Parallel Feature Development

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Decomposing a large feature into independent work streams
• More agents need to implement different layers of the same system simultaneously
• Establishing file ownership to prevent merge conflicts in a shared codebase
• Designing interface contracts so parallel implementers can build against each others APIs before they are ready

Example prompts

• “/parallel-feature-development”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1Designate a single owner — One implementer owns the file
2. 2Other implementers request changes — Message the owner with specific change requests
3. 3Owner applies changes sequentially — Prevents merge conflicts
4. 4Alternative: Extract interfaces — Create a separate interface file that the non-owner can import without modifying

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 46891e7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are typescript).

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Parallel Feature Development loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.9k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 164 tokens; SKILL.md has 576 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~164

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.7k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~2.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wshobson/agents at commit 46891e7, republished under its MIT licence (© wshobson). 576 words, ~1,658 tokens.

name

parallel-feature-development

description

Coordinate parallel feature development with file ownership strategies, conflict avoidance rules, and integration patterns for multi-agent implementation. Use this skill when decomposing a large feature into independent work streams, when two or more agents need to implement different layers of the same system simultaneously, when establishing file ownership to prevent merge conflicts in a shared codebase, when designing interface contracts so parallel implementers can build against each other's APIs before they are ready, or when deciding whether to use vertical slices versus horizontal layers for a full-stack feature.

version

1.0.2

implementer-1: src/components/auth/
implementer-2: src/api/auth/
implementer-3: tests/auth/

implementer-1: Authentication module (login, register, logout)
implementer-2: Authorization module (roles, permissions, guards)

implementer-1: UI layer (components, styles, layouts)
implementer-2: Business logic layer (services, validators)
implementer-3: Data layer (models, repositories, migrations)

// src/types/auth-contract.ts (owned by team-lead, read-only for implementers)
export interface AuthResponse {
  token: string;
  user: UserProfile;
  expiresAt: number;
}

export interface AuthService {
  login(email: string, password: string): Promise<AuthResponse>;
  register(data: RegisterData): Promise<AuthResponse>;
}

implementer-1: Login feature (login form + login API + login tests)
implementer-2: Register feature (register form + register API + register tests)

implementer-1: All UI components (login form, register form, profile page)
implementer-2: All API endpoints (login, register, profile)
implementer-3: All tests (unit, integration, e2e)

implementer-1: Login feature (vertical slice — UI + API + tests)
implementer-2: Shared auth infrastructure (horizontal — middleware, JWT utils, types)

feature/auth
  ├── feature/auth-login      (implementer-1)
  ├── feature/auth-register    (implementer-2)
  └── feature/auth-tests       (implementer-3)

© wshobson, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in plugins/agent-teams/skills/parallel-feature-development of wshobson/agents.

• SKILL.md
• references/file-ownership.md
• references/merge-strategies.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 46891e7