Ticket Create

Overview

This skill augments Caster's document creation workflow for tickets - task documents that describe work to be done. Tickets can represent features, bugs, improvements, research tasks, or any actionable work item.

When to Use

• User wants to create a ticket, task, or work item
• User has scattered thoughts about work that needs to be done
• User says things like "I need to track this", "let's create a ticket for...", "this should be a task"
• The /ticket-create command is invoked

Document Type

Type: Ticket (task document)

Unlike context packs (reference material), tickets are actionable - they describe work to be completed. They typically move through states (draft → active → completed) and may be assigned to someone.

Ticket Complexity

Tickets vary significantly in scope. Match structure to complexity:

Complexity	Example	Typical Length	Structure
Simple	Bug fix, small task	50-150 lines	Summary + Requirements + Acceptance Criteria
Medium	Feature addition	150-400 lines	Summary + Context + Requirements + Implementation Notes + AC
Large	System refactor	400-1500+ lines	Summary + Numbered Parts + Decisions + Questions + AC

For large tickets, use numbered Parts to organize complex content:

• ## Part 1: Overview
• ## Part 2: Component A
• ## Part 3: Component B
• etc.

Workflow Adaptations

When creating a ticket, adapt Caster's standard workflow:

Gap Analysis Focus

During gap analysis, specifically look for:

• What needs to be done (the actual task)
• Why it matters (context, motivation, impact)
• Scope boundaries (what's included, what's explicitly excluded)
• Success criteria (how to know when it's done)
• Dependencies (what must happen first, what this blocks)

Clarification Questions

Prioritize questions about:

1. Scope and boundaries - what's in, what's out?
2. Success criteria - how will completion be measured?
3. Priority and urgency - how important is this relative to other work?
4. Dependencies - does this block or depend on other work?
5. Assignment - who should work on this?

Structure Proposal

Propose structure based on the specific task, not a fixed template. Common sections include:

Section	When to Include
Summary	Always - numbered list of key changes/requirements
Context/Background	When motivation or history matters
Parts (numbered)	For large tickets with multiple components
Requirements/Scope	When task has specific deliverables
Decisions Made	When documenting choices (table format)
Resolved Questions	When key decisions need rationale
Acceptance Criteria	When success needs to be measurable (checkboxes)
Implementation Notes	For technical tasks with design decisions
Open Questions	When decisions are still pending
References	Links to relevant code, docs, or other tickets

Do NOT enforce all sections - include only what serves this specific ticket.

Frontmatter

Generating Git Context

Before creating frontmatter, run the metadata script to get git context:

.opencode/scripts/spec_metadata.sh

Or use thoughts metadata to get current values.

Complete Frontmatter Structure

---
# Git context (from metadata script)
date: 2025-01-15T10:30:00+03:00
researcher: username                # Who created this
git_commit: abc1234
branch: feature/my-feature
repository: project-name

# Document type
kind: ticket
status: draft                       # draft | active | blocked | implemented | verified | abandoned
topic: "Brief Descriptive Title"
tags: [feature, api, refactor]      # Categorization
source: manual                      # manual | linear | github | jira

# Priority and tracking
priority: 2                         # 0-4 (P0=critical, P4=backlog)
schema_version: 1

# References (enables wiki-links)
aliases:
  - ticket-2025-01-15-descriptive-slug

# Optional fields
assignee: alice                     # Who's responsible
due: 2025-02-01                     # YYYY-MM-DD deadline
depends_on:                         # What must complete first
  - "[[other-ticket-alias]]"

# Change tracking (updated automatically on edits)
last_updated: 2025-01-15T10:30:00+03:00
last_updated_by: username
last_updated_note: "Initial creation"
---

Minimal Frontmatter (for simple tickets)

---
date: 2025-01-15T10:30:00+03:00
researcher: username
kind: ticket
status: draft
topic: "Fix login button alignment"
tags: [bug, ui]
priority: 3
aliases:
  - ticket-2025-01-15-login-button-fix
---

Save Location

Tickets are saved to the current project's thoughts directory:

{project}/thoughts/shared/tickets/YYYY-MM-DD_descriptive-slug.md

After saving, remind the user to run thoughts sync to commit and push changes.

Alias Convention

Format: {kind}-{YYYY-MM-DD}-{descriptive-slug}

Examples:

• ticket-2025-01-15-user-auth-flow
• ticket-2025-01-15-api-rate-limiting
• ticket-2025-01-15-dashboard-redesign

Acceptance Criteria Format

Use checkbox format for testable criteria:

## Acceptance Criteria

### Category 1

- [ ] Specific measurable criterion
- [ ] Another criterion with expected behavior

### Category 2

- [ ] Third criterion

Group related criteria under subheadings for large tickets.

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

• Summary clearly states what needs to be done
• Scope is defined (or explicitly open-ended)
• Success criteria exist (even if informal)
• Alias follows convention
• Frontmatter has appropriate fields for this ticket
• Structure matches ticket complexity

Remember

Tickets are living documents. Start lean - it's better to have a clear, focused ticket than a comprehensive but bloated one. The ticket can be updated as understanding evolves. For large refactors, expect multiple review rounds to refine the specification.