Superpowers
Updated
A complete software development methodology for your coding agents, built on composable skills that enforce TDD, systematic debugging, and plan-driven execution.
/plugin install superpowers What it does
Superpowers is a complete software development methodology for your coding agents, built on a set of composable skills plus initial instructions that make sure the agent actually uses them. It enforces true red/green TDD, YAGNI, and DRY, and lets Claude work autonomously for a couple of hours at a time without deviating from the plan.
Core skills
- brainstorming — Refines rough ideas through questions, explores alternatives, presents design in sections for validation
- writing-plans — Breaks work into bite-sized tasks (2-5 minutes each)
- test-driven-development — Enforces RED-GREEN-REFACTOR
- systematic-debugging — 4-phase root cause process
- subagent-driven-development — Dispatches a fresh subagent per task with two-stage review (spec compliance, then code quality)
- using-git-worktrees — Isolate feature work from current workspace
- requesting-code-review / receiving-code-review — Structured review request and feedback
- verification-before-completion — Forces evidence before success claims
- dispatching-parallel-agents — Parallelizes 2+ independent tasks
- writing-skills — Create new skills with progressive disclosure
Principles
- Test-Driven Development
- Systematic over ad-hoc
- Complexity reduction
- Evidence over claims
Typical flow
brainstormingto refine the idea →writing-plansto break it downtest-driven-developmentfor the implementation loopsystematic-debuggingkicks in on any test failure or unexpected behaviorverification-before-completionruns actual commands and confirms output before declaring done
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Superpowers?
A plugin that auto-applies professional development workflows — brainstorming, TDD, systematic debugging, plan-driven execution, code review — as composable skills. Listed on the claude-plugins-official marketplace.
Where does it run?
Claude Code.
How do I install it?
In Claude Code, run `/plugin install superpowers`.
Which skills are included?
brainstorming, test-driven-development, systematic-debugging, writing-plans, executing-plans, requesting-code-review, receiving-code-review, verification-before-completion, dispatching-parallel-agents, and more.
Does it activate even on simple tasks?
Each skill triggers on conditions in its description. For example, verification-before-completion fires right before declaring a task complete, and systematic-debugging activates when a bug surfaces.