Name: Superpowers
Author: Jesse Vincent

Superpowers skill

15 skills that make Claude Code brainstorm, plan, test and review before it codes.

Community, verifiedby Jesse VincentChecked October 27, 2026

Install Superpowers free

Leave your email and the install steps open right here: one prompt to paste into your AI tool. Works for all 151 skills.

Superpowers is Jesse Vincent's software development method for coding agents, and the Superpowers plugin for Claude Code bundles it as 15 skills that switch on by themselves. This page covers the set as a whole and its entry skill, using-superpowers, which makes the agent look for a fitting skill before it does anything else.

Who it is for

Developers
Vibe coders
Founders building software with AI
Tech leads

What's inside Superpowers

using-superpowers is the entry skill of the Superpowers set: a 65-line SKILL.md plus seven short notes for specific agents (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, Pi, Hermes and Muse). It holds no method of its own; it makes the agent reach for the other 14 skills, such as Brainstorming and Systematic Debugging, at the right moment.

When it switches on

Its description asks for it at the start of every conversation. In the Claude Code plugin a session-start hook also loads its full text at startup, after /clear and after the context is compacted, so the agent has it before your first message. It tells subagents sent on a single task to ignore it.

What the instructions cover

One rule: if there is even a 1% chance that a skill fits, load it before any reply, question or file check
Process skills first: Brainstorming before building, Systematic Debugging before fixing, then the skills that do the work
Before plan mode, Brainstorming runs if it has not run yet
Saying which skill is in use and turning each item of its checklist into a to-do
A table of 12 excuses an agent might use to skip a skill, each with its answer
Your own instructions (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md or a direct request) win over any skill

What it needs

The other Superpowers skills installed next to it; on its own it only points to them
On Codex, multi-agent mode switched on in ~/.codex/config.toml for the subagent skills

File	What it is
`SKILL.md`	65 lines: the core rule, skill order, 12 red flags and where each agent's notes are
`references/codex-tools.md`	108 lines: switching on multi-agent mode, managing subagents and git checks in Codex
`references/gemini-tools.md`	63 lines matching each action to a Gemini CLI tool
`references/claude-code-tools.md`	29 lines on running a whole plan through one cheaper orchestrator subagent
`references/antigravity-tools.md`	23 lines; Antigravity has no to-do tool, so tasks go in a checklist artifact
`references/hermes-tools.md`	56 lines for Hermes Agent; muse-tools.md (35) and pi-tools.md (16) do the same for Muse and Pi

Watch out: The rule is strict on purpose: the agent loads a skill even for a quick question, which adds steps to small jobs, and only an explicit instruction from you lets it skip one. Outside this skill, the plugin's Brainstorming visual companion loads a logo from the maker's site that reports your Superpowers version; setting SUPERPOWERS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY turns that off.

Prompts to try

Prompt 1

Let's build a booking page for my studio, brainstorm it with me first

Prompt 2

Write a plan for the design we just approved, then run it task by task with subagents

Prompt 3

Superpowers skipped brainstorming in this session, find out what went wrong

How to install it

Skills follow the open Agent Skills standard, so this one is not tied to one company. Pick the AI tool you use. Not sure? The first tab covers most of them in one step.

Easiest: paste this into your AI tool

Install this skill for me so it works in every project: run `npx skills add https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/main/skills/using-superpowers -g -y` in my terminal. If Node.js is missing, tell me how to install it first. When it's done, confirm the skill is installed and tell me how to start using it.

Or do it yourself:

One command installs the skill: it finds the AI tools on your computer and asks which ones should get it.

$npx skills add https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/main/skills/using-superpowers -g

You need Node.js installed (free, from nodejs.org). The -g flag makes the skill available in every project.

Good to know: The npx commands add only using-superpowers, the entry skill. For all 15 Superpowers skills plus a hook that loads it at the start of each session, use the Claude Code plugin command (/plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official); Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI and other agents have their own plugin installs in the Superpowers README.

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How we checked it

On October 27, 2026 we read all 8 files in the skill's folder, starting with its 65-line SKILL.md. The section on what's inside comes from those files. Its license is MIT. Its files were last changed in September 2026. We have not run it on a test task yet.