Three independent v0.5.3 polish items surfaced during manual WSL smoke testing,
bundled into one commit since they're all string/UX touches with no behavior change.
1. v0.4 lease-prompt tightening (`internal/session/{lease,run,run_preflight}.go`,
`cmd/entry.go`): when ctask is about to enter direct mode on a workspace that
already has a live tmux session, the "Continue anyway?" prompt now suggests
`ctask attach <slug>` as the reattach path. Threaded via
`PreflightOpts.ActiveLeaseHint` / `LaunchOpts.ActiveLeaseHint`; computed in
`cmd/entry.go::directModeTmuxHint` (best-effort: silent when no tmux on PATH
or no session for the workspace). Closes the footgun where a user forgot to
`export CTASK_SESSION_MODE=persistent` in a second terminal and hit the v0.4
coexistence prompt without realizing tmux passive-reattach was the intended
path.
2. Invocation-name in user-facing command hints (`cmd/invocation.go` new,
`cmd/{persistent,entry,resume,doctor}.go`): the binary name printed in
bypass / restore / "create one with" suggestions now reflects
`filepath.Base(os.Args[0])` instead of a hard-coded "ctask". Local-build
PowerShell users running `.\ctask.exe` see `ctask.exe new <ws> --direct`,
matching what they need to type. Installed contexts continue to see `ctask`.
Test seam (`invocationNameOverride`) pins the name to "ctask" in unit tests
so substring assertions stay stable across Go test binary names. Descriptive
prose ("ctask persistent mode requires...") and the ssh-remote hint
(`ssh -t <host> ctask <subcmd>`) intentionally keep the literal "ctask" —
they refer to the program identity / remote invocation, not the local
command form. Affected tests: `cmd/{persistent,resume}_test.go` tightened to
check the full `"<binary> <subcmd> <workspace> --direct"` form.
3. Smoke-checklist fixes (`docs/.../2026-05-08-v0.5.3-smoke-test-checklist.md`):
six issues caught during the run -- S2 now exports CTASK_SESSION_MODE in
both terminals (previously only WSL-A had it, which routed WSL-B's
secondary resume through direct mode instead of passive reattach); O3/A2
tmux-ls expectations corrected (tmux doesn't emit a literal "(detached)"
token); P2 expected behavior rewritten (passive reattach detach returns to
prompt immediately -- AttachExisting calls only shell.AttachSession with
no PollSessionEnd, the owner is responsible for finalize); A1 no longer
asks for Ctrl-C in WSL-B; A6 path now uses a glob (was hardcoded to the
checklist's authoring date, broke on v0.5.1 local-time directory naming);
M1 PATH-hide rewritten to `$HOME/.local/bin` only (was `:/bin` which is a
symlink to /usr/bin on usrmerge systems, did not hide tmux) and uses
`command -v` instead of `which` (which is itself in /usr/bin, unreachable
under the minimal PATH); M3/M4 reordered so the no-workspace verification
runs after PATH is restored (was silently failing under minimal PATH);
T1 wording made "substring match" explicit; T2 wording made N/A
unambiguous; section 10 split into 10a-10f, each a separate input, to
work around PSReadLine multi-line paste parsing.
ctask
A local CLI that creates and manages named AI-agent task workspaces.
ctask gives developers dedicated directories with consistent structure, visible session identity, environment context injection, and automatic session logging -- so you can start, resume, and organize AI-assisted work more safely and predictably.
Status
v0.2.0 -- local use, not published to any package registry. Windows-primary, cross-platform design.
Key Features
- Named workspaces with consistent layout (task metadata, notes, context, output, logs)
- Session traceability -- automatic file-change snapshot logging on every session
- Agent-agnostic -- default agent is Claude Code, but any CLI agent or shell works
- Query resolution -- find workspaces by name, slug, or substring
- Status line -- persistent session context inside Claude Code's UI
- Doctor -- verify setup and diagnose configuration problems
- Safe delete -- active workspace protection prevents accidental data loss
Install (Windows)
cd C:\Users\Warren\claude_tasks\ctask_v0.1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/install.ps1
Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\ctask\bin. Open a new terminal after install.
See docs/install.md for full details.
Quick Start
# Verify setup
ctask doctor
# Create a new task workspace and launch Claude Code
ctask new "fix auth bug"
# List recent workspaces
ctask list
# Resume where you left off
ctask last
# Or resume a specific workspace
ctask resume auth-bug
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ctask new [title] |
Create a new workspace and launch the agent |
ctask list |
Show recent workspaces |
ctask resume <query> |
Reopen a workspace and launch the agent |
ctask open <query> |
Open a workspace in a shell (no agent) |
ctask info <query> |
Display workspace metadata |
ctask archive <query> |
Mark a workspace as archived |
ctask last |
Resume the most recently updated workspace |
ctask doctor |
Verify ctask setup |
ctask delete <query> |
Permanently remove a workspace |
See docs/commands.md for full usage.
Status Line
ctask includes a status-line helper for Claude Code that shows session context at the bottom of the UI:
(ctask:fix-auth-bug|local) C:\Users\Warren\ai-workspaces\general\2026-04-06_fix-auth-bug
Run ctask doctor to check if the status line is configured. See docs/install.md for setup.
Uninstall
cd C:\Users\Warren\claude_tasks\ctask_v0.1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/uninstall.ps1
Removes ctask files only. Your workspaces and task data are never touched.