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Superpowers is a skills-based software-development method that moves from brainstorming to a reviewed design, a detailed repository plan, implementation, review, and branch completion. Its distinctive planning choice is code-level precision: tasks name files, interfaces, verification commands, expected output, and commits. Source stamp: obra/superpowers at d884ae04, reviewed July 18, 2026. Repository license: MIT.

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Artifact tree

The brainstorming skill produces the design. The writing-plans skill produces the implementation plan. The project publishes real specs and real plans in the same format.

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Workflow and task grain

  1. Explore the problem through questions and alternative approaches.
  2. Present the design in reviewable sections and obtain agreement.
  3. Write an implementation plan that another engineer or agent can execute.
  4. Execute with the method’s testing and review skills.
  5. Verify the result before completion and finish the branch deliberately.
A plan task includes exact files, consumed and produced interfaces, a failing test or verification setup, implementation instructions, a command with expected output, and a commit. The source targets short steps and rejects vague placeholders such as “add validation.”

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Review and handoff conventions

The main human checkpoint is design acceptance before implementation planning. The written plan is intended to survive into a separate execution session. Verification and review are separate procedures, not a sentence at the end of the plan.

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Inspect the same-case output

Inspect the generated Superpowers design for reliable webhook delivery. The design completed, but two implementation-plan attempts stalled. The repository does not present the missing plan as complete.

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Choose Superpowers when

  • the team wants one repeatable path from design through execution;
  • an implementation-ready repository plan is valuable;
  • exact file and verification instructions reduce ambiguity; and
  • the team accepts a method that shapes more than the planning document.
Choose a different model when planning should stay in an issue tracker, when the problem is still too uncertain for code-level tasks, or when a broader product-delivery program is the real need. See Superpowers vs GSD and the Plannotator-authored AI coding plan template. Reviewed July 19, 2026. Researched and maintained by the Plannotator documentation team. Superpowers is named for identification; Plannotator is not affiliated with or endorsed by its maintainers.
Last modified on July 20, 2026