Verify Task Ownership Skill

Verify Task Ownership Skill

Purpose: Check if an existing task is owned by the current session before working on it. Prevents multiple Claude instances from conflicting on the same task.

Why This Matters: When multiple Claude Code instances run concurrently, each may find existing tasks in various states. Without ownership verification, one instance may take over another's work-in-progress, causing conflicts and lost work.

When to Use This Skill

Use verify-task-ownership When:

• Task directory already exists at /​workspace/​tasks/​{task-name}/
• Before resuming work on any existing task
• When finding a task in AWAITING_USER_APPROVAL state
• Starting a session and checking for continuable work

Do NOT Use When:

• Creating a new task (task directory doesn't exist)
• Task confirmed as yours from previous check in same session
• Working on task you just initialized with task-init

Ownership Verification Process

Step 1: Check if Task Directory Exists

TASK_NAME="{task-name}"
TASK_DIR="/​workspace/​tasks/​$TASK_NAME"

if [ ! -d "$TASK_DIR" ]; then
  echo "Task directory doesn't exist - safe to create new task"
  exit 0  # PROCEED with task-init
fi

Step 2: Check task.json for Session Ownership

# Get session_id from task.json
LOCK_SESSION=$(jq -r '.session_id // "missing"' "$TASK_DIR/​task.json" 2>/​dev/​null)

# Get current session ID (from SessionStart hook)
CURRENT_SESSION_ID="${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID:-unknown}"

Step 3: Apply Decision Matrix

if [ "$LOCK_SESSION" = "missing" ] || [ -z "$LOCK_SESSION" ]; then
  echo "WARNING: Task exists but has no session_id"
  echo "Another instance may be working on this - ASK USER before proceeding"
  # DO NOT PROCEED - another instance may own this task

elif [ "$LOCK_SESSION" != "$CURRENT_SESSION_ID" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: Task owned by different session: $LOCK_SESSION"
  echo "SELECT A DIFFERENT TASK - this one is taken"
  # MUST NOT work on this task

else
  echo "SUCCESS: Task owned by current session - can resume"
  # SAFE to continue working on this task
fi

Decision Matrix

Complete Verification Script

#!/​bin/​bash
set -euo pipefail

TASK_NAME="${1:?Task name required}"
CURRENT_SESSION_ID="${2:-${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID:-unknown}}"
TASK_DIR="/​workspace/​tasks/​$TASK_NAME"

echo "=== Verifying Task Ownership ==="
echo "Task: $TASK_NAME"
echo "Current Session: $CURRENT_SESSION_ID"

# Step 1: Check if task exists
if [ ! -d "$TASK_DIR" ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "Result: PROCEED"
  echo "Task directory doesn't exist. Safe to create new task with task-init."
  exit 0
fi

# Step 2: Check task.json
if [ ! -f "$TASK_DIR/​task.json" ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "Result: ASK_USER"
  echo "Task directory exists but no task.json found."
  echo "Another instance may have partially created this task."
  exit 1
fi

# Step 3: Get ownership info
LOCK_SESSION=$(jq -r '.session_id // "missing"' "$TASK_DIR/​task.json" 2>/​dev/​null)
TASK_STATE=$(jq -r '.state // "unknown"' "$TASK_DIR/​task.json" 2>/​dev/​null)

echo "Task State: $TASK_STATE"
echo "Task Owner: $LOCK_SESSION"

# Step 4: Apply decision matrix
if [ "$LOCK_SESSION" = "missing" ] || [ -z "$LOCK_SESSION" ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "Result: ASK_USER"
  echo "Task exists but has no session_id - cannot determine owner."
  echo "Ask user: 'Task $TASK_NAME exists but has no owner recorded. Should I take it over?'"
  exit 1

elif [ "$LOCK_SESSION" != "$CURRENT_SESSION_ID" ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "Result: SELECT_DIFFERENT_TASK"
  echo "Task is owned by a different Claude instance."
  echo "Owner session: $LOCK_SESSION"
  echo "Your session: $CURRENT_SESSION_ID"
  echo "Choose a different task to work on."
  exit 2

else
  echo ""
  echo "Result: RESUME"
  echo "Task is owned by current session."
  echo "Safe to resume work on this task."
  exit 0
fi

Common Mistakes

Mistake: Taking Over Another Instance's Task

❌ WRONG:
"I see task implement-feature is in AWAITING_USER_APPROVAL state.
Let me present it for approval..."
[But this task was created by a different Claude instance!]

✅ CORRECT:
"I see task implement-feature exists. Let me verify ownership..."
[Runs verification]
"This task is owned by session abc-123, but my session is xyz-789.
I'll select a different task to work on."

Mistake: Not Recording Session ID

When creating tasks, ALWAYS include session_id:

{
  "task_name": "implement-feature",
  "session_id": "your-session-id-here",  // ← REQUIRED
  "state": "INIT",
  "created": "2025-12-04T15:00:00Z"
}

Integration with task-init

The task-init skill accepts session_id as 3rd parameter:

/​workspace/​main/​.claude/​scripts/​task-init.sh "$TASK_NAME" "$DESCRIPTION" "$SESSION_ID"

This ensures new tasks are properly tagged with ownership information.

Workflow Integration

[Session starts]
        ↓
[Receive task assignment]
        ↓
[Check if task directory exists]
        ↓
    ┌───┴───────────────────┐
    │ NO                    │ YES
    ↓                       ↓
[Use task-init          [Invoke verify-task-ownership skill]
 with session_id]               ↓
    │               ┌───────────┴───────────┐
    │               │                       │
    │          RESUME (yours)          DIFFERENT OWNER
    │               ↓                       ↓
    │        [Continue work]         [Select different task]
    ↓               ↓                       ↓
[Work on task]  [Work on task]      [Back to task selection]

Related Skills

• task-init: Creates new tasks with session_id ownership tracking
• state-transition: Manages task state changes (respects ownership)

Environment Variables

• CLAUDE_SESSION_ID: Current session identifier (set by SessionStart hook)

Troubleshooting

"No session_id in task.json"

Task was created before ownership tracking was added. Options:

1. Ask user if you should take ownership
2. If user confirms, update task.json with your session_id
3. If unsure, select a different task

"Session ID is 'unknown'"

Your session ID wasn't properly set. Check:

1. SessionStart hook ran successfully
2. CLAUDE_SESSION_ID environment variable is set
3. Session ID was passed to verify script

Multiple Instances Want Same Task

This is expected behavior! The ownership system ensures only one instance works on each task. Other instances should select different tasks from todo.md or wait for the current owner to complete.