Agent skill · operations · wshobson
team-communication-protocols
Structured messaging protocols for agent team communication including message type selection, plan approval, shutdown procedures, and anti-patterns to avoid. Use this skill when establishing communication norms for a newly spawned team, when deciding whether to send a direct message or a broadcast, when a team-lead needs to review and approve an implementer's plan before work begins, when orchestrating a graceful team shutdown after all tasks are complete, or when debugging why teammates are not coordinating correctly at integration points.
Why this skill is useful
Provides structured communication protocols and workflows that enhance team coordination and prevent common pitfalls.
What it needs
About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-05. 38,570 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Team Communication Protocols Protocols for effective communication between agent teammates, including message type selection, plan approval workflows, shutdown procedures, and common anti-patterns to avoid. When to Use This Skill Establishing communication norms for a new team Choosing between message types (message, broadcast, shutdownrequest) Handling plan approval workflows Managing graceful team shutdown Discovering teammate identities and capabilities Message Type Selection message (Direct Message) — Default Choice Send to a single specific teammate: Use for: Task updates, coordination, questions, integration notifications. broadcast — Use Sparingly Send to ALL teammates simultaneously: Use ONLY for: Critical blockers affecting everyone, major changes to shared resources. Why sparingly?: Each broadcast sends N separate messages (one per teammate), consuming API resources proportional to team size. shutdownrequest — Graceful Termination Request a teammate to shut down: The teammate responds with shutdownresponse (approve or reject with reason). Communication Anti-Patterns Anti-Pattern Problem Better Approach --------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- Broadcasting routine updates Wastes resources, noise Direct message to affected teammate Sending JSON status messages Not designed for structured data Use TaskUpdate to update task status Not communicating at integration points Teammates build against stale interfaces Message when your interface is ready Micromanaging via messages Overwhelms teammates, slows work Check in at milestones, not every step Using UUIDs instead of names Hard to read, error-prone Always use teammate names Ignoring idle teammates Wasted capacity Assign new work or shut down Plan Approval Workflow When a teammate is spawned with planmoderequired: 1. Teammate creates a plan using read-only exploration tools 2. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills wshobson/team-communication-protocols