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Guide · Agent skill

How to use the Task Coordination Strategies agent skill

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

The task-coordination-strategies skill gives an AI agent a playbook for splitting a large job among several agents that work together. Once it is installed, the agent can break a task into pieces, arrange dependencies so independent work runs in parallel, write clear task descriptions and spot workload imbalance. This guide is for developers and leads who run agent teams, and it explains what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it and what it needs.

Task Coordination Strategieswshobson/agents · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Download and unzip the skill. Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it so the skill folder is available.
  2. 2Place it in the right folder. Put the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or in the project's .claude/skills/ folder for one project. Alternatively, upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps.
  3. 3Confirm your agent-teams tools. Make sure TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList and SendMessage are available, since the skill relies on them.
  4. 4Describe the work and the team. Ask the agent to break a feature or review into tasks for a named number of teammates.
  5. 5Set dependencies. Ask for blockedBy relationships only where one task truly needs another to finish first.
  6. 6Write full task descriptions. Have each task include objective, owned files, requirements, interface contracts, acceptance criteria and out-of-scope items.
  7. 7Monitor and rebalance. Use TaskList to check progress, then TaskUpdate and SendMessage to reassign work when someone is idle or overloaded.

What an agent skill is and what this one does

An agent skill is a folder of instructions that an AI agent loads when a request matches the skill's purpose. This one is named task-coordination-strategies and is written for planning multi-agent work rather than doing the coding itself.

When active, the agent can decompose a complex task by layer (frontend, backend API, database, tests), by component (for example authentication or notifications), by concern (security, performance or architecture review) or by file ownership (each teammate owns specific directories). It can also design dependency relationships between tasks and identify the critical path, which is the longest chain that sets the minimum completion time.

  • Decompose work into parallelizable units split by layer, component, concern or file ownership
  • Design dependencies using blockedBy and blocks, favouring wide, shallow graphs over deep chains
  • Write task descriptions with objective, owned files, requirements, interface contracts, acceptance criteria and out-of-scope items
  • Monitor workload, detect idle or overloaded teammates and reassign tasks

Install the skill from the ZIP

Download the ZIP file for the skill from this page and unzip it. To make it available to all your projects, place the unzipped skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/. To limit it to one project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

You can also upload the skill in the Claude apps. Open Settings, go to Capabilities and then Skills, and upload the skill there.

  • Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
  • Single project install: the project's .claude/skills/ folder
  • Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Check your environment before you start

This skill only makes sense inside an agent-teams environment. Its instructions call task tools named TaskCreate, TaskUpdate and TaskList, plus a messaging tool named SendMessage. If your setup does not provide these, the skill's steps cannot be carried out as written.

The skill does not run scripts and does not use the network. Its files are instructions and reference examples.

  • Required: task tools (TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList) and messaging (SendMessage)
  • Runs scripts: no
  • Uses network: no

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. The skill is meant to activate when you ask for help breaking down work for agent teams, managing task dependencies or monitoring team progress. Describe the job and the team and let the agent pick the skill up.

The skill's own list of uses includes breaking down a complex task for parallel execution, designing blockedBy and blocks relationships, writing task descriptions with acceptance criteria, rebalancing workload and finding the critical path.

  • "Break this feature into tasks I can give to three agents working in parallel."
  • "Set up dependencies so the integration tests wait for the API and frontend tasks."
  • "Write task descriptions for the auth work with owned files and acceptance criteria."
  • "One of my teammates is idle. Rebalance the pending tasks."

Use the task description template

Each task should carry six parts so a teammate can work without guessing. The skill provides a template you can ask the agent to fill in. Owned files are important because they tell a teammate what it may change, and marking shared files as read only prevents two agents editing the same code.

