Which tasks lie on the critical path?

All people, companies and projects shown are synthetic Rillsoft sample data – from the shipped industry packages or, where stated, from a test project.

The prompt

Which tasks lie on the critical path? Read the project structure with float and dependencies in Rillsoft Project. Frames are the fixed milestones from the status date, otherwise the project finish. From every frame go backwards through the dependencies through the open tasks without finish float – that is the critical path to this frame. First ask me for project or portfolio; the reference date is the status date. Give per project and frame the tasks by start with finish and finish float, the transitions, the longest chain and the next critical task; compare with the “critical” flag, but rate by finish float. Do not change the plan.

Read-only mode is enough

Show the detailed prompt

Create the critical path per project from Rillsoft Project. First ask me for: - Scope: project or portfolio (name the open one and let me confirm). The reference date is the status date; name it. Prerequisite: float is switched on in the program – if it is missing, say so and do not guess. Data, read-only: - Project structure with float: per task start, finish, progress, finish float up to the next fixed frame and the “critical” flag; milestones with fixing and start float; dependencies. - Delayed tasks from the conflict list, only with a delay above 0. - Frames per project: fixed milestones from the reference date; if none lies on the project finish, the project finish with its last-ending tasks. - Critical path to a frame: from the frame backwards through the dependencies; every open task without finish float that is reached belongs to it and is followed further; dependencies on subprojects through their tasks; tasks with finish float end the chain. - Only compare the “critical” flag; finish float is decisive. - Do not change the plan. Report: 1. Header with scope, reference date and source. 2. Key findings with figures: path tasks of open tasks, red projects with moving frames or delayed path tasks and the next critical task, longest chain, comparison with the flag. 3. Table per project: open of total, no finish float, frames, on the path, longest chain, flagged critical, next critical task, light – red for a moving frame or a delayed path task, amber for a path without slack. 4. Per project and frame the tasks of the path by start with finish, finish float, flag and delay as well as the transitions. 5. Data and rules.

In your words

Before the customer date: Which tasks decide the date “FAT passed” in Assembly line MX-200? The path from today's state up to the frame, with finish float per task.
Portfolio: How many tasks lie on the critical path per project, and which is the next one in each? Frames are the fixed milestones.
Check the flag only: Compare the “critical” flag with the finish float: which tasks carry it without lying on a path, and the other way round?

What you need

An open project or portfolio with dependencies between the tasks and fixed milestones as frames; without frames the project finish counts.
Float switched on in the program so the finish float per task can be read.
Read-only mode is enough: the AI reads project structure, float, dependencies and the conflict list and changes nothing.

What you get

An overview with key findings, a table per project and the paths per frame. In the test portfolio Machinery and plant engineering (five projects, status date 16 Nov 2026 and a backlog in two projects set for the test) 71 of 111 open tasks lie on a critical path. Assembly line MX-200 is red: 17 tasks on five frames, two of which move – “Development completed” and “Material and parts available” –, the next critical task is “Engineer the sensors and actuators” from 2 Nov 2026. The longest chain is in E-Drive 400 test bench with twelve tasks in sequence; the other three projects are amber because their paths have no slack.

The program flags 28 tasks as critical, all in MX-200, nine of them lie on a path; in the four other projects no task carries the flag. Finish float is therefore decisive: 117 of 149 tasks have none, only the link through the dependencies turns them into paths. Service and small orders has no fixed milestones; there the project finish counts with ten parallel tasks without dependencies.

Management dashboard – critical path, portfolio Machinery and plant engineering, reference date 16 Nov 2026: key findings (71 of 111 open tasks on a critical path, one project red; MX-200 with 17 tasks on 5 frames, two frames move, next critical task Engineer the sensors and actuators; longest chain 12 in E-Drive 400; critical flag on 28 tasks, 9 on a path) and the table per project with open, no finish float, frames, on the path, longest chain, flag, next critical task and light — Result of the prompt: key findings and table per project – one project red, four amber

Paths of the project Assembly line MX-200: per frame (Development completed and Material and parts available move, FAT passed, SAT passed and handed over, Project closed) the tasks by start with finish, finish float zero, flag and the transitions between the tasks — The paths of one project per frame with tasks and transitions

Why it is useful

Management wants to know which tasks decide a date. Rillsoft Project calculates per task the finish float up to the next fixed frame; the “critical” flag is not a float indicator. The AI links the tasks without finish float through the dependencies into paths per frame and project, names the longest chain and the next critical task – without touching the plan.

How the answer is produced

The AI reads the project structure with float, dependencies and flags as well as the conflict list of delayed tasks. Frames are the fixed milestones from the reference date, otherwise the project finish. From every frame it goes backwards through the dependencies and takes every open task without finish float into the path; dependencies on subprojects it resolves through their tasks, tasks with finish float end the chain. Per project it forms the union of the paths and the longest chain and compares with the flag. In the test run the counts matched the feasibility check, and every path task had finish float zero.

rillsoft_project_tree_get rillsoft_project_conflict_list

Limits

The path comes from the finish float up to the next fixed frame; without float switched on the values are missing. The “critical” flag is only compared. Delayed tasks can lie next to the path – whether a frame moves is shown by its start float, see Delivery dates at risk. Tasks without dependencies yield chains of length one. The question belongs to the catalogue of management questions; the list per task is provided by the prompt Delayed tasks without float. The product page of Rillsoft Project describes float and dependencies. Related prompts:

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Industry package: Machinery and plant engineering.rpp
Product version: Rillsoft Project 10 (Build 10.0.625)
Last verified: 2026-10-17
Verification: Figures and statements verified on the named sample package against the named product build – MCP session, view and report; German and English package with identical figures.