feat(pm): add DeleteChecklistItem gadget

src/agents/prompts/templates/respond-to-planning-comment.eta

@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ Based on your comment, I've made the following changes:
 - `UpdateWorkItem` - Update <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> title/description
 - `AddChecklist` - Add an interactive checklist to a <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %>
 - `UpdateChecklistItem` - Update checklist item state (complete/incomplete) or name
+- `DeleteChecklistItem` - Delete a checklist item / subtask (use to remove descoped steps — do NOT mark removed items as complete)
 - `PostComment` - Post a comment on a <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %>
 
 **Codebase exploration (READ-ONLY):**

src/agents/shared/gadgets.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
 	AddChecklist,
 	CreateWorkItem,
 	ListWorkItems,
+	PMDeleteChecklistItem,
 	PMUpdateChecklistItem,
 	PostComment,
 	ReadWorkItem,
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ export function buildWorkItemGadgets(caps: AgentCapabilities): CreateBuilderOpti
 		new AddChecklist(),
 		// UpdateChecklistItem gated by capability — prevents planning from marking items complete
 		// prematurely, while respond-to-planning-comment CAN update them
-		...(caps.canUpdateChecklists ? [new PMUpdateChecklistItem()] : []),
+		...(caps.canUpdateChecklists ? [new PMUpdateChecklistItem(), new PMDeleteChecklistItem()] : []),
 		// Session control
 		new Finish(),
 	];

src/gadgets/pm/DeleteChecklistItem.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { Gadget, z } from 'llmist';
+import { deleteChecklistItem } from './core/deleteChecklistItem.js';
+
+export class PMDeleteChecklistItem extends Gadget({
+	name: 'DeleteChecklistItem',
+	description:
+		'Delete a checklist item from a work item. For JIRA this deletes the subtask issue. For Trello this removes the checklist item. Use this to remove descoped or invalid plan steps — do NOT mark items as "complete" if they were never done.',
+	timeoutMs: 15000,
+	schema: z.object({
+		workItemId: z.string().describe('The work item ID (Trello card ID or JIRA issue key)'),
+		checkItemId: z
+			.string()
+			.describe('The checklist item ID to delete (JIRA subtask key or Trello check item ID)'),
+	}),
+	examples: [
+		{
+			params: {
+				workItemId: 'PROJ-42',
+				checkItemId: 'PROJ-48',
+			},
+			comment: 'Delete a descoped subtask from a JIRA issue',
+		},
+	],
+}) {
+	override async execute(params: this['params']): Promise<string> {
+		return deleteChecklistItem(params.workItemId, params.checkItemId);
+	}
+}

src/gadgets/pm/core/deleteChecklistItem.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { getPMProvider } from '../../../pm/index.js';
+
+export async function deleteChecklistItem(
+	workItemId: string,
+	checkItemId: string,
+): Promise<string> {
+	try {
+		await getPMProvider().deleteChecklistItem(workItemId, checkItemId);
+		return `Checklist item ${checkItemId} deleted from work item ${workItemId}`;
+	} catch (error) {
+		const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+		return `Error deleting checklist item: ${message}`;
+	}
+}

src/gadgets/pm/index.ts

@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ export { CreateWorkItem } from './CreateWorkItem.js';
 export { ListWorkItems } from './ListWorkItems.js';
 export { AddChecklist } from './AddChecklist.js';
 export { PMUpdateChecklistItem } from './UpdateChecklistItem.js';
+export { PMDeleteChecklistItem } from './DeleteChecklistItem.js';

src/jira/client.ts

@@ -238,6 +238,11 @@ export const jiraClient = {
 		}
 	},
 
+	async deleteIssue(issueKey: string) {
+		logger.debug('Deleting JIRA issue', { issueKey });
+		await getClient().issues.deleteIssue({ issueIdOrKey: issueKey });
+	},
+
 	async addAttachmentFile(issueKey: string, buffer: Buffer, filename: string) {
 		logger.debug('Adding JIRA attachment', { issueKey, filename });
 		await getClient().issueAttachments.addAttachment({

src/pm/jira/adapter.ts

@@ -277,6 +277,11 @@ export class JiraPMProvider implements PMProvider {
 		await this.moveWorkItem(checkItemId, targetStatus);
 	}
 
