New Work
SkillDocs & knowledgeCreate and manage todo tracking documents for features, bugs, and multi-step tasks. Use when starting new work that benefits from a persistent record of decisions, progress, and context.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the New Work skill
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by posit-dev/skills in posit-dev/new-work/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
Todo notes track work items as markdown files with YAML front matter capturing status, context, and progress.
Storage Location
Use _dev/todos/ if it exists in the repository root; otherwise ask the user where to store todo notes before creating anything. It contains two subdirectories: pending/ (active) and done/ (finished).
File Naming
YYYY-MM-DD_short-kebab-slug.md, e.g. 2026-02-18_add-oauth-support.md.
File Contents
YAML front matter plus a markdown body. Only status is required.
---
status: pending # pending | in progress | review | blocked | done
issue: https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123 # optional
pr: https://github.com/org/repo/pull/456 # optional
---
# Title
Overview of what this is about and why it matters.
## Key Files
- `src/relevant-file.ts` — what it does
- `src/other-file.ts:functionName()` — why it matters
## Work Items
- [ ] First thing to do
- [ ] Second thing to do
## Design Decisions
Context, constraints, or choices worth capturing.
## Decision Log
<!--
### YYYY-MM-DD — Short Decision Title
**Decision:** What was decided?
**Rationale:** Why?
-->
Lifecycle
- Create: make
pending/if needed, create the date-prefixed file withstatus: pending, and write enough context to resume later. - In progress: update
status; addissue/prlinks when they exist; check off Work Items (- [ ]→- [x]); record significant decisions in the Decision Log. - Complete: set
status: doneandmvthe file frompending/todone/.
Keeping the Document Current
Treat the todo as a living record for the rest of the session. Update it after any decision, newly discovered problem or requirement, issue raised/resolved, significant implementation work, or commit. When in doubt, update it.
When you form a plan — whether in response to a user request or on your own initiative — write it to the todo document rather than presenting it only in chat. The document is the persistent record; the chat is not.
To resume in a future session, use /working-on <path-to-todo> — same live-document behavior without re-creating the file.
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 498
- Forks
- 48
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
Advanced
- Catalog kind
- skill
- Gateway key
new-work- Source
- github.com/posit-dev/skills