Update Dependent Tasks Skill

Purpose: Automatically update BLOCKED tasks to READY when all their dependencies are satisfied, preventing tasks from remaining unnecessarily blocked.

Performance: Automates dependency management, prevents stale BLOCKED tasks, improves workflow visibility

When to Use This Skill

✅ Use update-dependent-tasks When:

• After completing and archiving a task
• After updating changelog.md with completed task
• In COMPLETE → CLEANUP transition
• Want to unblock dependent tasks automatically

❌ Do NOT Use When:

• Task not yet completed
• Task not yet in changelog.md
• No tasks have dependencies
• Not using dependency tracking in todo.md

What This Skill Does

1. Finds BLOCKED Tasks

# Searches todo.md for:
- [ ] **BLOCKED:** `task-name`
  - **Dependencies**: A0, A1, A2

2. Checks Dependencies

# For each dependency:
- Checks if dependency in changelog.md
- If in changelog: Dependency satisfied ✅
- If not in changelog: Dependency pending ❌

3. Updates Task Status

# If ALL dependencies satisfied:
BEFORE: - [ ] **BLOCKED:** `task-name`
AFTER:  - [ ] **READY:** `task-name`

4. Updates Dependency List

# Marks which dependencies complete:
BEFORE: - **Dependencies**: A0, A1, A2
AFTER:  - **Dependencies**: A0 ✅ COMPLETE, A1 ✅ COMPLETE, A2 ✅ COMPLETE

5. Reports Changes

## Dependency Update Results

### Unblocked Tasks:
- `implement-line-length-formatter` (dependencies: A0 ✅, A1 ✅)
- `implement-import-organization` (dependencies: A0 ✅, A1 ✅)

### Still Blocked Tasks:
- `implement-advanced-formatter` (waiting for: A3)

Usage

Basic Update

# After completing task A1
COMPLETED_TASK="implement-index-overlay-parser"

/workspace/main/.claude/scripts/update-dependent-tasks.sh \
  --completed-task "$COMPLETED_TASK"

Update All Dependencies

# Check all BLOCKED tasks, update any now ready
/workspace/main/.claude/scripts/update-dependent-tasks.sh \
  --check-all true

Dependency Tracking Format

Todo.md Entry Format

- [ ] **BLOCKED:** `implement-line-length-formatter`
  - **Dependencies**: A0 (styler-formatter-api module), A1 (parser for AST)
  - **Description**: Format line length according to rules

Components:

• Status: BLOCKED (will change to READY when satisfied)
• Task name: Backtick-wrapped identifier
• Dependencies: Comma-separated list of task identifiers
• Description: Optional task description

Dependency Specification

Dependencies: A0, A1, A2
Dependencies: implement-api, implement-tests
Dependencies: A0 (module setup), A1 (parser core)

Formats:

• Short identifiers: A0, A1, A2
• Full task names: implement-api, implement-tests
• With descriptions: A0 (module setup), A1 (parser core)

Workflow Integration

Complete → Cleanup Flow

COMPLETE state
  ↓
Merge task to main
  ↓
Update todo.md (mark complete)
  ↓
Update changelog.md (add entry)
  ↓
[update-dependent-tasks skill] ← THIS SKILL
  ↓
Find BLOCKED tasks
  ↓
Check if dependencies satisfied
  ↓
Update BLOCKED → READY if satisfied
  ↓
Commit updated todo.md
  ↓
Continue with cleanup

Example Scenario

Initial State

todo.md:

- [ ] **BLOCKED:** `implement-line-length-formatter`
  - **Dependencies**: A0 (styler-formatter-api module), A1 (parser for AST)
  - **Description**: Format line length according to rules

- [ ] **BLOCKED:** `implement-import-organization`
  - **Dependencies**: A0 (styler-formatter-api module), A1 (parser for AST)
  - **Description**: Organize imports according to rules

- [ ] **BLOCKED:** `implement-advanced-formatter`
  - **Dependencies**: A1 (parser for AST), A3 (semantic analyzer)
  - **Description**: Advanced formatting with semantic analysis

changelog.md:

## [2025-11-01] - A0-styler-formatter-api
- Created formatter API module
- Defined FormattingRule interface

## [2025-11-10] - A1-implement-index-overlay-parser
- Implemented parser with index overlay
- Added AST generation

After Running Skill

Completed Task: A1 (implement-index-overlay-parser)

Analysis:

1. implement-line-length-formatter: Needs A0 ✅, A1 ✅ → UNBLOCK
2. implement-import-organization: Needs A0 ✅, A1 ✅ → UNBLOCK
3. implement-advanced-formatter: Needs A1 ✅, A3 ❌ → STAY BLOCKED

Updated todo.md:

- [ ] **READY:** `implement-line-length-formatter`
  - **Dependencies**: A0 ✅ COMPLETE, A1 ✅ COMPLETE
  - **Description**: Format line length according to rules

- [ ] **READY:** `implement-import-organization`
  - **Dependencies**: A0 ✅ COMPLETE, A1 ✅ COMPLETE
  - **Description**: Organize imports according to rules

- [ ] **BLOCKED:** `implement-advanced-formatter`
  - **Dependencies**: A1 ✅ COMPLETE, A3 (semantic analyzer)
  - **Description**: Advanced formatting with semantic analysis

Report:

=== DEPENDENCY UPDATE RESULTS ===

Unblocked Tasks: 2
- implement-line-length-formatter (A0, A1 complete)
- implement-import-organization (A0, A1 complete)

Still Blocked Tasks: 1
- implement-advanced-formatter (waiting for: A3)

Updated todo.md with changes.

