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AGENTS/.pi/gsd/workflows/help.md
2026-04-24 20:00:33 +02:00

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Display the complete GSD command reference. Output ONLY the reference content. Do NOT add project-specific analysis, git status, next-step suggestions, or any commentary beyond the reference. # GSD Command Reference

GSD (Get Shit Done) creates hierarchical project plans optimized for solo agentic development with Claude Code.

Quick Start

  1. /gsd-new-project - Initialize project (includes research, requirements, roadmap)
  2. /gsd-plan-phase 1 - Create detailed plan for first phase
  3. /gsd-execute-phase 1 - Execute the phase

Staying Updated

GSD evolves fast. Update periodically:

npx get-shit-done-cc@latest

Core Workflow

/gsd-new-project → /gsd-plan-phase → /gsd-execute-phase → repeat

Project Initialization

/gsd-new-project Initialize new project through unified flow.

One command takes you from idea to ready-for-planning:

  • Deep questioning to understand what you're building
  • Optional domain research (spawns 4 parallel researcher agents)
  • Requirements definition with v1/v2/out-of-scope scoping
  • Roadmap creation with phase breakdown and success criteria

Creates all .planning/ artifacts:

  • PROJECT.md - vision and requirements
  • config.json - workflow mode (interactive/yolo)
  • research/ - domain research (if selected)
  • REQUIREMENTS.md - scoped requirements with REQ-IDs
  • ROADMAP.md - phases mapped to requirements
  • STATE.md - project memory

Usage: /gsd-new-project

/gsd-map-codebase Map an existing codebase for brownfield projects.

  • Analyzes codebase with parallel Explore agents
  • Creates .planning/codebase/ with 7 focused documents
  • Covers stack, architecture, structure, conventions, testing, integrations, concerns
  • Use before /gsd-new-project on existing codebases

Usage: /gsd-map-codebase

Phase Planning

/gsd-discuss-phase <number> Help articulate your vision for a phase before planning.

  • Captures how you imagine this phase working
  • Creates CONTEXT.md with your vision, essentials, and boundaries
  • Use when you have ideas about how something should look/feel
  • Optional --batch asks 2-5 related questions at a time instead of one-by-one

Usage: /gsd-discuss-phase 2 Usage: /gsd-discuss-phase 2 --batch Usage: /gsd-discuss-phase 2 --batch=3

/gsd-research-phase <number> Comprehensive ecosystem research for niche/complex domains.

  • Discovers standard stack, architecture patterns, pitfalls
  • Creates RESEARCH.md with "how experts build this" knowledge
  • Use for 3D, games, audio, shaders, ML, and other specialized domains
  • Goes beyond "which library" to ecosystem knowledge

Usage: /gsd-research-phase 3

/gsd-list-phase-assumptions <number> See what the agent is planning to do before it starts.

  • Shows the agent's intended approach for a phase
  • Lets you course-correct if the agent misunderstood your vision
  • No files created - conversational output only

Usage: /gsd-list-phase-assumptions 3

/gsd-plan-phase <number> Create detailed execution plan for a specific phase.

  • Generates .planning/phases/XX-phase-name/XX-YY-PLAN.md
  • Breaks phase into concrete, actionable tasks
  • Includes verification criteria and success measures
  • Multiple plans per phase supported (XX-01, XX-02, etc.)

Usage: /gsd-plan-phase 1 Result: Creates .planning/phases/01-foundation/01-01-PLAN.md

PRD Express Path: Pass --prd path/to/requirements.md to skip discuss-phase entirely. Your PRD becomes locked decisions in CONTEXT.md. Useful when you already have clear acceptance criteria.

Execution

/gsd-execute-phase <phase-number> Execute all plans in a phase, or run a specific wave.

  • Groups plans by wave (from frontmatter), executes waves sequentially
  • Plans within each wave run in parallel via Task tool
  • Optional --wave N flag executes only Wave N and stops unless the phase is now fully complete
  • Verifies phase goal after all plans complete
  • Updates REQUIREMENTS.md, ROADMAP.md, STATE.md

Usage: /gsd-execute-phase 5 Usage: /gsd-execute-phase 5 --wave 2

Smart Router

/gsd-do <description> Route freeform text to the right GSD command automatically.

  • Analyzes natural language input to find the best matching GSD command
  • Acts as a dispatcher - never does the work itself
  • Resolves ambiguity by asking you to pick between top matches
  • Use when you know what you want but don't know which /gsd-* command to run

Usage: /gsd-do fix the login button Usage: /gsd-do refactor the auth system Usage: /gsd-do I want to start a new milestone

Quick Mode

/gsd-quick [--full] [--discuss] [--research] Execute small, ad-hoc tasks with GSD guarantees but skip optional agents.

