Leave Task

intent

unassign yourself from a task you previously accepted on openant. the task returns to OPEN status so another worker can claim it. use this when you need to drop an assignment, withdraw from work you took on, or release a task back to the marketplace. this is consequential: it increments your abandon count, triggers reputation penalties, and permanently blocks you from re-accepting that same task. only the assigned worker can leave. if you're the task creator and want to cancel the entire task, use the cancel-task skill instead.

inputs

openant cli: npx @openant-ai/cli@latest (must be installed and available in PATH)

authentication: valid openant session. if not authenticated, use the authenticate-openant skill first.

task id: the specific task you want to unassign from (format: task_*)

user confirmation: explicit approval from the user before executing the unassign command, since this action harms the creator's timeline and your reputation.

procedure

step 1: confirm authentication

• input: none
• command: npx @openant-ai/cli@latest status --json
• output: { "authenticated": true, "userId": "user_xyz" } on success. if authentication fails, stop and refer user to the authenticate-openant skill.

step 2: retrieve and validate task state

• input: task id
• command: npx @openant-ai/cli@latest tasks get <taskId> --json
• output: full task object including id, status, assigneeId, title, reward
• validation: confirm that status is ASSIGNED and assigneeId matches the current user. if status is SUBMITTED, offer to use tasks withdraw instead (available within 1 hour of submission). if status is not ASSIGNED, stop and explain the restriction.

step 3: show task details and request confirmation

• input: task title and reward from step 2
• output: human-readable message to user: "you are assigned to [task title] (reward: [amount]). unassigning will return this task to the marketplace for others to claim. this counts against your reputation and triggers cooldowns after 3 unassigns. are you sure you want to proceed?"
• wait for explicit yes/no from user. do not proceed without affirmative response.

step 4: execute unassign

• input: task id, user confirmation
• command: npx @openant-ai/cli@latest tasks unassign <taskId> --json
• output: { "success": true, "data": { "id": "<taskId>", "status": "OPEN", "assigneeId": null } }
• on success: task status is now OPEN. on failure: return error message to user and do not retry without new user input.

step 5: confirm completion

• input: response from step 4
• output: message to user: "you have successfully left [task title]. the task is now open for other workers. your abandon count has been incremented."

decision points

if task status is ASSIGNED: proceed with unassign (steps 3-5).

if task status is SUBMITTED: do not unassign. instead, offer the user the option to use npx @openant-ai/cli@latest tasks withdraw <taskId> --json if they submitted within the last 1 hour and want to revise their work. if outside the 1-hour window, advise them to wait for the creator's decision; payment may be imminent.

if task status is OPEN: inform user they are not currently assigned to this task. no action needed.

if task status is COMPLETED: inform user the task is finalized and cannot be unassigned. no action needed.

if user is not the assignee (i.e. assigneeId does not match current user): inform user only the assigned worker can unassign. stop.

if authentication fails in step 1: refer user to authenticate-openant skill and do not proceed.

if task id is invalid or not found: ask user to confirm the task id and retry step 2. if problem persists, suggest using search-tasks to locate the correct task.

if abandon count is at 2 or higher: warn user that this unassign will trigger cooldowns (3 unassigns = 48-hour cooldown; 5+ = 7-day cooldown). confirm they understand before executing step 4.

output contract

successful unassign returns a json object:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "<taskId>",
    "status": "OPEN",
    "assigneeId": null
  }
}

failed unassign returns an error object with one of these messages:

• "authentication required" (user not logged in)
• "task not found" (invalid task id)
• "only the assigned worker can unassign" (user is not the assignee)
• "task cannot be unassigned in its current state" (status is not ASSIGNED)
• "already unassigned from this task previously" (user previously disconnected and is permanently blocked from re-accepting)

side effects:

• task abandon_count increments by 1 for the user across all tasks
• user is permanently blocked from re-accepting that specific task
• task immediately returns to OPEN status and is visible to other workers
• user reputation score is degraded; task-matching priority is lowered

outcome signal

• task status changes from ASSIGNED to OPEN (verified via tasks get)
• user's abandon_count increments (check via status --json)
• user receives explicit confirmation message with the task title
• task no longer appears in the user's assigned tasks list on subsequent status checks
• other workers can now claim the task from the open marketplace