Output Format

Script returns JSON:

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Dependent tasks updated successfully",
  "completed_task": "A1-implement-index-overlay-parser",
  "checked_tasks": 3,
  "unblocked_tasks": [
    {
      "task_name": "implement-line-length-formatter",
      "dependencies": ["A0", "A1"],
      "all_satisfied": true,
      "new_status": "READY"
    },
    {
      "task_name": "implement-import-organization",
      "dependencies": ["A0", "A1"],
      "all_satisfied": true,
      "new_status": "READY"
    }
  ],
  "still_blocked_tasks": [
    {
      "task_name": "implement-advanced-formatter",
      "dependencies": ["A1", "A3"],
      "satisfied": ["A1"],
      "pending": ["A3"],
      "status": "BLOCKED"
    }
  ],
  "todo_md_updated": true,
  "timestamp": "2025-11-11T12:34:56-05:00"
}

Safety Features

Validation

• ✅ Verifies todo.md exists and readable
• ✅ Validates changelog.md exists
• ✅ Checks dependency format correct
• ✅ Confirms all dependencies specified

Conservative Updates

• ✅ Only updates when ALL dependencies satisfied
• ✅ Preserves task order in todo.md
• ✅ Maintains task descriptions
• ✅ Keeps formatting intact

Atomic Changes

• ✅ Edits todo.md atomically
• ✅ Commits changes separately
• ✅ Rollback on error
• ✅ Preserves backup if update fails

Related Skills

• archive-task: Adds task to changelog (prerequisite)
• task-cleanup: Runs after dependency updates

Troubleshooting

Error: "Dependency not found in changelog"

# Dependency listed but not in changelog.md
# Possible causes:
1. Task completed but not archived
2. Dependency identifier mismatch
3. Changelog.md not up to date

# Fix:
1. Check if task actually complete
2. Verify dependency identifier matches changelog entry
3. Run archive-task if missing

Error: "Invalid dependency format"

# Dependency list format incorrect
# Expected: "Dependencies: A0, A1, A2"
# Found: "Depends on: A0 and A1"

# Fix: Update todo.md to use standard format
- **Dependencies**: A0, A1, A2

Task Not Unblocked

# Task expected to unblock but didn't
# Check:
1. All dependencies in changelog?
   grep "A0\|A1\|A2" changelog.md

2. Dependency list complete?
   grep -A 2 "BLOCKED.*task-name" todo.md

3. Task status correct?
   grep "task-name" todo.md

# If all dependencies satisfied, manually update:
sed -i 's/BLOCKED:/READY:/' todo.md

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Linear Dependencies

A0 → A1 → A2 → A3

After A1 completes:
- A2 unblocked (depends only on A1)
- A3 remains blocked (depends on A2)

Pattern 2: Fan-Out Dependencies

      A0
    /  |  \
  B1  B2  B3

After A0 completes:
- B1, B2, B3 all unblocked (all depend only on A0)

Pattern 3: Fan-In Dependencies

  A1   A2   A3
    \  |  /
      B0

After A1 and A2 complete:
- B0 remains blocked (still waiting for A3)

After A3 completes:
- B0 unblocked (all dependencies satisfied)

Pattern 4: Diamond Dependencies

      A0
     /  \
   A1    A2
     \  /
      B0

After A0 completes:
- A1, A2 unblocked

After A1 completes:
- B0 remains blocked (waiting for A2)

After A2 completes:
- B0 unblocked (both A1 and A2 complete)

Best Practices

Clear Dependency Identifiers

✅ GOOD: Unique, consistent
- Dependencies: A0, A1, A2
- Dependencies: implement-api, implement-tests

❌ BAD: Ambiguous, inconsistent
- Dependencies: the API thing, parser

Minimal Dependencies

✅ GOOD: Only true dependencies
Dependencies: A0 (API interface needed)

❌ BAD: Nice-to-have
Dependencies: A0 (API), B5 (would be nice to have)

Keep Dependencies Updated

# After completing task, check for dependents
./update-dependent-tasks.sh --check-all

# After updating todo.md structure, verify dependencies
grep -A 2 "BLOCKED:" todo.md

Implementation Notes

The update-dependent-tasks script performs:

1. Discovery Phase

   • Read todo.md
   • Find all BLOCKED tasks
   • Extract dependency lists
   • Parse dependency identifiers

2. Validation Phase

   • Read changelog.md
   • Extract completed task identifiers
   • Build set of satisfied dependencies

3. Analysis Phase

   • For each BLOCKED task:
     • Get dependency list
     • Check each dependency against changelog
     • Determine if all satisfied

4. Update Phase

   • For tasks with all dependencies satisfied:
     • Update BLOCKED → READY
     • Mark dependencies as ✅ COMPLETE
     • Preserve task structure

5. Commit Phase

   • Write updated todo.md
   • Verify changes applied
   • Commit changes
   • Report results

6. Reporting Phase

   • List unblocked tasks
   • List still-blocked tasks
   • Show pending dependencies
   • Return JSON summary