Coupling Analysis Skill

Copyright (c) 2025 James J Ter Beest III. All Rights Reserved.

Description

Analyzes task coupling to determine which tasks can be executed in parallel vs. which require sequential execution. This optional analysis helps optimize the development workflow by identifying independent work streams.

When to Use

This skill activates when:

• User says "task-master show", "taskmaster show"
• User mentions "tightly coupled", "loosely coupled"
• User asks about "parallel implementation", "parallel tasks"
• User says "coupling analysis", "analyze coupling", "task coupling"
• User asks about "proposal strategy" or "analyze tasks"
• The signal TASKS_APPROVED has been emitted
• Pipeline state is tasks_approved

How to Invoke

[ACTIVATE:COUPLING_ANALYSIS_V1]

Or user trigger phrases:

• "analyze task coupling"
• "which tasks can run in parallel"
• "show task dependencies"
• "coupling analysis"

What It Does

1. Reads tasks.json - Parses the task hierarchy
2. Analyzes dependencies - Maps task dependencies and blockers
3. Identifies coupling - Categorizes tasks as tightly or loosely coupled
4. Parallel opportunities - Identifies tasks that can execute simultaneously
5. Generates report - Creates coupling analysis summary

Coupling Categories

Output

The skill produces:

• Coupling analysis report
• Parallel execution recommendations
• Dependency graph visualization

Signals

Next Activation

After completion, triggers:

[ACTIVATE:TASK_DECOMPOSER_V1]

Skipping This Phase

In quick mode or when explicitly requested, emit SKIP_COUPLING_ANALYSIS signal to bypass this optional phase and proceed directly to task decomposition.

Related Skills

• task-review-gate - Precedes this skill
• task-decomposer - Follows this skill
• prd-to-tasks - Generates the initial tasks