approval deadlock cycle time simulator
Simulates cycle-time risks and deadlock exposure in approval workflows using the Lübke pattern taxonomy.
$11
Works with the AI tools you already use
Claude Code
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Codex CLI
Muse
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OpenClaw
Manus
Grok
Grok Bot+18 agentsapproval deadlock cycle time simulator
Example session with this skill installed
Review this chain: 3-step sequential approval (Manager, VP, Finance) for capital expenditure over $50k. Requires unanimous consent. No timeouts or delegation rules. Stakes: High financial risk.
- Read your context and instructions
- Compiled the approval deadlock cycle
- Generated the UI component
VERDICT (2-3 lines): CRITICAL EXPOSURE · Deadlock risk due to lack of non-performance handling · Add 'Silence as Rejection' or 'Replacement Approver' to prevent permanent process stalls.
A.C.E.S. EXPOSURE MATRIX
| Metric | Score | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Availability Exposure | [■■■■□] HIGH | 3 distinct roles, no replacement/delegation rules stated. |
| Cycle-Time Exposure | [■■■■■] CRITICAL | Sequential + Unanimous = maximum cumulative delay. |
| Deadlock Exposure | [■■■■■] CRITICAL | No timeout or non-performance pattern; one absence kills the process. |
| Escalation Fit | [■■■□□] MODERATE | Sequential logic matches high-risk profile but lacks safety valves. |
FINDINGS
Sequential Delay (Force: Cycle-Time): Per Lübke (2023), sequential execution with unanimous aggregation creates the worst-case cycle time. The process is bound by the sum of all individual latencies.
Single Point of Failure (Force: Available Resources): Each step is a hard gate. Without a Replacement Approver or Silence as Rejection pattern, an approver's absence (vacation/illness) results in a permanent stall.
Resource Intensity: High-risk profiles justify the Unanimous Decision pattern, but the lack of Parallel Approval means resources are tied up longer than necessary for the quality gain.
RECOMMENDED MINIMAL CHANGE
Implement Silence as Rejection with a 48-hour timeout for the Manager and VP steps.
Trade-off: This caps the cycle time and prevents deadlocks, accepting a higher false-rejection rate which is consistent with your
High Financial Risk profile.
Next steps
- Define specific timeout durations for each of the three steps.
- Identify backup delegates for the 'Finance' role to ensure availability.
- Verify if your BPMN engine (e.g., Camunda) supports boundary timer events for these steps.
SOURCE: Forces and Consequences: Daniel Lübke, "Design Patterns for Approval Processes" (EuroPLoP 2023/2024).
approval-deadlock-cycle-time-simulator.tsx
TSX · React component
Example file from a real run - the skill writes it into your workspace.
Connects securely to your tools. The creator never sees your data.
What you get
About this skill
The problem
Process designers often build approval workflows that look sound on paper but fail in production due to hidden deadlocks, vacation bottlenecks, or sequential delays. Choosing the wrong aggregation rule or missing a non-performance pattern can stall critical business operations without warning.
What it does
- Evaluates approval chain configurations for Availability, Cycle-time, Escalation, and Stall (A.C.E.S.) risks.
- Identifies deadlock triggers, such as named individuals assigned without replacement rules or timeouts.
- Maps proposed logic against 25 academic approval patterns to find the safest trade-off between speed and risk.
- Flags mismatches between the stakes of the approval and the chosen escalation behavior (e.g., Silence-as-Approval).
Frameworks & tools
BPMN engines, Power Automate, ProcessMaker, Camunda, and Flowable.
Why this beats prompting it yourself
General-purpose LLMs lack the specific taxonomy of the Lübke approval patterns and often default to "safe" but slow sequential advice. This skill applies rigorous constraints from documented research to catch high-severity stall conditions that typical prompts overlook.
Use cases
- Reviewing procurement workflows for hidden bottlenecks before deployment.
- Validating financial approval chains against risk-based stakes profiles.
- Optimizing existing sequential processes for faster cycle times without increasing risk.
- Drafting deadlock-proof escalation policies for role-based approvals.
Known limitations
Requires specific configuration details (number of steps, aggregation rules) for accurate scoring. Does not model historical response times or actual load data.
How to install
Works the same in every agent - Claude, Cursor, Codex, Copilot and 20+ more.
- 1
Download the ZIP
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- 2
Unzip into your skills folder
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- 3
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