Pending: Frontmatter field format for dependencies
Pending: Visualization format — text tree, mermaid, or markdown table?
User Tasks
Summary
Track and visualize dependencies between FRs so blocked work is never started and the optimal implementation order is always clear.
Problem / Motivation
Many FRs reference prerequisites buried in prose (e.g. “depends on FR-015” in a paragraph).
No structured way to query “what can I work on right now?” or “what does FR-067 need first?”
Starting a blocked FR wastes a full session discovering the blocker mid-implementation.
The proposed renumbering groups FRs by phase, but cross-phase dependencies still exist and aren’t tracked.
Proposed Solution
Add a depends-on frontmatter field to FR files. Build a /deps skill that reads all FRs and outputs: (1) a dependency graph, (2) a “ready to implement” list (all deps satisfied), and (3) blockers for a specific FR.
Open Questions
1. Frontmatter Format
Question: How should dependencies be expressed in FR frontmatter?
Option
Description
A) depends-on: [FR-015, FR-011]
Simple YAML list, easy to parse
B) Inline references only
Keep in prose, parse with regex
C) Separate dependency file
Central dependencies.yaml
Recommendation: Option A — lives with the FR, easy to maintain, parseable.
Decision:
2. Visualization
Question: How should the dependency graph be displayed?
Option
Description
A) Mermaid diagram
Visual graph, renders in Obsidian and GitHub
B) Markdown tree
Text-based indented tree
C) Table
Simple table with “blocked by” and “blocks” columns
Recommendation: Option A — Mermaid renders natively in Obsidian, best visual clarity.
Decision:
Phase Overview
Phase
Description
Status
Phase 1
Add depends-on frontmatter to all FRs + /deps skill
—
Phase 2
”Ready to implement” list + blocker warnings
—
Phase 3
Auto-check before implementation (PreToolUse or skill gate)
—
Phase 1: Frontmatter & Skill —
Goal: Structured dependency data in all FRs and a skill to query it.
File / Feature
Details
Owner
Status
FR frontmatter
Add depends-on: [] to all FR files
opus
—
.claude/skills/deps/SKILL.md
/deps — show full graph; /deps FR-XXX — show deps for one FR
opus
—
Dependency graph output
Mermaid diagram in vault/00_system/dashboards/dependency-graph.md
opus
—
Phase 2: Ready List & Blockers —
Goal: Answer “what can I work on now?” and “what’s blocking FR-X?”
File / Feature
Details
Owner
Status
Ready list
/deps ready — list FRs with all deps in done status
opus
—
Blocker trace
/deps FR-XXX shows chain of unsatisfied deps
opus
—
Dashboard integration
Add “ready to implement” section to feature dashboard
opus
—
Phase 3: Implementation Gate —
Goal: Warn or block when trying to implement an FR with unmet dependencies.
File / Feature
Details
Owner
Status
Pre-implementation check
/implement skill (FR-043) checks deps before starting
opus
—
Warning in /status
Surface blocked FRs in status skill output
opus
—
Prerequisites / Gap Analysis
Current State
Component
Status
Details
Dependency info
partial
Exists in prose in ~15 FRs, not structured
Frontmatter depends-on
—
Field doesn’t exist yet
Querying
—
No tooling
Gap (What’s missing?)
Gap
Effort
Blocker?
Add frontmatter field to all FRs
Medium (batch edit)
No
Skill to parse and display
Medium
No
Mermaid generation
Low
No
Test
Manual tests
Test
Expected
Actual
Last
Run /deps
Full dependency graph rendered
pending
-
Run /deps FR-067
Shows FR-015 as prerequisite
pending
-
Run /deps ready
Lists only FRs with all deps satisfied or no deps
pending
-
FR with unmet dep
Warning when trying to implement
pending
-
AI-verified tests
Scenario
Expected behavior
Verification method
…
…
…
E2E tests
Scenario
Assertion
…
…
Integration tests
Component
Coverage
…
…
Unit tests
Component
Tests
Coverage
…
…
…
History
Date
Event
Details
2026-03-12
Created
Identified as gap during FR renumbering review
References
FR-033 (Feature Workflow Automation) — lifecycle tooling, could host dep checks