Obra Superpowers - Setup Guide¶
Source: obra/superpowers (1.2M+ combined installs) Category: Engineering / Workflow Quality Tier: 🟢 Production
Obra Superpowers is one of the most-installed skill suites on skills.sh, providing structured engineering workflows that turn any agent into a disciplined software engineer. The suite covers the full development lifecycle: brainstorming → planning → implementation → code review → testing → debugging.
Installation¶
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill brainstorming
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill systematic-debugging
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill writing-plans
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill using-superpowers
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill requesting-code-review
npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill test-driven-development
Included Skills¶
| Skill | Installs | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| brainstorming | 295.4K | Structured ideation with divergent/convergent thinking phases |
| systematic-debugging | 200.3K | Root-cause analysis with hypothesis testing and evidence collection |
| writing-plans | 197.5K | Create detailed implementation plans with milestones and acceptance criteria |
| using-superpowers | 195.5K | Meta-skill: teaches agents when and how to invoke other superpowers |
| requesting-code-review | 179.3K | Structured code review with diff analysis, feedback categorization, and approval gates |
| test-driven-development | 177.7K | Red-green-refactor cycle: write tests first, implement, then refactor |
Key Capabilities¶
Brainstorming - Structured Ideation¶
- Divergent phase: generate many ideas without judgment
- Convergent phase: evaluate, prioritize, and select
- Useful for architecture decisions, feature design, and problem-solving
Systematic Debugging - Root-Cause Analysis¶
- Hypothesis-driven: form a theory, test it, gather evidence
- Systematic elimination of variables
- Evidence collection and documentation at each step
Writing Plans - Implementation Planning¶
- Breaks work into milestones and tasks
- Includes acceptance criteria and dependencies
- Template-driven for consistency across projects
Requesting Code Review - Quality Gates¶
- Structured diff analysis with categorized feedback
- Approval workflow with explicit gates
- Focus on architecture, correctness, and maintainability
Test-Driven Development - Quality Assurance¶
- Write failing tests first (red)
- Implement minimal code to pass (green)
- Refactor for clean design (refactor)
- Maintains the discipline across the full cycle
Quick Start¶
# Start any engineering task with brainstorming
npx skills use obra/superpowers@brainstorming
# Debug a complex issue systematically
npx skills use obra/superpowers@systematic-debugging
# Write a plan before implementing
npx skills use obra/superpowers@writing-plans
Verification¶
npx skills list | grep "obra/superpowers"
# Expected: 6 skills listed with install counts
Notes¶
- 1.2M+ combined installs makes this the most-installed engineering workflow suite on skills.sh
- All skills follow a structured, phase-based approach - no ad-hoc workflows
- The
using-superpowersmeta-skill teaches agents WHEN to use each workflow (not just how) - Best used as a pipeline: brainstorm → plan → TDD implementation → code review → debug any issues
- These skills are Claude Code native but compatible with any Hermes agent doing engineering work
- The disciplined approach reduces rework and improves code quality across sessions
Integration with CorpusIQ¶
CorpusIQ is the connector layer that lets AI assistants read the systems a business already runs on - accounting, payments, CRM, email, files and analytics - and answer with the source named. It is read-only by design: it retrieves data and never writes to, or acts in, a connected system, which is what makes it safe to point at live accounts.
This page is part of the CorpusIQ directory, the reference we maintain for the MCP server and agent-skill ecosystem. Run alongside CorpusIQ, a third-party server like this one can be combined with a company's own business data in a single answer.