Generate Tasks from the CLI

Continue from the CLI quickstart: the same generate command previews against real Stories once you have a Connection Profile, and only creates Tasks when you ask it to.

1. Set up an Azure DevOps Connection Profile and make it the default, or pass --profile <name> on each command.
2. Choose the Stories. By default generate uses the Template's filter. Pass --story <ids...> to target specific work items instead (the filter is bypassed, but excludeIfHasTasks still applies), or --limit <n> to cap how many matching items are processed.
3. Run a dry run. It is the default: without --execute, generate reads Stories and prints the planned Tasks without creating anything.
4. Create the Tasks with --execute once the plan is right.

# Dry run against real Stories, no Tasks created
atomize generate template:backend-api --profile work-ado --story 123

# Create Tasks after confirming in the terminal
atomize generate template:backend-api --profile work-ado --story 123 --execute

A dry run prints the plan and ends by saying nothing was created. This transcript uses the built-in Mock platform (--platform mock) so it runs without credentials; with a Connection Profile the Connected line names Azure DevOps:

●  Dry-run mode: no tasks will be created
Connected: Mock Platform v1.0.0 ✓
Found 1 stories
✓ [1/1] STORY-001: Implement user authentication API

 Summary:
  Stories processed: 1
  Tasks calculated:  3
  Tasks created:     0

✓ STORY-001: Implement user authentication API
  Distribution: 32 hours (100%)
  Task breakdown:
    - Define API Behavior: Implement user authentication API: 6.5 hours (20%)
    - Implement API Change: Implement user authentication API: 16 hours (50%)
    - Verify API Behavior: Implement user authentication API: 9.5 hours (30%)

Dry run complete. No tasks were created.
  Run with --execute to create tasks for real.

With --execute in an interactive terminal, Atomize shows what it is about to change and asks before creating anything. The answer defaults to no, and answering no exits without creating Tasks:

⚠  LIVE MODE
Template:  Backend API Development
Stories:   123 (template filter bypassed)
Platform:  azure-devops

This will CREATE tasks in your work tracking system.

◆  Proceed with task creation?
   ○ Yes / ● No

After you confirm, the summary reports the Tasks created:

 Summary:
  Stories processed: 1
  Stories success:   1
  Tasks calculated:  3
  Tasks created:     3

Created 3 tasks for 1 story.

Without an interactive terminal (a script or CI job), --execute refuses to run unless you also pass --auto-approve, which acknowledges that Tasks will be created without a prompt:

└  Refusing live execution without confirmation in non-interactive mode. Re-run with --auto-approve to acknowledge task creation.

When Tasks are created: only with --execute, and only after you confirm or pass --auto-approve. Press Ctrl+C at any prompt to cancel. Once creation has started, interrupting the process stops it, but Tasks already created stay in Azure DevOps.

Results and exit codes: generate exits 0 when every Story succeeded (including a dry run), 1 when one or more Stories failed or the run was refused, 2 when no Stories matched, and 3 when authentication failed. By default the run stops after the first failing Story; pass --continue-on-error to keep processing the rest. To retry only the Stories that failed, re-run with --story; with excludeIfHasTasks: true in the Template, Stories that already received Tasks are skipped.

See Automate With The CLI for scripts and CI, and the generate reference for every option.