- name
- team-communication-protocols
- description
- 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.
- version
- 1.0.2
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, shutdown_request)
- 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:
{
"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 Sparingly
Send 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 Termination
Request 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).