team-communication-protocols Skill (wshobson) for Claude: What It Does and How to Install It

Gives Claude Code agent teams message rules: when to message one teammate, when to broadcast, and how to approve plans and shut down.

Installs: 9.8K; on skills.sh
Stars: 42.1K; on GitHub
Files: 1; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

This skill is a rulebook for how agents in a Claude Code team talk to each other. It says to use direct messages by default, broadcast only for blockers that affect everyone, approve or reject a teammate's plan before it builds, and shut a team down in a set order. It also lists anti-patterns and troubleshooting steps.

It triggers when a new team is spawned, when a lead must choose between a message and a broadcast, or when teammates fail to coordinate. The message types and tools it names (SendMessage, TeamDelete, ExitPlanMode) belong to Claude Code's Agent Teams, so the skill only helps there. It bundles no scripts.

Good for

Claude Code users running agent teams with several teammates
Team leads who review a teammate's plan before work starts
Anyone debugging teammates that are not coordinating

Install team-communication-protocols

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the team-communication-protocols skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add wshobson/agents
/plugin install agent-teams@claude-code-workflows

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route. The plugin routes install the whole agent-teams plugin: 4 agents, 7 commands and 5 skills (counted from the plugin folder in the repo tree, which has no hooks or MCP config files). The plugin's README says its commands need Claude Code's experimental Agent Teams feature, turned on with the CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS environment variable. The skills-only routes install just this skill, with no agents or commands.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

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.

Sections in SKILL.md

When to Use This Skill
Message Type Selection
message (Direct Message) — Default Choice
broadcast — Use Sparingly
shutdown_request — Graceful Termination
Communication Anti-Patterns
Plan Approval Workflow
Shutdown Protocol
Graceful Shutdown Sequence
Handling Rejections
Teammate Discovery
Troubleshooting
Related Skills

Key facts

Author: wshobson (repo owner)
License: MIT
Installs on skills.sh: 9,841 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 42,081 for the whole wshobson/agents repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Oct 30, 2026
Audits on skills.sh: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass
What it includes: 2 files including SKILL.md: references/messaging-patterns.md (no scripts)
Needs: Claude Code's experimental Agent Teams feature; the plugin README sets it with the CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS environment variable
Part of: The agent-teams plugin in wshobson/agents. Counted from the plugin folder: 4 agents, 7 commands and 5 skills

What it includes

message by default, broadcast sparingly, shutdown_request to end
Direct message for updates and questions. Broadcast only for critical blockers or shared-resource changes, because it sends one message per teammate.
Read · Message type selection
Six habits to avoid, each with a better approach
Examples: broadcasting routine updates, micromanaging by message, using UUIDs instead of names.
Read · Anti-pattern table
Lead approves or rejects a teammate's plan
A teammate with plan mode required explores read-only, calls ExitPlanMode, and the lead replies with plan_approval_response.
Read · Plan approval workflow
Ordered shutdown, then TeamDelete
Lead sends shutdown_request, teammate approves or rejects with a reason, and the lead retries after a rejection. SKILL.md has the lead call TeamDelete at the end.
Delete · Shutdown protocol
Reads ~/.claude/teams/{team-name}/config.json
Tells the agent to find teammate names in that config file and always message by name.
Files · Teammate discovery
Six common problems and fixes
Covers silent teammates, missing SendMessage, broadcast overuse, shutdown rejections, a missing request_id and deadlocks.
Read · Troubleshooting

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It guides team shutdown and deletion
SKILL.md has the lead call TeamDelete after every teammate shuts down. It also says never to force-terminate a teammate that has unsaved work. Check that tasks are done first. github.com
The plugin route adds agents with Bash access
The agent-teams plugin has 4 agents. Their tool lists include Bash, and the team-implementer agent also has Write and Edit. Use the skills-only route if you only want this skill. github.com
It needs an experimental feature
The plugin README says to set CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1 before using agent teams. github.com

Security advisories

No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode. Use version control.
Sign-in and keys	SKILL.md and the reference file do not mention any account or key.
Scopes	Reads the team config at ~/.claude/teams/{team-name}/config.json to find teammate names Tells the lead to call TeamDelete to remove team resources after shutdown

Questions

What does the team-communication-protocols skill do?

It teaches Claude how members of a Claude Code agent team should message each other. It covers message versus broadcast, plan approval, shutdown order and common mistakes.

How do I install team-communication-protocols?

Use the install box at the top of this page. It offers the whole agent-teams plugin for Claude Code and Codex, and skills-only routes for this one skill.

Does it work without Agent Teams?

The tools and message types it names, such as SendMessage and TeamDelete, belong to Claude Code's experimental Agent Teams feature. The plugin README tells you to turn that feature on with an environment variable. Without it the skill has little to act on.

Do I need the other agent-teams skills?

No. SKILL.md links to team-composition-patterns and parallel-feature-development as related skills, but does not require them. The plugin route installs all 5 skills plus 4 agents and 7 commands.

Is this skill from Anthropic?

No. It is in wshobson/agents, a community collection, inside the agent-teams plugin.

Is it safe?

It bundles no scripts, only SKILL.md and one reference file. It describes shutting a team down and calling TeamDelete, which removes the team's resources, so approve those steps deliberately. The plugin route also adds agents whose tool lists include Bash.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: wshobson/agents
Folder: plugins/agent-teams/skills/team-communication-protocols

wshobson/agents skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 5

team-communication-protocols SKILL.md · github.com
messaging-patterns.md · github.com
wshobson/agents README · github.com
agent-teams plugin.json · github.com
agent-teams plugin README · github.com