batch-complete — Bulk Complete or Cancel Items
Close out a feature subtree, cancel an abandoned workstream, or clean up stale items in one operation. Handles gate checks, active-item warnings, and reports exactly what succeeded and what was skipped.
Step 1 — Identify Scope
Resolve $ARGUMENTS to a UUID via query_items search (operation="search", query=$ARGUMENTS, limit=5); if ambiguous, present matches via AskUserQuestion.
If $ARGUMENTS is empty, classify the request from conversation context:
- Feature subtree: user mentions completing "everything under" a named item → search for that item, use
rootId - Specific items: user lists names or IDs → collect each UUID, use
itemIds - Cleanup: user wants to clear old/stale items → search by status or title fragment, collect UUIDs, use
itemIds
If scope still cannot be determined, ask via AskUserQuestion: "Which item (or items) do you want to complete? Provide a root UUID, a title fragment, or a list of item IDs."
Step 2 — Preview Impact
Before executing, show the user what will happen. Call:
query_items(operation="overview", itemId="<rootId>")
Parse the child counts by role and present a preview table. Use the trigger chosen (or likely to be chosen) to set the action label — trigger="complete" shows "will be completed"; trigger="cancel" shows "will be cancelled":
◆ Impact Preview — "Auth System Feature" [trigger: complete] ○ queue: 3 items (will be completed) ◉ work: 1 item (active — will be force-completed) ◉ review: 1 item (active — will be force-completed) ✓ terminal: 2 items (already done — will be skipped)
◆ Impact Preview — "Auth System Feature" [trigger: cancel] ○ queue: 3 items (will be cancelled) ◉ work: 1 item (active — will be force-cancelled) ◉ review: 1 item (active — will be force-cancelled) ✓ terminal: 2 items (already done — will be skipped)
For itemIds path (no root item): call query_items(operation="get", itemId="<uuid>") on each item and build the same role-grouped preview table from the individual results. For large lists (10+ items), use query_items(operation="search") with filters instead of individual get calls.
If any items are in work or review, warn the user that active work will be force-completed (gate checks still apply). Use AskUserQuestion with three options:
◆ 2 items are currently active (work or review). How would you like to proceed? 1. Proceed — complete everything including active items 2. Cancel active items instead — use trigger="cancel" (bypasses gates) 3. Abort — leave everything as-is
Wait for the user's choice before continuing. Record whether to use trigger="complete" or trigger="cancel".
Step 3 — Gate Check
Skip this step if trigger="cancel" was already chosen in Step 2 — cancel bypasses all gates, so gate checking is unnecessary.
For trigger="complete", gate previewing is best-effort. complete_tree performs the definitive gate check during execution and reports any failures in its response. A lightweight pre-check is still useful to surface issues before committing — call get_context on each child from Step 2's results rather than on the root item (the root itself is not completed by complete_tree, only its descendants are):
get_context(itemId="<child-uuid>") ← repeat for each child listed in Step 2
If any child's gate status shows missing required notes, display them:
⊘ Gate Warnings (preview — definitive check runs at execution): "Implement login" — missing: implementation-notes (work, required) "Write tests" — missing: session-tracking (work, required)
Then offer three options via AskUserQuestion:
◆ Some items have unfilled required notes and will be skipped by the gate. What would you like to do? 1. Fill notes first — use manage_notes(operation="upsert") to fill each item's required notes, then return here 2. Use cancel trigger — bypasses all gates, marks items as "cancelled" 3. Proceed anyway — gated items will be skipped, others will complete
Call get_context(itemId=...) to retrieve guidanceKey for items with missing notes, then resolve its text via query_items(operation="schema", itemId=...). Use the guidance as authoring instructions before filling.
Wait for the user's choice. If they choose option 2, switch to trigger="cancel" for the execution step.
If complete_tree reports gate failures in Step 4, fill the missing notes and rerun complete_tree — items already in terminal are silently skipped on subsequent runs.
