Dependency Mapping

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Map and visualize dependencies between features and work items. Identify blockers, critical paths, and potential risks in project planning.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
406/2/2026
Claude Code
#dependency-mapping#blockers#critical-path#dependency-graph#feature-dependencies

Recommended for

Our review

This skill maps and visualizes dependencies between features and work items, aiding in sequencing analysis and blocker identification.

Strengths

  • Clear visualization of dependencies and critical path
  • Identification of blockers and circular dependencies
  • Integration with existing PBIs in the project

Limitations

  • Requires dependencies to be documented in PBIs
  • Cannot automatically detect implicit dependencies
  • May become unwieldy with a large number of items
When to use it

Use this skill when planning feature sequencing or identifying blockers in a project.

When not to use it

Do not use it for low-level technical code dependencies (prefer a static analysis tool).

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score90/100

The skill only reads and writes local project files using standard tools (Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, TodoWrite). It does not execute shell commands, access networks, or perform any destructive actions. No external dependencies or data exfiltration risks.

No concerns found

Examples

Map dependencies for a single PBI
Map dependencies for team-artifacts/pbis/260119-pbi-dark-mode-toggle.md
List blockers for a feature
What blocks feature A? List all upstream and downstream dependencies.
Generate dependency graph for all PBIs
/dependency all

name: dependency description: Map and visualize feature dependencies. Use when analyzing dependencies, identifying blockers, or creating dependency graphs. Triggers on keywords like "dependencies", "blockers", "what blocks", "dependency map". infer: true allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, TodoWrite

Dependency Mapping

Map and visualize dependencies between features and work items.

When to Use

  • Planning feature sequencing
  • Identifying blockers
  • Understanding critical path

Pre-Workflow

Activate Skills

  • Activate project-manager skill for dependency analysis best practices

Quick Reference

Workflow

  1. Read target PBI/feature or all items from team-artifacts/pbis/
  2. Extract dependency fields
  3. Build dependency graph
  4. Identify risks (circular dependencies, unresolved blockers, external dependencies)
  5. Identify critical path
  6. Generate visualization report
  7. Output to console or save to file

Dependency Types

| Type | Symbol | Description | | ---------- | ------ | ----------------------------------- | | Blocked by | -> | Cannot start until X completes | | Blocks | <- | X cannot start until this completes | | Mutual | <-> | Bidirectional dependency | | Related to | => | Shares code/design elements | | Depends on | ~> | Needs external (API, service) |

Graph Notation

Feature A -> Feature B (blocked by)
Feature A <- Feature C (blocks)
Feature A <-> Feature D (mutual)

Visualization Template

## Dependency Map

### {Feature}

**Upstream (We depend on):**
- [ ] {Dep 1} - {status}
- [ ] {Dep 2} - {status}

**Downstream (Depends on us):**
- [ ] {Dep 1} - {their deadline}

### Critical Path
{A} -> {B} -> {C} -> {D}

### Risk Areas
- Red: {Feature X} blocking 3 items
- Yellow: {External API} - timeline uncertain

Output Format

A -> B -> C (critical path)
     \-> D

Legend:
-> blocks
=> related

Related

  • Role Skill: project-manager
  • Command: /dependency

Example

/dependency team-artifacts/pbis/260119-pbi-dark-mode-toggle.md
/dependency all

IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes

  • Always plan and break many small todo tasks
  • Always add a final review todo task to review the works done at the end to find any fix or enhancement needed
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