Ask Claude Code for a feature and it usually starts typing code in the first reply. Sometimes that works. Often you get a half-guessed design, no tests, and an hour of rework. Superpowers fixes that by giving your coding agent a full development method as a set of skills: it asks what you want first, writes a design you sign off on, turns that into a plan, then builds it task by task with tests and a review after each task. Here is the setup and the workflow, with the real commands from the README. The short version lives on the Deduped use-case page.
What Superpowers is
Superpowers is a set of composable skills plus some starting instructions that make sure your agent uses them. The skills trigger on their own, so you do not call them by hand. When the agent sees you are building something, it steps back and asks what you are really trying to do before it writes anything.
It works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode and several other agents. If you use more than one, install it separately for each.
Install it
In Claude Code, install from Anthropic's official plugin marketplace:
/plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official
Or register the Superpowers marketplace and install from there:
/plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers-marketplace
/plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace
Other agents, from the same README:
# Gemini CLI
gemini extensions install https://github.com/obra/superpowers
# GitHub Copilot CLI
copilot plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers-marketplace
copilot plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace
In Cursor Agent chat, run /add-plugin superpowers. In Codex CLI, open /plugins, search for Superpowers and select Install Plugin.
A quick check from the README: start a fresh session and send "Let's make a react todo list". A working install triggers brainstorming before any code is written.
The workflow, step by step
You describe a feature in a few sentences, in a git project. Then the skills take over in this order:
- brainstorming draws out what you actually want through questions, then plays its understanding back for correction. Small changes get agreed in chat; bigger projects get a written design document.
- using-git-worktrees activates after you approve the design. It creates an isolated workspace on a new branch, runs project setup and checks that tests pass before anything changes.
- writing-plans breaks the work into bite-sized tasks of 2 to 5 minutes each. Every task has exact file paths, complete code and verification steps.
- subagent-driven-development (or executing-plans) runs the plan. The first dispatches a fresh subagent per task with a review after each, which is the most thorough. The second implements every task inline in the current session with one review of the whole branch at the end, which is the cheapest.
- test-driven-development enforces red, green, refactor: write a failing test, watch it fail, write minimal code, watch it pass, commit. It deletes code written before tests.
- requesting-code-review runs between tasks, reviews against the plan and reports issues by severity. Critical issues block progress.
- finishing-a-development-branch verifies tests and gives you the choice to merge, open a PR, keep or discard, then cleans up the worktree.
What you actually do
Your job shrinks to three checkpoints:
- Answer the brainstorming questions honestly. This is where vague features turn into a clear spec.
- Read the design in the short chunks the agent shows you, and sign off only when it matches what you want.
- Check the plan. Every task should list exact file paths and how it will be verified. If one does not, ask for it before you say "go".
Then say "go" and read each code review as it comes back.
A prompt you can paste into any supported agent:
Using the Superpowers skills, take this feature: <feature description>.
Run brainstorming, then writing-plans, then subagent-driven-development
in this project. Show me the design and the plan before any code.
Every plan task must list exact file paths and a verification step.
Caveats
The README says it is not uncommon for the agent to work autonomously for a couple of hours without deviating from the plan. That is the point, and also the risk: whatever is in the approved plan is what gets built. Spend your attention on the design and plan, not on watching the code scroll.
If a session misbehaves (a skill fires when it should not, or the agent ignores its plan), ask the agent to "figure out what went wrong with superpowers in this session". That invokes the diagnosing-superpowers skill, which reads the transcript and reports what happened with evidence.
One more thing worth knowing: the optional visual companion in brainstorming loads a logo from the maintainers' site that includes the Superpowers version. To turn that off, set SUPERPOWERS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY to any true value. It also honors Claude Code's DISABLE_TELEMETRY setting.
More like this
Superpowers is one of several skill packs that change how a coding agent works. Compare it with the others on best coding agent skills, or see every Superpowers use case, including root-cause debugging.
Want the setup commands for 50 AI repos people actually ship with? Get the free AI Repos That Actually Ship pack: https://dedupedai.com/ship-pack/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=shippack
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