  • Objective (1-2 sentences)
  • Owned Files
  • Requirements
  • Interface Contracts
  • Acceptance Criteria
  • Scope Boundaries (Out of Scope)
## Objective Build the user authentication API endpoints. ## Owned Files - src/api/auth.ts - src/api/middleware/auth-middleware.ts - src/types/auth.ts (shared — read only, do not modify) ## Requirements - POST /api/login — accepts email/password, returns JWT - POST /api/register — creates new user, returns JWT - GET /api/me — returns current user profile (requires auth) ## Interface Contract - Import User type from src/types/auth.ts (owned by implementer-1) - Export AuthResponse type for frontend consumption ## Acceptance Criteria - All endpoints return proper HTTP status codes - JWT tokens expire after 24 hours - Passwords are hashed with bcrypt ## Out of Scope - OAuth/social login - Password reset flow - Rate limiting

Wire up dependencies with blockedBy

Dependencies are set by creating tasks and then adding blockedBy relationships with TaskUpdate. Add a dependency only when the work is truly required to come first. Avoid circular dependencies, such as Task A blocking B while B blocks A, because that is a deadlock.

The skill describes three patterns. Independent tasks feeding one integration task give the most parallelism but can reveal incompatibilities late. A sequential chain gives no parallelism and should be avoided where possible. A diamond shares a foundation task, lets two tasks run in parallel, then merges them.

  • Independent: parallel tasks all feed one integration task
  • Sequential: each task waits for the previous one
  • Diamond: a foundation task, two parallel tasks, then a merge task
TaskCreate: { subject: "Build API endpoints" } → Task #1 TaskCreate: { subject: "Build frontend components" } → Task #2 TaskCreate: { subject: "Integration testing" } → Task #3 TaskUpdate: { taskId: "3", addBlockedBy: ["1", "2"] } → #3 waits for #1 and #2

Monitor and rebalance the team

Watch for signals of imbalance. An idle teammate while others are busy means tasks are unevenly distributed, so reassign pending work. A teammate stuck on one task may have a blocker, so check in and offer help. If every task is blocked, resolve the critical path first. If one teammate has about three times the work of others, split tasks or reassign.

To rebalance, the skill's steps are: call TaskList to see the current state, identify idle or overloaded teammates, use TaskUpdate to reassign, use SendMessage to tell affected teammates, then watch whether throughput improves.

  • Teammate idle, others busy: reassign pending tasks
  • Teammate stuck on one task: check in and offer help
  • All tasks blocked: resolve the critical path first
  • One teammate has 3x the others: split tasks or reassign

What people use it for

  • Splitting a feature build into vertical slices, with one teammate per login, registration and shared infrastructure stream
  • Planning a parallel code review in which one agent checks security, another performance and another architecture
  • Assigning file ownership during a refactor so that two implementers never edit the same directory
  • Setting up an integration task that waits for the API and frontend tasks to finish
  • Reviewing a stalled team board to find the critical path and reassign work from an idle teammate

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the task-coordination-strategies skill?

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. Place the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ to use it everywhere, or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to that project. In the Claude apps you can instead upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

What do I need to use this skill?

You need an agent-teams environment that provides TaskCreate, TaskUpdate and TaskList for tasks, plus SendMessage for messaging. The instructions depend on these tools, so without them the steps cannot be followed as written.

Is the task-coordination-strategies skill free?

The skill is listed under the MIT licence, which is stated on this page for the wshobson/agents repository. Check the licence file in the repository for the full terms before reusing it.

Does this skill run scripts or access the internet?

No. The source states that it runs no scripts and uses no network. It consists of instructions in SKILL.md and reference files on dependency graphs and task decomposition.

Can I use this skill for a simple single-agent task?

It is not recommended. Splitting work adds overhead, so for simple single-agent tasks the skill offers no benefit.

How is this different from a general task planning prompt?

This skill packages specific patterns: decomposition by layer, component, concern or file ownership, dependency patterns using blockedBy and blocks, a six-part task description template and a rebalancing procedure built on TaskList, TaskUpdate and SendMessage. A general prompt would need you to supply these yourself.

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Our verdict

Use this skill if you coordinate several agents on a feature build, refactor or parallel review and want clean, non-overlapping handoffs. Skip it for simple one-agent jobs, and do not expect it to work if your setup lacks TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList and SendMessage.

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