dependency-analysis

name	dependency-analysis
description	Analyze software project dependencies, blockers, prerequisite work, critical paths, ownership constraints, external dependencies, and sequencing risks. Use when preventing execution deadlocks or delivery surprises.

Purpose

This skill helps expose the work, decisions, owners, and external inputs that must be resolved for execution to proceed.

Use this skill when:

• Identifying blockers
• Finding prerequisite work
• Mapping critical paths
• Planning cross-team coordination
• Evaluating integration risk
• Preparing work for estimation or scheduling

Inputs

Expected inputs:

• Decomposed tasks
• Milestones
• Architecture components
• Owners
• External systems
• Known constraints
• Target dates

Inputs usually come from decomposition and architecture. If the work is still at feature level, use decomposition first to expose concrete dependencies.

Dependency Analysis Principles

Always optimize for:

1. Surfacing blockers early
2. Making prerequisite work explicit
3. Separating critical path from parallel work
4. Naming owners and decision points
5. Reducing delivery surprises

Avoid optimizing solely for:

• Best-case sequencing
• Assuming availability
• Hiding external dependencies
• Treating all dependencies as equal
• Ignoring decision dependencies

Process

Step 1: Normalize Work and Owners

List:

• Work items
• Deliverables
• Owners
• Systems involved
• External teams or vendors
• Required decisions

Flag unknown owners or unclear deliverables.

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Step 2: Identify Prerequisites

For each work item, determine:

• Technical prerequisites
• Data prerequisites
• Access prerequisites
• Design decisions
• Review or approval needs
• External inputs

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Step 3: Map Dependency Chains

Classify dependencies:

Type	Questions
Blocking	What cannot start until this completes?
Sequencing	What should happen first to reduce rework?
External	What is outside the team's direct control?
Decision	What requires approval or alignment?
Parallelizable	What can proceed independently?

Highlight critical-path dependencies.

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Step 4: Recommend Mitigations

For each material dependency, propose:

• Owner
• Due date or checkpoint
• Mitigation
• Parallel fallback
• Escalation trigger

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Step 5: Produce Dependency Plan

Generate:

• Dependency map
• Critical path
• Blockers
• Parallelizable work
• Escalation items
• Recommended next actions

Anti-Patterns

Avoid:

• Waiting until scheduling to find blockers
• Ignoring external teams
• Treating uncertain decisions as solved
• Assuming dependencies will resolve themselves
• Failing to name owners
• Hiding critical-path risk

Reviewer Checklist

Before finalizing dependency analysis:

• Are blockers explicit?
• Are owners assigned?
• Is the critical path visible?
• Is parallelizable work identified?
• Can estimation and scheduling use this analysis?

Escalation Guidance

Escalate when:

• Dependencies have no owner
• Critical-path work is blocked
• External timelines are unknown
• Required decisions are unresolved
• A dependency threatens committed dates

Example

Input:

• Tasks: add setup state fields, create checklist API, add frontend checklist

Expected dependency analysis:

1. Database fields block API implementation
2. API contract blocks frontend integration
3. Analytics event can proceed after completion state is defined

Recommended next skill:

• Use estimation once dependencies and blockers are visible.