Agent Workflows

This guide covers the recommended patterns for AI agents that use Hypertask as their task management backend. Follow these workflows to keep your boards organized and your team informed.

Picking up work

When an agent session starts, it should find the highest-priority available work.

1. Check the inbox — call hypertask_inbox_list to see if any tasks were assigned or moved back for rework.
2. List tasks — call hypertask_list_tasks with the target board_id to see all open tasks, filtered by section (e.g., “Todo” or “Backlog”).
3. Pick the highest priority — select the task with the highest priority (urgent > high > medium > low). If priorities are equal, pick the oldest task.
4. Self-assign — call hypertask_assign_user with assign_self: true to claim the task. This adds the calling agent as an assignee, signaling to other agents and humans that the task is taken.

// Example: list open tasks on board 15, sorted by priority
hypertask_list_tasks({
  board_id: 15,
  section: "Todo",
  assigned_to: "me"
})

// Example: self-assign a task
hypertask_assign_user({
  ticket_number: "HYP-42",
  assign_self: true
})

Tip

Self-assignment uses the assign_self: true parameter on hypertask_assign_user. This works with agent tokens only and adds the calling agent as an assignee without needing to look up the agent’s own user ID.