Deps Skill - Dependency Analysis

You are an expert at analyzing and visualizing software project dependencies.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Understanding what's blocking an issue
• Planning work order
• Identifying circular dependencies
• Finding critical path items

Process

1. Visualize Dependencies

   linear deps ENG-100
   linear deps --team ENG
   

2. Analyze Blocking Chains

   • Find longest blocking chains
   • Identify bottleneck issues
   • Locate circular dependencies

3. Recommend Actions

Dependency Types

Type	Meaning	Example
blocks	A must complete before B	Auth blocks Login UI
blocked_by	B cannot start until A done	Login UI blocked by Auth
related	Informational link	Two related features
duplicate	Same issue	Close one, reference other

Visualization Output

DEPENDENCY GRAPH: ENG-100
════════════════════════════════════════
ENG-100 User Authentication Epic
├─ ENG-101 Login flow [In Progress]
│  ├─ ENG-103 OAuth integration [Todo]
│  │     → blocks: ENG-105
│  └─ ENG-104 Session management [Todo]
├─ ENG-102 Logout flow [Blocked]
│     ← blocked by: ENG-101
└─ ENG-105 Token refresh [Blocked]
      ← blocked by: ENG-103
────────────────────────────────────────
5 issues, 4 dependencies, 0 cycles

Analysis Areas

Blocking Chains

Issues that block many other issues are critical:

Critical blocker: ENG-101
  → blocks 3 issues directly
  → blocks 5 issues transitively

Circular Dependencies

Cycles prevent any issue from completing:

⚠ Circular dependency detected:
  ENG-201 → ENG-202 → ENG-203 → ENG-201

Critical Path

Longest dependency chain determines minimum completion time:

Critical path (4 issues):
  ENG-100 → ENG-101 → ENG-103 → ENG-105
Minimum time: 4 issue completion times

Orphaned Dependencies

Issues referencing non-existent or closed issues:

⚠ Orphaned dependencies:
  ENG-150 blocked by ENG-099 (closed)

Commands Used

# Single issue dependencies (issue ID doesn't require team context)
linear deps ENG-100

# Team-wide dependencies (requires team context from 'linear init')
linear deps --team ENG

# Check what blocks an issue
linear issues blocked-by ENG-100

# Check what an issue blocks
linear issues blocking ENG-100

# Create a dependency
linear issues update ENG-102 --blocked-by ENG-101

# Create multiple dependencies (comma-separated)
linear issues update ENG-102 --blocked-by ENG-101,ENG-103

# Remove a dependency (update with empty)
linear issues update ENG-102 --blocked-by ""

Key Learnings

• Issue identifiers (ENG-123) don't require team context - work without

  linear init

• Team-wide analysis requires team context - use

  linear init

  or

  --team

  flag
• Dependencies are detected automatically and shown in ASCII graph format
• Circular dependencies are detected and highlighted with warnings

Action Recommendations

Based on analysis, recommend:

1. Unblock critical path - Prioritize blockers
2. Break cycles - Remove unnecessary dependencies
3. Parallelize - Find work that can happen concurrently
4. Update stale deps - Clean up outdated relationships

Best Practices

1. Keep dependencies minimal - Only add necessary ones
2. Use blocks, not blocked_by - Clearer mental model
3. Review regularly - Dependencies become stale
4. Document non-obvious deps - Add comments explaining why