Skills

Dex provides two skills that enable natural language task management.

/dex — Task Management

Use /dex to manage tasks via natural language:

/dex create a task to add JWT authentication
/dex list all pending tasks
/dex show abc123
/dex complete abc123 with result "Implemented JWT middleware..."

The /dex skill enables agents to:

• Break down complexity — Large features into subtasks with clear boundaries
• Track multi-step work — Implementation spanning multiple distinct steps
• Persist context — Work continuing across sessions without losing context
• Coordinate with other agents — Shared understanding of goals and progress
• Record decisions — Capture rationale for future reference

Example Workflow

1. User: "Add user authentication system"
2. Agent creates parent task with full requirements
3. Agent breaks into subtasks: DB schema, API endpoints, frontend, tests
4. Agent works through each, completing with detailed results
5. Context preserved for future enhancements or debugging

/dex-plan — Convert Plans to Tasks

Use /dex-plan to convert markdown planning documents into trackable tasks:

/dex-plan ~/.claude/plans/moonlit-brewing-lynx.md
/dex-plan @SPEC.md
/dex-plan docs/AUTHENTICATION_DESIGN.md

Supported Documents

• Plan files from Claude Code's plan mode
• Specification documents (SPEC.md, REQUIREMENTS.md)
• Design documents (DESIGN.md, ARCHITECTURE.md)
• Roadmaps and feature proposals

What It Does

1. Reads the markdown file
2. Extracts title from first # heading
3. Creates dex task with full markdown content as context
4. Analyzes structure for potential subtask breakdown
5. Automatically creates subtasks when appropriate (3-7 distinct steps)

Example with Automatic Breakdown

Input (auth-plan.md):

# Plan: Add Authentication System

## Implementation
1. Create database schema for users/tokens
2. Implement auth controller with endpoints
3. Add JWT middleware for route protection
4. Build frontend login/register forms
5. Add integration tests

Output:

Created task abc123 from plan

Analyzed plan structure: Found 5 distinct implementation steps
Created 5 subtasks:
- abc124: Create database schema for users/tokens
- abc125: Implement auth controller with endpoints
- abc126: Add JWT middleware for route protection
- abc127: Build frontend login/register forms
- abc128: Add integration tests

View full structure: dex show abc123

Natural Language Prompting

You can also reference dex naturally in your prompts without using slash commands:

> Use Dex. Work on the next logical task. When done, run
  code-simplifier and commit.

> Track the work from our plan with /dex-plan and then begin implementation.

> What tasks are currently blocked?