Generate Run Commands Agent Skill

<!-- Customize this skill and select save to override its behavior. Delete that copy to restore the built-in behavior. -->

Generate Run Commands

Help the user set up run commands for the current Agent Session workspace. Run commands appear in the session's Run button in the title bar.

Understanding the task schema

A run command is a tasks.json task with:

• "inAgents": true — required: makes the task appear in the Agents run button
• "runOptions": { "runOn": "worktreeCreated" } — optional: auto-runs the task whenever a new worktree is created (use for setup/install commands)

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Install dependencies",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "npm install",
      "inAgents": true,
      "runOptions": { "runOn": "worktreeCreated" }
    },
    {
      "label": "Start dev server",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "npm run dev",
      "inAgents": true
    }
  ]
}

Decision logic

First, read the existing .vscode/tasks.json to check for existing run commands (inAgents: true tasks).

If run commands already exist: treat this as a modify request — ask the user what they'd like to change (add, remove, or update a command).

If no run commands exist: try to infer the right commands from the workspace:

• Check package.json, Makefile, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml, go.mod, .nvmrc, or other project files to understand the stack and common commands.
• If it's clear what the setup command is (e.g., npm install, pip install -r requirements.txt), add it with "runOptions": { "runOn": "worktreeCreated" } — no need to ask.
• If it's clear what the primary run/dev command is (e.g., npm run dev, cargo run), add it with just "inAgents": true.
• Only ask the user if the commands are ambiguous (e.g., multiple equally valid options, no recognizable project structure, or the project uses a non-standard setup).

Writing the file

Always write to .vscode/tasks.json in the workspace root. If the file already exists, merge — do not overwrite unrelated tasks.

After writing, briefly confirm what was added and how to trigger it from the Run button.