}
+	if got.Status != "active" {
+		t.Errorf("Status: got %q, want \"active\"", got.Status)
+	}
+	if got.ArchivedAt != nil {
+		t.Errorf("ArchivedAt: expected nil, got %v", got.ArchivedAt)
+	}
+	if !got.CreatedAt.Equal(now) {
+		t.Errorf("CreatedAt: got %v, want %v", got.CreatedAt, now)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMetaYAMLFieldsPresent(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	path := filepath.Join(dir, "task.yaml")
+
+	now := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
+	meta := &TaskMeta{
+		ID:            "20260405-143022",
+		Slug:          "test",
+		Title:         "test",
+		CreatedAt:     now,
+		UpdatedAt:     now,
+		Status:        "active",
+		Category:      "general",
+		Mode:          "local",
+		Agent:         "claude",
+		WorkspacePath: "/tmp/test",
+	}
+
+	WriteMeta(path, meta)
+
+	data, _ := os.ReadFile(path)
+	content := string(data)
+
+	for _, field := range []string{"id:", "slug:", "title:", "created_at:", "updated_at:", "status:", "category:", "mode:", "agent:", "workspace_path:", "archived_at:"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(content, field) {
+			t.Errorf("missing field %s in YAML output", field)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMetaArchive(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	path := filepath.Join(dir, "task.yaml")
+
+	now := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
+	meta := &TaskMeta{
+		ID:            "20260405-143022",
+		Slug:          "test",
+		Title:         "test",
+		CreatedAt:     now,
+		UpdatedAt:     now,
+		Status:        "active",
+		Category:      "general",
+		Mode:          "local",
+		Agent:         "claude",
+		WorkspacePath: "/tmp/test",
+	}
+
+	WriteMeta(path, meta)
+
+	archiveTime := now.Add(time.Hour)
+	meta.Status = "archived"
+	meta.ArchivedAt = &archiveTime
+	WriteMeta(path, meta)
+
+	got, _ := ReadMeta(path)
+	if got.Status != "archived" {
+		t.Errorf("Status: got %q, want \"archived\"", got.Status)
+	}
+	if got.ArchivedAt == nil {
+		t.Fatal("ArchivedAt: expected non-nil")
+	}
+	if !got.ArchivedAt.Equal(archiveTime) {
+		t.Errorf("ArchivedAt: got %v, want %v", got.ArchivedAt, archiveTime)
+	}
+}