Trigger Ideas

July 2, 2026 · View on GitHub

Candidate triggers for the bundled kanban workflow. Each represents a common workflow pattern.

WIP limit per assignee

Prevent overloading a single person with too many active tasks.

- description: limit work in progress to 3 tasks per assignee
  ruki: >
    before update
      where new.status = "inProgress"
        and new.assignee is not empty
        and count(select where assignee = new.assignee and status = "inProgress" and id != new.id) >= 3
      deny "WIP limit reached: assignee already has 3 tasks in progress"

Require description for high-priority tasks

Force authors to provide context before something becomes urgent.

- description: high priority tasks must have a description
  ruki: >
    before update
      where new.priority <= "medium-high" and new.description is empty
      deny "high priority tasks require a description"

Auto-create next occurrence for recurring tasks

Recurring tasks automatically regenerate when completed.

- description: spawn next occurrence when recurring task completes
  ruki: >
    after update
      where new.status = "done" and old.recurrence is not empty
      create title=old.title priority=old.priority tags=old.tags
             recurrence=old.recurrence due=next_date(old.recurrence) status="inbox"

Return stale in-progress tasks to inbox

Tasks untouched for 7 days are likely blocked or abandoned.

- description: return stale in-progress tasks to inbox after 7 days
  ruki: >
    every 1day
      update where status = "inProgress" and now() - updatedAt > 7day
      set status="inbox"

Unblock tasks when dependencies complete

Automatically promote tasks to ready when all their dependencies are done.

- description: unblock ready tasks when all dependencies complete
  ruki: >
    after update
      where new.status = "done" and old.status != "done"
      update where old.id in dependsOn and dependsOn all status = "done"
      set status="ready"

Prevent re-opening completed tasks directly

Enforce a deliberate re-triage step through ready status.

- description: prevent moving done tasks back to in-progress
  ruki: >
    before update
      where old.status = "done" and new.status = "inProgress"
      deny "cannot reopen completed tasks directly — move to ready first"

Auto-assign creator on start

If you pull something into in-progress without assigning it, you implicitly own it.

- description: auto-assign tasks to creator when moved to in-progress
  ruki: >
    after update
      where new.status = "inProgress" and new.assignee is empty
      update where id = new.id set assignee=user()

Note: this is the permissive alternative to the "require assignee before starting" trigger that ships in the bundled kanban workflow. Use one or the other, not both.

Escalate overdue tasks

Overdue items that aren't already P1 get automatically escalated.

- description: escalate overdue tasks by raising priority
  ruki: >
    every 1day
      update where due < now() and status not in ["done"] and priority > "high"
      set priority="high"

Require points estimate before done

Ensures the team reflects on effort before work is marked complete.

- description: tasks must be estimated before being marked done
  ruki: >
    before update
      where new.status = "done" and new.points = 0
      deny "estimate points before moving to done"

Auto-tag bugs as urgent when high priority

High-priority bugs should be visually flagged without relying on humans to remember.

- description: auto-tag high priority bugs as urgent
  ruki: >
    after update
      where new.type = "bug" and new.priority <= "medium-high" and "urgent" not in new.tags
      update where id = new.id set tags=tags + ["urgent"]

Prevent projects from being assigned

Projects are containers, not actionable units — assign individual tasks instead.

- description: projects track work groups and should not be assigned
  ruki: >
    before update
      where new.type = "project" and new.assignee is not empty
      deny "projects represent work groups — assign individual tasks instead"

Auto-remove urgent tag when priority drops

Paired with "auto-tag bugs as urgent" to keep tags in sync with priority.

- description: remove urgent tag when priority is lowered
  ruki: >
    after update
      where old.priority <= "medium-high" and new.priority > "medium-high" and "urgent" in new.tags
      update where id = new.id set tags=tags - ["urgent"]

Notify on critical task creation via webhook

P1s deserve immediate attention — shell integration bridges tiki to external alerting.

- description: fire webhook when a P1 task is created
  ruki: >
    after create
      where new.priority = "high"
      run("curl -s -X POST https://hooks.example.com/tiki -d 'P1 created: " + new.id + " - " + new.title + "'")

Spike time-box

Spikes are investigation tasks — they should be time-boxed by definition.

- description: time-box spikes to 3 days
  ruki: >
    every 1day
      update where type = "spike" and status = "inProgress" and now() - updatedAt > 3day
      set status="done"

Require task breakdown for large estimates

Large estimates are a smell — nudge toward decomposition for better flow.

- description: large tasks should be broken into smaller pieces
  ruki: >
    before update
      where new.points >= 8 and new.type != "project"
      deny "tasks with 8+ points should be broken down — use a project instead"

Propagate priority from project to children

When a project gets escalated, its children should follow.

- description: raise child task priority when project priority increases
  ruki: >
    after update
      where new.type = "project" and new.priority < old.priority
      update where new.id in dependsOn and priority > new.priority
      set priority=new.priority

Auto-set due date for in-progress tasks

Tasks without deadlines drift forever — a default creates gentle pressure.

- description: default 7-day due date when work starts
  ruki: >
    after update
      where new.status = "inProgress" and new.due is empty
      update where id = new.id set due=now() + 7day

Require a title on creation

Every task needs at least a title — catch empty tasks at the gate.

- description: tasks must have a title
  ruki: >
    before create
      where new.title is empty
      deny "tasks must have a title"

Prevent creating tasks as done

New tasks should enter the workflow, not skip it entirely.

- description: new tasks cannot start as done
  ruki: >
    before create
      where new.status = "done"
      deny "cannot create a task that is already done"

Projects require a description at creation

Projects define scope — a description ensures the goal is documented upfront.

- description: projects require a description at creation
  ruki: >
    before create
      where new.type = "project" and new.description is empty
      deny "projects must have a description explaining the goal"

Prevent deleting projects with active children

Deleting a project should not orphan its child tasks.

- description: cannot delete projects that still have linked tasks
  ruki: >
    before delete
      where old.type = "project" and count(select where old.id in dependsOn and status != "done") > 0
      deny "cannot delete project with active child tasks"

Block deletion of high-priority tasks

P1 tasks require explicit demotion before they can be removed.

- description: P1 tasks require explicit demotion before deletion
  ruki: >
    before delete
      where old.priority = "high"
      deny "cannot delete a P1 task — lower priority first"