+	async deleteChecklistItem(_workItemId: string, checkItemId: string): Promise<void> {
+		// checkItemId is a JIRA issue key (subtask)
+		await jiraClient.deleteIssue(checkItemId);
+	}
+
 	async getAttachments(workItemId: string): Promise<Attachment[]> {
 		const issue = await jiraClient.getIssue(workItemId);
 		const attachments =

src/pm/trello/adapter.ts

@@ -167,6 +167,18 @@ export class TrelloPMProvider implements PMProvider {
 		);
 	}
 
+	async deleteChecklistItem(workItemId: string, checkItemId: string): Promise<void> {
+		const checklists = await trelloClient.getCardChecklists(workItemId);
+		for (const cl of checklists) {
+			const item = cl.checkItems.find((i) => i.id === checkItemId);
+			if (item) {
+				await trelloClient.deleteChecklistItem(cl.id, checkItemId);
+				return;
+			}
+		}
+		throw new Error(`Checklist item ${checkItemId} not found on card ${workItemId}`);
+	}
+
 	async getAttachments(workItemId: string): Promise<Attachment[]> {
 		const attachments = await trelloClient.getCardAttachments(workItemId);
 		return attachments.map((a) => ({

src/pm/types.ts

@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ export interface PMProvider {
 		description?: string,
 	): Promise<void>;
 	updateChecklistItem(workItemId: string, checkItemId: string, complete: boolean): Promise<void>;
+	deleteChecklistItem(workItemId: string, checkItemId: string): Promise<void>;
 
 	// Attachments & custom fields
 	getAttachments(workItemId: string): Promise<Attachment[]>;

src/trello/client.ts

@@ -405,6 +405,14 @@ export const trelloClient = {
 		});
 	},
 
+	async deleteChecklistItem(checklistId: string, checkItemId: string): Promise<void> {
+		logger.debug('Deleting checklist item', { checklistId, checkItemId });
+		await getClient().checklists.deleteChecklistCheckItem({
+			id: checklistId,
+			idCheckItem: checkItemId,
+		});
+	},
+
 	async addActionReaction(
 		actionId: string,
 		emoji: { shortName: string; native: string; unified: string },

tests/helpers/mockPMProvider.ts

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export function createMockPMProvider() {
 		createChecklist: vi.fn(),
 		addChecklistItem: vi.fn(),
 		updateChecklistItem: vi.fn(),
+		deleteChecklistItem: vi.fn(),
 		addAttachment: vi.fn(),
 		addAttachmentFile: vi.fn(),
 		getCustomFieldNumber: vi.fn(),

tests/unit/agents/shared/gadgets.test.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ vi.mock('../../../../src/gadgets/pm/index.js', () => ({
 	AddChecklist: mockClass('AddChecklist'),
 	CreateWorkItem: mockClass('CreateWorkItem'),
 	ListWorkItems: mockClass('ListWorkItems'),
+	PMDeleteChecklistItem: mockClass('PMDeleteChecklistItem'),
 	PMUpdateChecklistItem: mockClass('PMUpdateChecklistItem'),
 	PostComment: mockClass('PostComment'),
 	ReadWorkItem: mockClass('ReadWorkItem'),
@@ -124,14 +125,16 @@ describe('buildWorkItemGadgets', () => {
 		expect(gadgets).not.toContain('CreatePR');
 	});
 
-	it('includes PMUpdateChecklistItem when canUpdateChecklists is true', () => {
+	it('includes PMUpdateChecklistItem and PMDeleteChecklistItem when canUpdateChecklists is true', () => {
 		const gadgets = names(buildWorkItemGadgets(FULL_CAPS));
 		expect(gadgets).toContain('PMUpdateChecklistItem');
+		expect(gadgets).toContain('PMDeleteChecklistItem');
 	});
 
