Superpowers — Setup Guide¶

Source: obra/superpowers (1.2M+ combined installs) GitHub: obra/superpowers (261K+ ⭐) Category: Agent Infrastructure / Development Methodology Quality Tier: 🟢 Production

Superpowers is the most widely adopted agentic skills framework — a battle-tested development methodology that turns AI coding agents into systematic, reliable engineering partners. With 1.2M+ combined installs across 15+ skills, it covers the full software development lifecycle: brainstorming, planning, test-driven development, systematic debugging, code review, and more. For Hermes agents, Superpowers provides proven workflows that eliminate guesswork and enforce engineering rigor.

Installation¶

# Core workflow skills
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill brainstorming
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill writing-plans
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill using-superpowers

# Development methodology
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill test-driven-development
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill systematic-debugging

# Collaboration + quality
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill requesting-code-review

Included Skills¶

Skill	Installs	Purpose
brainstorming	294.5K	Structured ideation — explore solutions, evaluate trade-offs, converge on architecture
systematic-debugging	199.6K	Root-cause analysis methodology — reproduce, isolate, fix, verify
writing-plans	196.8K	Implementation planning — break down features into testable, sequential steps
using-superpowers	194.9K	Framework orientation — how to combine and sequence Superpowers skills
requesting-code-review	178.7K	Structured review requests — what to include, how to surface design decisions
test-driven-development	177.1K	Red-green-refactor workflow — write tests first, implement, verify

Prerequisites¶

Requirement	Details
skills.sh CLI	`npx skills` (auto-installed)
AI coding agent	Claude Code, Codex CLI, or any skills.sh-compatible agent
Git	Required for code review and TDD workflows

Key Capabilities¶

Brainstorming (294.5K installs)¶

The most-installed agent skill on skills.sh. Guides agents through structured exploration: define the problem, generate candidate solutions, evaluate trade-offs (performance, complexity, maintainability), and converge on an architecture decision. Replaces vague "what should I do?" agent loops with a decision framework.

Systematic Debugging (199.6K installs)¶

Eliminates debugging guesswork. Five-phase methodology: (1) reproduce the bug with minimal input, (2) isolate the failure to specific code paths, (3) root-cause analysis using git bisect or log tracing, (4) implement the fix, (5) verify with regression tests. Reduces debugging time by forcing methodological rigor instead of random print statements.

Test-Driven Development (177.1K installs)¶

True TDD workflow for AI agents: write failing test → implement minimum code to pass → refactor. Prevents over-engineering by enforcing "simplest thing that works" at each step. Includes patterns for mocking, fixtures, and test organization.

Writing Plans (196.8K installs)¶

Implementation planning that produces actionable steps — not vague descriptions. Each plan step includes: what to change, which files, what tests verify it, expected diff size. Allows agents to execute complex features without losing context mid-implementation.

Quick Start¶

# 1. Install the framework
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill using-superpowers
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill brainstorming

# 2. Start with a brainstorming session
claude "Using the brainstorming skill, explore architectures for a real-time collaboration feature"

# 3. Convert the decision into an implementation plan
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill writing-plans
claude "Using the writing-plans skill, create an implementation plan from the brainstorming output"

# 4. Execute with TDD
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill test-driven-development
claude "Using the TDD skill, implement step 1 of the plan"

Verification¶

# Check installed Superpowers
npx skills list | grep obra/superpowers

# Verify the framework loads
npx skills use obra/superpowers@using-superpowers

Notes¶

Superpowers is framework-agnostic — works with Claude Code, Codex, and any skills.sh-compatible agent
The brainstorming skill alone has more installs than many entire skill catalogs — it's the de facto standard for agent ideation
Combine with anthropics/claude-code skills for the full agent development toolkit: Superpowers for methodology + Claude Code skills for extensibility
For Hermes agents: use systematic-debugging and writing-plans before any implementation work — they enforce the rigor that prevents context-window sprawl
The using-superpowers skill teaches the agent how to chain skills together (brainstorm → plan → TDD → review) for end-to-end feature delivery