Step 4 — Execute
Call complete_tree with the chosen trigger:
Feature subtree (rootId):
complete_tree(rootId="<uuid>", trigger="complete")
Specific items (itemIds):
complete_tree(itemIds=["<uuid-1>", "<uuid-2>", "<uuid-3>"], trigger="complete")
Cancel variant (bypasses gates):
complete_tree(rootId="<uuid>", trigger="cancel")
Parse the response and present results:
✓ Batch Complete — "Auth System Feature" ✓ Design API schema — completed ✓ Set up database — completed ⊘ Implement login — skipped (gate: missing implementation-notes) ✓ Write unit tests — completed — Integration tests — skipped (dependency on "Implement login") Summary: 3/5 completed | 1 gate failure | 1 dependency skip
Use these symbols:
✓— applied: true (completed or cancelled)⊘— gate failure (gateErrors present)—— skipped due to dependency on a failed item
Step 5 — Cleanup (Optional)
If the user wants to delete the completed items after finishing (to fully archive a workstream), confirm via AskUserQuestion:
◆ Delete all items under "Auth System Feature" after completing? This cannot be undone. 1. Yes, delete them 2. No, keep them in terminal state
If confirmed, delete with:
manage_items(operation="delete", itemIds=["<root-uuid>"], recursive=true)
Report what was deleted:
✓ Deleted: "Auth System Feature" and all 5 descendants
Troubleshooting
Problem: Items are skipped due to gate failures
Cause: The item has required notes that have not been filled. Gate enforcement runs before each transition and blocks completion.
Solution: Fill each item's missing required notes with manage_notes(operation="upsert"), then rerun complete_tree. Alternatively, switch to trigger="cancel" to bypass all gates and force-close the items.
Problem: Items are skipped due to dependency ordering
Cause: An upstream item in the tree failed its gate check. Any item that depends on it (via BLOCKS edges) is automatically skipped in the same run.
Solution: Fix the upstream gate failure first (fill required notes), then run complete_tree again. Only the previously-failed items need to be processed — items already in terminal are skipped silently on subsequent runs.
Problem: rootId not found or complete_tree returns an error
Cause: The UUID provided does not match any existing item, or the item has already been deleted.
Solution: Verify the UUID with query_items(operation="get", itemId="<uuid>"). If not found, search by title fragment: query_items(operation="search", query="<title>"). Use the returned UUID.
FAQ: All items reported as skipped with "already terminal"
This is expected behavior, not an error. Items already in terminal role are intentionally skipped — they were completed or cancelled in a prior run. If the summary shows all items skipped with "already terminal", the workstream is already closed. No further action is needed.
Examples
Example 1: Close a Completed Feature
All items are ready; notes are filled; clean completion with no skips.
Step 2 preview shows:
◆ Impact Preview — "Payment Integration" ○ queue: 3 items (will be completed) ◉ work: 0 items ◉ review: 0 items ✓ terminal: 1 item (already done — will be skipped)
No active items — no warning needed. Gate check shows all required notes filled. Proceed directly.
Step 4 execute:
complete_tree(rootId="pay-uuid", trigger="complete")
Result:
✓ Batch Complete — "Payment Integration" ✓ Design payment schema — completed ✓ Implement Stripe API — completed ✓ Write payment tests — completed ✓ Payment Integration — completed (cascade from last child) Summary: 4/4 completed | 0 gate failures | 0 dependency skips
Example 2: Cancel an Abandoned Workstream
The feature was scoped out. Force-cancel everything without filling notes.
User says: "Cancel the 'Legacy API Migration' feature — we're not doing it."
Step 2 preview shows active items in work. User is warned and chooses option 2 (cancel active items).
Step 3 gate check — user chooses option 2 (use cancel trigger) to avoid filling notes.
Step 4 execute:
complete_tree(rootId="legacy-uuid", trigger="cancel")
Result:
✓ Batch Cancel — "Legacy API Migration" — Audit legacy endpoints — cancelled — Map replacement routes — cancelled — Update client libraries — cancelled — Legacy API Migration — cancelled Summary: 4/4 cancelled | 0 gate failures | 0 dependency skips
No gates enforced. All items reach terminal with statusLabel="cancelled".
Example 3: Mixed Result with Gate Failures
Some items complete cleanly; others are missing required notes.
Step 4 execute:
complete_tree(rootId="auth-uuid", trigger="complete")
Result:
✓ Batch Complete — "Auth System" ✓ Design auth schema — completed ✓ Set up user table — completed ⊘ Implement login — skipped (gate: missing implementation-notes) — Write integration tests — skipped (dependency on "Implement login") ✓ Write unit tests — completed Summary: 3/5 completed | 1 gate failure | 1 dependency skip
Follow up: fill implementation-notes on "Implement login" with manage_notes(operation="upsert"), then rerun complete_tree. The two remaining items will be processed on the next run.
