Structured messaging protocols for coordinating agent teams through direct messages, broadcasts, plan approvals, and graceful shutdown.
Works with
Three message types: message for direct teammate coordination, broadcast for critical shared-resource updates, and shutdown_request for graceful termination with approval workflows
Plan approval workflow where teammates in plan mode submit proposals to a lead for review and feedback before execution
Shutdown protocol with rejection handling: lead sen
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Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
node --versionteam-communication-protocolsExecute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
Fetches team-communication-protocols from wshobson/agents and configures it for Cursor.
The CLI shows a list of agents. Use arrow keys and space to select Cursor:
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
Restart Cursor to activate team-communication-protocols. Access via /team-communication-protocols in your agent's command palette.
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your environment. Always review source, verify the publisher, and test in isolation before production.
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Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs
Example
Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios
Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage
Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps
Example
Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities
Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days
Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs
Example
Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale
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Protocols for effective communication between agent teammates, including message type selection, plan approval workflows, shutdown procedures, and common anti-patterns to avoid.
message (Direct Message) — Default ChoiceSend to a single specific teammate:
{
"type": "message",
"recipient": "implementer-1",
"content": "Your API endpoint is ready. You can now build the frontend form.",
"summary": "API endpoint ready for frontend"
}
Use for: Task updates, coordination, questions, integration notifications.
broadcast — Use SparinglySend to ALL teammates simultaneously:
{
"type": "broadcast",
"content": "Critical: shared types file has been updated. Pull latest before continuing.",
"summary": "Shared types updated"
}
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.
shutdown_request — Graceful TerminationRequest a teammate to shut down:
{
"type": "shutdown_request",
"recipient": "reviewer-1",
"content": "Review complete, shutting down team."
}
The teammate responds with shutdown_response (approve or reject with reason).
| 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 |
When a teammate is spawned with plan_mode_required:
ExitPlanMode which sends a plan_approval_request to the leadplan_approval_response:Approve:
{
"type": "plan_approval_response",
"request_id": "abc-123",
"recipient": "implementer-1",
"approve": true
}
Reject with feedback:
{
"type": "plan_approval_response",
"request_id": "abc-123",
"recipient": "implementer-1",
"approve": false,
"content": "Please add error handling for the API calls"
}
type: "shutdown_request"shutdown_response:
approve: true — Teammate saves state and exitsapprove: false + reason — Teammate continues workingTeammate cleanupIf a teammate rejects shutdown:
Find team members by reading the config file:
Location: ~/.claude/teams/{team-name}/config.json
Structure:
{
"members": [
{
"name": "security-reviewer",
"agentId": "uuid-here",
"agentType": "team-reviewer"
},
{
"name": "perf-reviewer",
"agentId": "uuid-here",
"agentType": "team-reviewer"
}
]
}
Always use name for messaging and task assignment. Never use agentId directly.
A teammate is not responding to messages. Check the teammate's task status. If it is idle, it may have completed its task and is waiting to be assigned new work or shut down. If it is still active, it may be mid-execution and will process messages once the current operation finishes.
The lead is sending broadcasts for every status update.
This is a common anti-pattern. Broadcasts are expensive — each one sends N messages. Use direct messages (type: "message") for point-to-point updates. Reserve broadcasts for critical shared-resource changes like an updated interface contract.
A teammate rejected a shutdown request unexpectedly.
The teammate is still working. Check the rejection reason in the shutdown_response content field, wait for the work to finish, then retry. Never force-terminate a teammate that has unsaved work.
A plan_approval_request arrived but the request_id is missing.
The teammate called ExitPlanMode without the required request context. Have the teammate re-enter plan mode, complete exploration, and call ExitPlanMode again. The request_id is generated automatically by the plan mode system.
Two teammates are waiting on each other and neither is making progress. This is a deadlock: both are blocked waiting for the other to finish first. The lead should send a direct message to one teammate with a stub or partial result so it can unblock and proceed.
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
Example
Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement
Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Steps
Common Pitfalls
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Use when
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
mattpocock/skills
parcadei/continuous-claude-v3
cursor/plugins
ailabs-393/ai-labs-claude-skills
ailabs-393/ai-labs-claude-skills
pproenca/dot-skills
team-communication-protocols has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: team-communication-protocols is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
We added team-communication-protocols from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
team-communication-protocols fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: team-communication-protocols is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
team-communication-protocols reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
Keeps context tight: team-communication-protocols is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
I recommend team-communication-protocols for anyone iterating fast on agent tooling; clear intent and a small, reviewable surface area.
team-communication-protocols fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
We added team-communication-protocols from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
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