Task Master

Task Master is an MCP server that takes a PRD or project brief and breaks it down into a structured task tree. You feed it a document, it parses the requirements, expands them into actionable tasks, and hands back a hierarchy you can actually work with. The core workflow is straightforward: you write or paste a PRD, Task Master calls an LLM (Anthropic by default, but it supports OpenAI and Ollama too) to extract tasks, then organises them into parent-child relationships with priorities and effort estimates. I'd reach for this when I'm staring at a vague brief and need to turn it into sprint-ready work. It's particularly good at spotting implicit tasks, like 'write tests' or 'update docs', that you'd otherwise forget until code review. The task expansion is genuinely useful: you can ask it to break down a high-level task like 'implement user auth' into granular steps, and it'll suggest things like 'set up JWT middleware' or 'add password reset flow'. The multi-provider support means you're not locked into Anthropic's pricing if you want to use a cheaper model for bulk task generation. The quirks: it's opinionated about task structure. You get a fixed schema with priority, effort, and dependencies, which is helpful if you're starting from scratch but annoying if you already have a system. The effort estimates are LLM-generated, so treat them as conversation starters, not gospel. Also, it requires an API key even though it's running locally, because it's calling external models for the heavy lifting. If you're expecting pure local processing, this isn't it. Who shouldn't bother: teams with rigid project management tools that don't need AI input, or anyone who prefers to break down tasks manually. It's also overkill if your PRDs are already granular. But if you're a solo developer or small team drowning in vague requirements, it's a solid way to get from 'build a thing' to 'here are 47 tasks, sorted by priority'.