Dependency Mapping

VerifiedSafe

Map and visualize dependencies between features and work items. Identify blockers, critical paths, and risks to optimize planning and sequencing.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
206/2/2026
Claude Code
#dependency-mapping#blockers#critical-path#feature-planning

Recommended for

Our review

Maps and visualizes dependencies between features and work items.

Strengths

  • Structured dependency analysis with predefined types (blocked, blocks, mutual, etc.)
  • Identifies critical paths and risks (circular dependencies, external blockers)
  • Generates a visual report directly in the console

Limitations

  • Requires PBI files in a specific format within a defined directory
  • Does not auto-detect dependencies; they must be documented beforehand
  • Mainly interactive and on-demand
When to use it

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

When not to use it

Avoid when dependencies are already well-documented and no critical path analysis is needed.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score88/100

The skill only reads files, builds dependency graphs, and generates reports using allowed tools (Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, TodoWrite). No network, execution, or destructive actions are involved.

No concerns found

Examples

Analyze a single PBI
/dependency team-artifacts/pbis/260119-pbi-dark-mode-toggle.md
Map all dependencies
/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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