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Task Management Tool

Javapackage: com.etendoerp.copilot

Overview

The Task Management Tool is a utility for managing tasks dynamically within a conversation state. It provides flexible task queue operations such as adding, retrieving, checking status, and marking tasks as completed. This tool is particularly useful in orchestrated workflows where multi-step task handling is required.

Info

This tool is part of the Copilot Framework and is typically used inside multi-agent or workflow-based agents.

Functionality

This tool allows for centralized task queue management using different operation modes:

Supported Modes:

  • get_next: Retrieves and sets the next task to be processed.
  • add_tasks: Adds one or more new tasks to the processing queue.
  • status: Retrieves the current task queue status, including current, pending, and completed tasks.
  • mark_done: Marks the current task as completed and moves it to the finished list.

The tool works by modifying and storing task-related data in the agent's shared state, making it ideal for orchestrating step-by-step workflows in multi-agent systems.

Parameters

Name Type Description
mode string Operation mode: get_next, add_tasks, status, or mark_done.
state dict Injected state containing task queues and statuses.
tool_call_id string Unique tool call ID used for message tracking.
new_tasks list Optional. List of new tasks to add (required for add_tasks mode).

Behavior Summary

  • get_next: Pops the next task from the queue and sets it as current_task.
  • add_tasks: Appends a list of tasks to the task queue.
  • status: Returns a count and current snapshot of all task queues.
  • mark_done: Moves the current task to the list of completed tasks.

Example Use Case

A typical example could be a multi-step invoice validation process. Each invoice is a separate task, and this tool helps to:

  • Feed all invoice tasks at once.
  • Retrieve each task sequentially.
  • Track and mark them as completed as they are processed.

Tool Response Format

The tool returns a Command object that includes:

  • Updated shared state (task lists).
  • A ToolMessage describing what was done (used for logging or further routing).

Note

This tool should be used with LangGraph or other LangChain multi-step orchestration engines.