---
title: using-tasks session_break marker
type: concept
tags: [using-tasks, autonomous-runner, session-boundary]
updated: 2026-06-09
---

# using-tasks `session_break` marker

`using-tasks` v1.2.0 adds a `session_break` marker so a task author can mark a task's
completion as a natural place to **stop**, rather than have an autonomous agent immediately
chain into the next task via `tasks_claim_next`.

## Problem

An autonomous runner closes a task and, by default, claims the next one. There is no signal
for "this is a good seam to end the session" — so unrelated tracks get welded into one
ever-growing context, and the natural review/hand-off moment is skipped.

## Design

- **Marker:** `session_break` in the task's frontmatter (task-system delivery) or the
  `**Session break:**` field in the task's STATUS.md block (local board mirror).
- **Type:** boolean or string.
  - `true` → pause after close; next track is "see STATUS.md".
  - `"<hint>"` → pause after close; the hint names the recommended next track.
- **Enforcement point:** `using-tasks` → Task completion, **step 6** — *after* the task is
  🟢 and committed, *before* any `tasks_claim_next` / starting the next task.
- **Behaviour when present:** print the SESSION BOUNDARY line verbatim, then stop (do not
  claim the next task).
- **Behaviour when absent:** unchanged — claim / start the next task as usual.

### Verbatim message

```
🔚 SESSION BOUNDARY — [slug] закрыта. Рекомендую завершить текущую сессию. Следующий трек: [value | "см. STATUS.md"]
```

`[slug]` = the closed task's slug. `[value | "см. STATUS.md"]` = the marker's string value,
or the literal `см. STATUS.md` when the marker is just `true`. The wording is fixed so the
boundary is greppable and recognisable across sessions.

## Why a marker, not a heuristic

The decision of *what counts as a stopping point* belongs to whoever scoped the work (the
delegating workshop), not to the runner mid-flight. A heuristic ("stop after N tasks", "stop
when tired") would either over- or under-fire. An explicit, opt-in marker keeps the default
unchanged and makes the boundary a deliberate authoring choice.

## Versioning

MINOR bump (1.1.0 → 1.2.0): new optional capability, no existing behaviour changed.