Quick mode uses the same system with a shorter path:

  • Spawns planner + executor (skips researcher, checker, verifier by default)
  • Quick tasks live in .planning/quick/ separate from planned phases
  • Updates STATE.md tracking (not ROADMAP.md)

Flags enable additional quality steps:

  • --discuss - Lightweight discussion to surface gray areas before planning
  • --research - Focused research agent investigates approaches before planning
  • --full - Adds plan-checking (max 2 iterations) and post-execution verification

Flags are composable: --discuss --research --full gives the complete quality pipeline for a single task.

Usage: /gsd-quick Usage: /gsd-quick --research --full Result: Creates .planning/quick/NNN-slug/PLAN.md, .planning/quick/NNN-slug/SUMMARY.md


/gsd-fast [description] Execute a trivial task inline - no subagents, no planning files, no overhead.

For tasks too small to justify planning: typo fixes, config changes, forgotten commits, simple additions. Runs in the current context, makes the change, commits, and logs to STATE.md.

  • No PLAN.md or SUMMARY.md created
  • No subagent spawned (runs inline)
  • ≤ 3 file edits - redirects to /gsd-quick if task is non-trivial
  • Atomic commit with conventional message

Usage: /gsd-fast "fix the typo in README" Usage: /gsd-fast "add .env to gitignore"

Roadmap Management

/gsd-add-phase <description> Add new phase to end of current milestone.

  • Appends to ROADMAP.md
  • Uses next sequential number
  • Updates phase directory structure

Usage: /gsd-add-phase "Add admin dashboard"

/gsd-insert-phase <after> <description> Insert urgent work as decimal phase between existing phases.

  • Creates intermediate phase (e.g., 7.1 between 7 and 8)
  • Useful for discovered work that must happen mid-milestone
  • Maintains phase ordering

Usage: /gsd-insert-phase 7 "Fix critical auth bug" Result: Creates Phase 7.1

/gsd-remove-phase <number> Remove a future phase and renumber subsequent phases.

  • Deletes phase directory and all references
  • Renumbers all subsequent phases to close the gap
  • Only works on future (unstarted) phases
  • Git commit preserves historical record

Usage: /gsd-remove-phase 17 Result: Phase 17 deleted, phases 18-20 become 17-19

Milestone Management

/gsd-new-milestone <name> Start a new milestone through unified flow.

  • Deep questioning to understand what you're building next
  • Optional domain research (spawns 4 parallel researcher agents)
  • Requirements definition with scoping
  • Roadmap creation with phase breakdown
  • Optional --reset-phase-numbers flag restarts numbering at Phase 1 and archives old phase dirs first for safety

Mirrors /gsd-new-project flow for brownfield projects (existing PROJECT.md).

Usage: /gsd-new-milestone "v2.0 Features" Usage: /gsd-new-milestone --reset-phase-numbers "v2.0 Features"

/gsd-complete-milestone <version> Archive completed milestone and prepare for next version.

  • Creates MILESTONES.md entry with stats
  • Archives full details to milestones/ directory
  • Creates git tag for the release
  • Prepares workspace for next version

Usage: /gsd-complete-milestone 1.0.0

Progress Tracking

/gsd-progress Check project status and intelligently route to next action.

  • Shows visual progress bar and completion percentage
  • Summarizes recent work from SUMMARY files
  • Displays current position and what's next
  • Lists key decisions and open issues
  • Offers to execute next plan or create it if missing
  • Detects 100% milestone completion

Usage: /gsd-progress

Session Management

/gsd-resume-work Resume work from previous session with full context restoration.

  • Reads STATE.md for project context
  • Shows current position and recent progress
  • Offers next actions based on project state

Usage: /gsd-resume-work

/gsd-pause-work Create context handoff when pausing work mid-phase.

  • Creates .continue-here file with current state
  • Updates STATE.md session continuity section
  • Captures in-progress work context

Usage: /gsd-pause-work

Debugging

/gsd-debug [issue description] Systematic debugging with persistent state across context resets.

  • Gathers symptoms through adaptive questioning
  • Creates .planning/debug/[slug].md to track investigation
  • Investigates using scientific method (evidence → hypothesis → test)
  • Survives /new - run /gsd-debug with no args to resume
  • Archives resolved issues to .planning/debug/resolved/

Usage: /gsd-debug "login button doesn't work" Usage: /gsd-debug (resume active session)

Quick Notes

/gsd-note <text> Zero-friction idea capture - one command, instant save, no questions.

