Skills · Data & AI

Task Coordination Strategies

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Decompose complex tasks, design dependency graphs, and coordinate multi-agent work with proper task descriptions and workload balancing. Use this skill when breaking down work for agent teams, managing task dependencies, or monitoring team progress.

Originally by wshobson · MIT

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Decompose complex tasks, design dependency graphs, and coordinate multi-agent work with proper task descriptions and workload balancing. Use this skill when breaking down work for agent teams, managing task dependencies, or monitoring team progress.

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Frontmatter — 3 properties
nametask-coordination-strategies
descriptionDecompose complex tasks, design dependency graphs, and coordinate multi-agent work with proper task descriptions and workload balancing. Use this skill when breaking down work for agent teams, managing task dependencies, or monitoring team progress.
version1.0.2
1---
2name: task-coordination-strategies
3description: Decompose complex tasks, design dependency graphs, and coordinate multi-agent work with proper task descriptions and workload balancing. Use this skill when breaking down work for agent teams, managing task dependencies, or monitoring team progress.
4version: 1.0.2
5---A5No allowed-tools declared — no way to tell what this skill may touch
6 
7# Task Coordination Strategies
8 
9Strategies for decomposing complex tasks into parallelizable units, designing dependency graphs, writing effective task descriptions, and monitoring workload across agent teams.
10 
11## When to Use This Skill
12 
13- Breaking down a complex task for parallel execution
14- Designing task dependency relationships (blockedBy/blocks)
15- Writing task descriptions with clear acceptance criteria
16- Monitoring and rebalancing workload across teammates
17- Identifying the critical path in a multi-task workflow
18 
19## Task Decomposition Strategies
20 
21### By Layer
22 
23Split work by architectural layer:
24 
25- Frontend components
26- Backend API endpoints
27- Database migrations/models
28- Test suites
29 
30**Best for**: Full-stack features, vertical slices
31 
32### By Component
33 
34Split work by functional component:
35 
36- Authentication module
37- User profile module
38- Notification module
39 
40**Best for**: Microservices, modular architectures
41 
42### By Concern
43 
44Split work by cross-cutting concern:
45 
46- Security review
47- Performance review
48- Architecture review
49 
50**Best for**: Code reviews, audits
51 
52### By File Ownership
53 
54Split work by file/directory boundaries:
55 
56- `src/components/` — Implementer 1
57- `src/api/` — Implementer 2
58- `src/utils/` — Implementer 3
59 
60**Best for**: Parallel implementation, conflict avoidance
61 
62## Dependency Graph Design
63 
64### Principles
65 
661. **Minimize chain depth** — Prefer wide, shallow graphs over deep chains
672. **Identify the critical path** — The longest chain determines minimum completion time
683. **Use blockedBy sparingly** — Only add dependencies that are truly required
694. **Avoid circular dependencies** — Task A blocks B blocks A is a deadlock
70 
71### Patterns
72 
73**Independent (Best parallelism)**:
74 
75```
76Task A ─┐
77Task B ─┼─→ Integration
78Task C ─┘
79```
80 
81**Sequential (Necessary dependencies)**:
82 
83```
84Task A → Task B → Task C
85```
86 
87**Diamond (Mixed)**:
88 
89```
90 ┌→ Task B ─┐
91Task A ─┤ ├→ Task D
92 └→ Task C ─┘
93```
94 
95### Using blockedBy/blocks
96 
97```
98TaskCreate: { subject: "Build API endpoints" } → Task #1
99TaskCreate: { subject: "Build frontend components" } → Task #2
100TaskCreate: { subject: "Integration testing" } → Task #3
101TaskUpdate: { taskId: "3", addBlockedBy: ["1", "2"] } → #3 waits for #1 and #2
102```
103 
104## Task Description Best Practices
105 
106Every task should include:
107 
1081. **Objective** — What needs to be accomplished (1-2 sentences)
1092. **Owned Files** — Explicit list of files/directories this teammate may modify
1103. **Requirements** — Specific deliverables or behaviors expected
1114. **Interface Contracts** — How this work connects to other teammates' work
1125. **Acceptance Criteria** — How to verify the task is done correctly
1136. **Scope Boundaries** — What is explicitly out of scope
114 
115### Template
116 
117```
118## Objective
119Build the user authentication API endpoints.
120 
121## Owned Files
122- src/api/auth.ts
123- src/api/middleware/auth-middleware.ts
124- src/types/auth.ts (shared — read only, do not modify)
125 
126## Requirements
127- POST /api/login — accepts email/password, returns JWT
128- POST /api/register — creates new user, returns JWT
129- GET /api/me — returns current user profile (requires auth)
130 
131## Interface Contract
132- Import User type from src/types/auth.ts (owned by implementer-1)
133- Export AuthResponse type for frontend consumption
134 
135## Acceptance Criteria
136- All endpoints return proper HTTP status codes
137- JWT tokens expire after 24 hours
138- Passwords are hashed with bcrypt
139 
140## Out of Scope
141- OAuth/social login
142- Password reset flow
143- Rate limiting
144```
145 
146## Workload Monitoring
147 
148### Indicators of Imbalance
149 
150| Signal | Meaning | Action |
151| -------------------------- | ------------------- | --------------------------- |
152| Teammate idle, others busy | Uneven distribution | Reassign pending tasks |
153| Teammate stuck on one task | Possible blocker | Check in, offer help |
154| All tasks blocked | Dependency issue | Resolve critical path first |
155| One teammate has 3x others | Overloaded | Split tasks or reassign |
156 
157### Rebalancing Steps
158 
1591. Call `TaskList` to assess current state
1602. Identify idle or overloaded teammates
1613. Use `TaskUpdate` to reassign tasks
1624. Use `SendMessage` to notify affected teammates
1635. Monitor for improved throughput
164 

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