-	it('excludes PMUpdateChecklistItem when canUpdateChecklists is false', () => {
+	it('excludes PMUpdateChecklistItem and PMDeleteChecklistItem when canUpdateChecklists is false', () => {
 		const gadgets = names(buildWorkItemGadgets(READ_ONLY_CAPS));
 		expect(gadgets).not.toContain('PMUpdateChecklistItem');
+		expect(gadgets).not.toContain('PMDeleteChecklistItem');
 	});
 });
 

tests/unit/backends/agent-profiles.test.ts

@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ vi.mock('../../../src/gadgets/pm/index.js', () => ({
 	AddChecklist: mockClass('AddChecklist'),
 	CreateWorkItem: mockClass('CreateWorkItem'),
 	ListWorkItems: mockClass('ListWorkItems'),
+	PMDeleteChecklistItem: mockClass('PMDeleteChecklistItem'),
 	PMUpdateChecklistItem: mockClass('PMUpdateChecklistItem'),
 	PostComment: mockClass('PostComment'),
 	ReadWorkItem: mockClass('ReadWorkItem'),

tests/unit/gadgets/pm/core/deleteChecklistItem.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+
+import { createMockPMProvider } from '../../../../helpers/mockPMProvider.js';
+
+const mockProvider = createMockPMProvider();
+
+vi.mock('../../../../../src/pm/index.js', () => ({
+	getPMProvider: vi.fn(() => mockProvider),
+}));
+
+import { deleteChecklistItem } from '../../../../../src/gadgets/pm/core/deleteChecklistItem.js';
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+	vi.clearAllMocks();
+});
+
+describe('deleteChecklistItem', () => {
+	it('deletes a checklist item and returns success message', async () => {
+		mockProvider.deleteChecklistItem.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+		const result = await deleteChecklistItem('item1', 'checkItem1');
+
+		expect(mockProvider.deleteChecklistItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('item1', 'checkItem1');
+		expect(result).toBe('Checklist item checkItem1 deleted from work item item1');
+	});
+
+	it('returns error message on failure', async () => {
+		mockProvider.deleteChecklistItem.mockRejectedValue(new Error('API error'));
+
+		const result = await deleteChecklistItem('item1', 'checkItem1');
+
+		expect(result).toBe('Error deleting checklist item: API error');
+	});
+
+	it('handles non-Error thrown value', async () => {
+		mockProvider.deleteChecklistItem.mockRejectedValue('string error');
+
+		const result = await deleteChecklistItem('item1', 'ci1');
+
+		expect(result).toBe('Error deleting checklist item: string error');
+	});
+});

tests/unit/jira/client.test.ts

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const {
 		getIssue: vi.fn(),
 		editIssue: vi.fn(),
 		createIssue: vi.fn(),
+		deleteIssue: vi.fn(),
 		doTransition: vi.fn(),
 		getTransitions: vi.fn(),
 	},
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ describe('jiraClient', () => {
 		mockIssues.getIssue.mockReset();
 		mockIssues.editIssue.mockReset();
 		mockIssues.createIssue.mockReset();
+		mockIssues.deleteIssue.mockReset();
 		mockIssues.doTransition.mockReset();
 		mockIssues.getTransitions.mockReset();
 		mockIssueComments.getComments.mockReset();
@@ -435,6 +437,22 @@ describe('jiraClient', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	describe('deleteIssue', () => {
+		it('calls deleteIssue with the issue key', async () => {
+			mockIssues.deleteIssue.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+			await withJiraCredentials(creds, () => jiraClient.deleteIssue('TEST-5'));
+
+			expect(mockIssues.deleteIssue).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ issueIdOrKey: 'TEST-5' });
+		});
+
+		it('throws when called outside scope', async () => {
+			await expect(jiraClient.deleteIssue('TEST-5')).rejects.toThrow(
+				'No JIRA credentials in scope',
+			);
+		});
+	});
+
 	describe('transitionIssue', () => {
 		it('calls doTransition with issue key and transition id', async () => {
 			mockIssues.doTransition.mockResolvedValue(undefined);

