A task infrastructure that allows for the decoupling of the task launch code from the task client code and from the task execution code is provided. The task infrastructure allows the relationship between the task display and launch logic and the task client logic to be defined in a declarative manner, allowing for the segregation of the task display and launch logic from the task client logic. The task infrastructure comprises a manifest that contains a specification of the relationship between the task display and launch logic and the task client logic. The manifest may also define which task clients expose which tasks, the context under which each task is displayed, the arguments that the task needs in order to start execution, the task description to display, and the method in which the task can be launched. At run-time, a task client can read the manifest and decide which task or tasks to expose to an end user under a current context.