tasks-parallel-analysis.md 1.9 KB

Parallel Task Analysis Rules

Purpose

Provide a consistent way to identify implementation tasks that can be safely executed in parallel while generating tasks.md.

When to Consider Tasks Parallel

Only mark a task as parallel-capable when all of the following are true:

  1. No data dependency on pending tasks.
  2. No conflicting files or shared mutable resources are touched.
  3. No prerequisite review/approval from another task is required beforehand.
  4. Environment/setup work needed by this task is already satisfied or covered within the task itself.

Marking Convention

  • Append (P) immediately after the numeric identifier for each qualifying task.
    • Example: - [ ] 2.1 (P) Build background worker for emails
  • Apply (P) to both major tasks and sub-tasks when appropriate.
  • If sequential execution is requested (e.g. via --sequential flag), omit (P) markers entirely.
  • Keep (P) outside of checkbox brackets to avoid confusion with completion state.

Grouping & Ordering Guidelines

  • Group parallel tasks under the same parent whenever the work belongs to the same theme.
  • List obvious prerequisites or caveats in the detail bullets (e.g., "Requires schema migration from 1.2").
  • When two tasks look similar but are not parallel-safe, call out the blocking dependency explicitly.
  • Skip marking container-only major tasks (those without their own actionable detail bullets) with (P)—evaluate parallel execution at the sub-task level instead.

Quality Checklist

Before marking a task with (P), ensure you have:

  • Verified that running this task concurrently will not create merge or deployment conflicts.
  • Captured any shared state expectations in the detail bullets.
  • Confirmed that the implementation can be tested independently.

If any check fails, do not mark the task with (P) and explain the dependency in the task details.