Dependency Mapping

VerifiedSafe

Map and visualize dependencies between features and work items. Identify blockers, critical path, and risks like circular or external dependencies. Helps with sequencing planning and bottleneck analysis.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
606/2/2026
Claude Code
#dependency-mapping#dependency-graph#blockers#critical-path#visualization

Recommended for

Our review

Maps and visualizes dependencies between features and work items.

Strengths

  • Identifies blocking dependencies and critical path
  • Generates clear dependency graphs
  • Helps with feature sequencing planning
  • Detects risks like circular dependencies

Limitations

  • Requires correct dependency fields in PBIs
  • Does not automatically capture implicit or hidden dependencies
  • External dependencies must be added manually
When to use it

When planning feature sequencing or identifying blockers in a project.

When not to use it

For simple projects with few dependencies or when dependencies are already clear.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score92/100

The skill only reads and writes files, constructs dependency graphs, and generates reports. It uses allowed tools (Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, TodoWrite) for legitimate purposes and has no dangerous commands or data exfiltration risks.

No concerns found

Examples

Analyze a single feature's dependencies
/dependency team-artifacts/pbis/260119-pbi-dark-mode-toggle.md
Analyze all features
/dependency all
Ask about blockers in natural language
What blocks the checkout feature? Show dependency graph.

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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