  • Saves timestamped note to .planning/notes/ (or .agent/notes/ globally)
  • Three subcommands: append (default), list, promote
  • Promote converts a note into a structured todo
  • Works without a project (falls back to global scope)

Usage: /gsd-note refactor the hook system Usage: /gsd-note list Usage: /gsd-note promote 3 Usage: /gsd-note --global cross-project idea

Todo Management

/gsd-add-todo [description] Capture idea or task as todo from current conversation.

  • Extracts context from conversation (or uses provided description)
  • Creates structured todo file in .planning/todos/pending/
  • Infers area from file paths for grouping
  • Checks for duplicates before creating
  • Updates STATE.md todo count

Usage: /gsd-add-todo (infers from conversation) Usage: /gsd-add-todo Add auth token refresh

/gsd-check-todos [area] List pending todos and select one to work on.

  • Lists all pending todos with title, area, age
  • Optional area filter (e.g., /gsd-check-todos api)
  • Loads full context for selected todo
  • Routes to appropriate action (work now, add to phase, brainstorm)
  • Moves todo to done/ when work begins

Usage: /gsd-check-todos Usage: /gsd-check-todos api

User Acceptance Testing

/gsd-verify-work [phase] Validate built features through conversational UAT.

  • Extracts testable deliverables from SUMMARY.md files
  • Presents tests one at a time (yes/no responses)
  • Automatically diagnoses failures and creates fix plans
  • Ready for re-execution if issues found

Usage: /gsd-verify-work 3

Ship Work

/gsd-ship [phase] Create a PR from completed phase work with an auto-generated body.

  • Pushes branch to remote
  • Creates PR with summary from SUMMARY.md, VERIFICATION.md, REQUIREMENTS.md
  • Optionally requests code review
  • Updates STATE.md with shipping status

Prerequisites: Phase verified, gh CLI installed and authenticated.

Usage: /gsd-ship 4 or /gsd-ship 4 --draft


/gsd-review --phase N [--gemini] [--claude] [--codex] [--all] Cross-AI peer review - invoke external AI CLIs to independently review phase plans.

  • Detects available CLIs (gemini, claude, codex)
  • Each CLI reviews plans independently with the same structured prompt
  • Produces REVIEWS.md with per-reviewer feedback and consensus summary
  • Feed reviews back into planning: /gsd-plan-phase N --reviews

Usage: /gsd-review --phase 3 --all


/gsd-pr-branch [target] Create a clean branch for pull requests by filtering out .planning/ commits.

  • Classifies commits: code-only (include), planning-only (exclude), mixed (include sans .planning/)
  • Cherry-picks code commits onto a clean branch
  • Reviewers see only code changes, no GSD artifacts

Usage: /gsd-pr-branch or /gsd-pr-branch main


/gsd-plant-seed [idea] Capture a forward-looking idea with trigger conditions for automatic surfacing.

  • Seeds preserve WHY, WHEN to surface, and breadcrumbs to related code
  • Auto-surfaces during /gsd-new-milestone when trigger conditions match
  • Better than deferred items - triggers are checked, not forgotten

Usage: /gsd-plant-seed "add real-time notifications when we build the events system"


/gsd-audit-uat Cross-phase audit of all outstanding UAT and verification items.

  • Scans every phase for pending, skipped, blocked, and human_needed items
  • Cross-references against codebase to detect stale documentation
  • Produces prioritized human test plan grouped by testability
  • Use before starting a new milestone to clear verification debt

Usage: /gsd-audit-uat

Milestone Auditing

/gsd-audit-milestone [version] Audit milestone completion against original intent.

  • Reads all phase VERIFICATION.md files
  • Checks requirements coverage
  • Spawns integration checker for cross-phase wiring
  • Creates MILESTONE-AUDIT.md with gaps and tech debt

Usage: /gsd-audit-milestone

/gsd-plan-milestone-gaps Create phases to close gaps identified by audit.

  • Reads MILESTONE-AUDIT.md and groups gaps into phases
  • Prioritizes by requirement priority (must/should/nice)
  • Adds gap closure phases to ROADMAP.md
  • Ready for /gsd-plan-phase on new phases

Usage: /gsd-plan-milestone-gaps

Configuration

/gsd-settings Configure workflow toggles and model profile interactively.

  • Toggle researcher, plan checker, verifier agents
  • Select model profile (quality/balanced/budget/inherit)
  • Updates .planning/config.json

Usage: /gsd-settings

/gsd-set-profile <profile> Quick switch model profile for GSD agents.

  • quality - Opus everywhere except verification
  • balanced - Opus for planning, Sonnet for execution (default)
  • budget - Sonnet for writing, Haiku for research/verification
  • inherit - Use current session model for all agents (OpenCode /model)

Usage: /gsd-set-profile budget

Utility Commands

/gsd-cleanup Archive accumulated phase directories from completed milestones.