tests/unit/pm/jira/adapter.test.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const { mockJiraClient, mockAdfToPlainText, mockMarkdownToAdf } = vi.hoisted(()
 		addComment: vi.fn(),
 		updateComment: vi.fn(),
 		createIssue: vi.fn(),
+		deleteIssue: vi.fn(),
 		getIssueTypesForProject: vi.fn(),
 		searchIssues: vi.fn(),
 		getTransitions: vi.fn(),
@@ -563,6 +564,24 @@ describe('JiraPMProvider', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	describe('deleteChecklistItem', () => {
+		it('delegates to jiraClient.deleteIssue with the subtask key', async () => {
+			mockJiraClient.deleteIssue.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+			await provider.deleteChecklistItem('PROJ-1', 'PROJ-5');
+
+			expect(mockJiraClient.deleteIssue).toHaveBeenCalledWith('PROJ-5');
+		});
+
+		it('ignores workItemId (not needed for JIRA subtask deletion)', async () => {
+			mockJiraClient.deleteIssue.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+			await provider.deleteChecklistItem('PROJ-99', 'PROJ-5');
+
+			expect(mockJiraClient.deleteIssue).toHaveBeenCalledWith('PROJ-5');
+		});
+	});
+
 	describe('getAttachments', () => {
 		it('maps JIRA attachment fields to Attachment type', async () => {
 			mockJiraClient.getIssue.mockResolvedValue({

tests/unit/pm/trello/adapter.test.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ const { mockTrelloClient } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
 		createChecklist: vi.fn(),
 		addChecklistItem: vi.fn(),
 		updateChecklistItem: vi.fn(),
+		deleteChecklistItem: vi.fn(),
 		getCardAttachments: vi.fn(),
 		addAttachment: vi.fn(),
 		addAttachmentFile: vi.fn(),
@@ -301,6 +302,65 @@ describe('TrelloPMProvider', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	describe('deleteChecklistItem', () => {
+		it('finds the item in checklists and deletes it', async () => {
+			mockTrelloClient.getCardChecklists.mockResolvedValue([
+				{
+					id: 'cl-1',
+					name: 'Steps',
+					idCard: 'card-1',
+					checkItems: [
+						{ id: 'item-1', name: 'Step 1', state: 'incomplete' },
+						{ id: 'item-2', name: 'Step 2', state: 'incomplete' },
+					],
+				},
+			]);
+			mockTrelloClient.deleteChecklistItem.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+			await provider.deleteChecklistItem('card-1', 'item-2');
+
+			expect(mockTrelloClient.getCardChecklists).toHaveBeenCalledWith('card-1');
+			expect(mockTrelloClient.deleteChecklistItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('cl-1', 'item-2');
+		});
+
+		it('searches across multiple checklists', async () => {
+			mockTrelloClient.getCardChecklists.mockResolvedValue([
+				{
+					id: 'cl-1',
+					name: 'First',
+					idCard: 'card-1',
+					checkItems: [{ id: 'item-1', name: 'Step 1', state: 'incomplete' }],
+				},
+				{
+					id: 'cl-2',
+					name: 'Second',
+					idCard: 'card-1',
+					checkItems: [{ id: 'item-3', name: 'Step 3', state: 'complete' }],
+				},
+			]);
+			mockTrelloClient.deleteChecklistItem.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+			await provider.deleteChecklistItem('card-1', 'item-3');
+
+			expect(mockTrelloClient.deleteChecklistItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('cl-2', 'item-3');
+		});
+
+		it('throws when item is not found on any checklist', async () => {
+			mockTrelloClient.getCardChecklists.mockResolvedValue([
+				{
+					id: 'cl-1',
+					name: 'Steps',
+					idCard: 'card-1',
+					checkItems: [{ id: 'item-1', name: 'Step 1', state: 'incomplete' }],
+				},
+			]);
+
+			await expect(provider.deleteChecklistItem('card-1', 'nonexistent')).rejects.toThrow(
+				'Checklist item nonexistent not found on card card-1',
+			);
+		});
+	});
+
 	describe('getAttachments', () => {
 		it('maps attachment fields correctly', async () => {
 			mockTrelloClient.getCardAttachments.mockResolvedValue([