open-tasks/docs/architecture/decisions/007-naming-taskgraph.md

status, last_updated

status	last_updated
draft	2026-04-28

ADR-007: Tool Naming — taskgraph not tasks

Context

OpenCode has a built-in task tool that spawns subagents for work delegation. It creates child sessions, dispatches prompts to specialized agents, and returns results. It is deeply wired into the session, permission, and UI systems.

Our plugin was initially named tasks (plural), which creates three problems:

1. Naming confusion: task (spawning) vs tasks (analysis) — both deal with "tasks" but are fundamentally different. An LLM receiving a request like "look at the tasks" might invoke the wrong one.

2. Semantic overlap: task = delegation ("who should do this work?"), tasks = analysis ("what work exists and in what order?"), todowrite = progress tracking ("what am I working on right now?"). Three concepts, near-identical naming for two of them.

3. Plugin shadowing risk: OpenCode resolves tools into an object by ID. If a plugin registers a tool with the same ID as a built-in tool, the plugin wins. Accidentally shadowing the built-in task tool would break subagent spawning entirely.

Additionally, the dispatch field was initially named tool (matching open-memory's pattern). But the field name tool is ambiguous in OpenCode's context — every registered function is a "tool." The operation name op is more precise and matches the Rust CLI's subcommand pattern.

Decision

• Tool name: taskgraph — directly matches the core library (@alkdev/taskgraph), clearly differentiates from the built-in task, and describes what the tool actually does.
• Dispatch field: op (operation) — unambiguous in context, distinguishes from the outer "tool" concept, matches the Rust CLI's subcommand pattern (taskgraph parallel, taskgraph critical, etc.).

Consequences

Positive:

• No naming confusion with built-in task
• taskgraph({op: "list"}) reads clearly: "run the list operation on the taskgraph"
• Matches the Rust CLI naming — users familiar with taskgraph parallel will recognize taskgraph({op: "parallel"})
• The op field name is self-documenting: each value is an operation, not a nested tool

Negative:

• Slightly longer tool name (10 chars vs 5 for tasks)
• Deviates from open-memory's memory({tool: ...}) pattern — but memory doesn't have a naming collision with a built-in tool

The Three "Task" Concepts

Tool	Concept	Scope	Persistence
task (built-in)	Delegation — spawn a subagent	Session-scoped	Ephemeral
todowrite (built-in)	Progress tracking — what am I working on	Session-scoped	Ephemeral
taskgraph (this plugin)	Analysis — dependencies, risk, cost	Project-scoped	Persistent files

These are complementary, not competing. Future integration could make taskgraph feed analysis into task (e.g., use parallel groups to drive spawn decisions), but that's a v2 concern.

References

• OpenCode built-in task tool: /workspace/opencode/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
• Research report: docs/research/opencode-task-tool-deep-dive.md
• Open-coordinator deep dive: docs/research/open-coordinator-deep-dive.md