  • Identifies phases from completed milestones still in .planning/phases/
  • Shows dry-run summary before moving anything
  • Moves phase dirs to .planning/milestones/v{X.Y}-phases/
  • Use after multiple milestones to reduce .planning/phases/ clutter

Usage: /gsd-cleanup

/gsd-help Show this command reference.

/gsd-update Update GSD to latest version with changelog preview.

  • Shows installed vs latest version comparison
  • Displays changelog entries for versions you've missed
  • Highlights breaking changes
  • Confirms before running install
  • Better than raw npx get-shit-done-cc

Usage: /gsd-update

/gsd-join-discord Join the GSD Discord community.

  • Get help, share what you're building, stay updated
  • Connect with other GSD users

Usage: /gsd-join-discord

Files & Structure

.planning/
├── PROJECT.md            # Project vision
├── ROADMAP.md            # Current phase breakdown
├── STATE.md              # Project memory & context
├── RETROSPECTIVE.md      # Living retrospective (updated per milestone)
├── config.json           # Workflow mode & gates
├── todos/                # Captured ideas and tasks
│   ├── pending/          # Todos waiting to be worked on
│   └── done/             # Completed todos
├── debug/                # Active debug sessions
│   └── resolved/         # Archived resolved issues
├── milestones/
│   ├── v1.0-ROADMAP.md       # Archived roadmap snapshot
│   ├── v1.0-REQUIREMENTS.md  # Archived requirements
│   └── v1.0-phases/          # Archived phase dirs (via /gsd-cleanup or --archive-phases)
│       ├── 01-foundation/
│       └── 02-core-features/
├── codebase/             # Codebase map (brownfield projects)
│   ├── STACK.md          # Languages, frameworks, dependencies
│   ├── ARCHITECTURE.md   # Patterns, layers, data flow
│   ├── STRUCTURE.md      # Directory layout, key files
│   ├── CONVENTIONS.md    # Coding standards, naming
│   ├── TESTING.md        # Test setup, patterns
│   ├── INTEGRATIONS.md   # External services, APIs
│   └── CONCERNS.md       # Tech debt, known issues
└── phases/
    ├── 01-foundation/
    │   ├── 01-01-PLAN.md
    │   └── 01-01-SUMMARY.md
    └── 02-core-features/
        ├── 02-01-PLAN.md
        └── 02-01-SUMMARY.md

Workflow Modes

Set during /gsd-new-project:

Interactive Mode

  • Confirms each major decision
  • Pauses at checkpoints for approval
  • More guidance throughout

YOLO Mode

  • Auto-approves most decisions
  • Executes plans without confirmation
  • Only stops for critical checkpoints

Change anytime by editing .planning/config.json

Planning Configuration

Configure how planning artifacts are managed in .planning/config.json:

planning.commit_docs (default: true)

  • true: Planning artifacts committed to git (standard workflow)
  • false: Planning artifacts kept local-only, not committed

When commit_docs: false:

  • Add .planning/ to your .gitignore
  • Useful for OSS contributions, client projects, or keeping planning private
  • All planning files still work normally, just not tracked in git

planning.search_gitignored (default: false)

  • true: Add --no-ignore to broad ripgrep searches
  • Only needed when .planning/ is gitignored and you want project-wide searches to include it

Example config:

{
  "planning": {
    "commit_docs": false,
    "search_gitignored": true
  }
}

Common Workflows

Starting a new project:

/gsd-new-project        # Unified flow: questioning → research → requirements → roadmap
/new
/gsd-plan-phase 1       # Create plans for first phase
/new
/gsd-execute-phase 1    # Execute all plans in phase

Resuming work after a break:

/gsd-progress  # See where you left off and continue

Adding urgent mid-milestone work:

/gsd-insert-phase 5 "Critical security fix"
/gsd-plan-phase 5.1
/gsd-execute-phase 5.1

Completing a milestone:

/gsd-complete-milestone 1.0.0
/new
/gsd-new-milestone  # Start next milestone (questioning → research → requirements → roadmap)

Capturing ideas during work:

/gsd-add-todo                    # Capture from conversation context
/gsd-add-todo Fix modal z-index  # Capture with explicit description
/gsd-check-todos                 # Review and work on todos
/gsd-check-todos api             # Filter by area

Debugging an issue:

/gsd-debug "form submission fails silently"  # Start debug session
# ... investigation happens, context fills up ...
/new
/gsd-debug                                    # Resume from where you left off

Getting Help

  • Read .planning/PROJECT.md for project vision
  • Read .planning/STATE.md for current context
  • Check .planning/ROADMAP.md for phase status
  • Run /gsd-progress to check where you're up to