Standardizing Cognitive Tasks: An ecosystem for Reproducibility，Collaboration and LLMs integration

Cognitive tasks are essential tools in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, however, task development is tied to lab-specific conversions, task structure lacks a standardized format and task sharing remains fragmented. Here, we introduced an open ecosystem (https://taskbeacon.github.io/) that addressed these gaps. Task and Paradigm Structure (TAPS) defined a clear directory layout separating task logic, configuration, assets, documentation and output. Psyflow, built on top of PsychoPy, provided support for TAPS and offered flexible and modularized tools for participant’s information collection, block/trial management, stimulus presentation, response collection, event synchronization with various neuroimaging systems. TaskBeacon served as the community-driven platform for hosting curated tasks, managing variants, and coordinating community contributions. Finally, the model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposed tools to large language models (LLMs), allowing natural language-driven task development and localization. Together, these components form an ecosystem that advances task standardization, fosters reproducibility and collaboration, and enables LLMs–driven development of cognitive tasks.