GSD 2

The evolution of Get Shit Done — now a real coding agent.

The original GSD went viral as a prompt framework for Claude Code. It worked, but it was fighting the tool — injecting prompts through slash commands, hoping the LLM would follow instructions, with no actual control over context windows, sessions, or execution.

This version is different. GSD is now a standalone CLI built on the Pi SDK, which gives it direct TypeScript access to the agent harness itself. That means GSD can actually do what v1 could only ask the LLM to do: clear context between tasks, inject exactly the right files at dispatch time, manage git branches, track cost and tokens, detect stuck loops, recover from crashes, and auto-advance through an entire milestone without human intervention.

One command. Walk away. Come back to a built project with clean git history.

What Changed From v1

The original GSD was a collection of markdown prompts installed into ~/.claude/commands/. It relied entirely on the LLM reading those prompts and doing the right thing. That worked surprisingly well — but it had hard limits:

• No context control. The LLM accumulated garbage over a long session. Quality degraded.
• No real automation. "Auto mode" was the LLM calling itself in a loop, burning context on orchestration overhead.
• No crash recovery. If the session died mid-task, you started over.
• No observability. No cost tracking, no progress dashboard, no stuck detection.

GSD v2 solves all of these because it's not a prompt framework anymore — it's a TypeScript application that controls the agent session.

| | v1 (Prompt Framework) | v2 (Agent Application) | | -------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Runtime | Claude Code slash commands | Standalone CLI via Pi SDK | | Context management | Hope the LLM doesn't fill up | Fresh session per task, programmatic | | Auto mode | LLM self-loop | State machine reading .gsd/ files | | Crash recovery | None | Lock files + session forensics | | Git strategy | LLM writes git commands | Programmatic branch-per-slice, squash merge | | Cost tracking | None | Per-unit token/cost ledger with dashboard | | Stuck detection | None | Retry once, then stop with diagnostics | | Timeout supervision | None | Soft/idle/hard timeouts with recovery steering | | Context injection | "Read this file" | Pre-inlined into dispatch prompt | | Roadmap reassessment | Manual | Automatic after each slice completes | | Skill discovery | None | Auto-detect and install relevant skills during research |

Migrating from v1

Note: Migration works best with a ROADMAP.md file for milestone structure. Without one, milestones are inferred from the phases/ directory.

If you have projects with .planning directories from the original Get Shit Done, you can migrate them to GSD-2's .gsd format:

# From within the project directory
/gsd migrate

# Or specify a path
/gsd migrate ~/projects/my-old-project

The migration tool:

• Parses your old PROJECT.md, ROADMAP.md, REQUIREMENTS.md, phase directories, plans, summaries, and research
• Maps phases → slices, plans → tasks, milestones → milestones
• Preserves completion state ([x] phases stay done, summaries carry over)
• Consolidates research files into the new structure
• Shows a preview before writing anything
• Optionally runs an agent-driven review of the output for quality assurance

Supports format variations including milestone-sectioned roadmaps with <details> blocks, bold phase entries, bullet-format requirements, decimal phase numbering, and duplicate phase numbers across milestones.

How It Works

GSD structures work into a hierarchy:

Milestone  →  a shippable version (4-10 slices)
  Slice    →  one demoable vertical capability (1-7 tasks)
    Task   →  one context-window-sized unit of work

The iron rule: a task must fit in one context window. If it can't, it's two tasks.

The Loop

Each slice flows through phases automatically:

Research → Plan → Execute (per task) → Complete → Reassess Roadmap → Next Slice

Research scouts the codebase and relevant docs. Plan decomposes the slice into tasks with must-haves (mechanically verifiable outcomes). Execute runs each task in a fresh context window with only the relevant files pre-loaded. Complete writes the summary, UAT script, marks the roadmap, and commits. Reassess checks if the roadmap still makes sense given what was learned.

/gsd auto — The Main Event

This is what makes GSD different. Run it, walk away, come back to built software.

/gsd auto

Auto mode is a state machine driven by files on disk. It reads .gsd/STATE.md, determines the next unit of work, creates a fresh agent session, injects a focused prompt with all relevant context pre-inlined, and lets the LLM execute. When the LLM finishes, auto mode reads disk state again and dispatches the next unit.

What happens under the hood:

1. Fresh session per unit — Every task, every research phase, every planning step gets a clean 200k-token context window. No accumulated garbage. No "I'll be more concise now."

2. Context pre-loading — The dispatch prompt includes inlined task plans, slice plans, prior task summaries, dependency summaries, roadmap excerpts, and decisions register. The LLM starts with everything it needs instead of spending tool calls reading files.

3. Git branch-per-slice — Each slice gets its own branch (gsd/M001/S01). Tasks commit atomically on the branch. When the slice completes, it's squash-merged to main (or whichever branch you started from) as one clean commit.

4. Crash recovery — A lock file tracks the current unit. If the session dies, the next /gsd auto reads the surviving session file, synthesizes a recovery briefing from every tool call that made it to disk, and resumes with full context.

5. Stuck detection — If the same unit dispatches twice (the LLM didn't produce the expected artifact), it retries once with a deep diagnostic. If it fails again, auto mode stops with the exact file it expected.

6. Timeout supervision — Soft timeout warns the LLM to wrap up. Idle watchdog detects stalls. Hard timeout pauses auto mode. Recovery steering nudges the LLM to finish durable output before giving up.

7. Cost tracking — Every unit's token usage and cost is captured, broken down by phase, slice, and model. The dashboard shows running totals and projections. Budget ceilings can pause auto mode before overspending.

8. Adaptive replanning — After each slice completes, the roadmap is reassessed. If the work revealed new information that changes the plan, slices are reordered, added, or removed before continuing.

9. Escape hatch — Press Escape to pause. The conversation is preserved. Interact with the agent, inspect what happened, or just /gsd auto to resume from disk state.

/gsd and /gsd next — Step Mode

By default, /gsd runs in step mode: the same state machine as auto mode, but it pauses between units with a wizard showing what completed and what's next. You advance one step at a time, review the output, and continue when ready.

• No .gsd/ directory → Start a new project. Discussion flow captures your vision, constraints, and preferences.
• Milestone exists, no roadmap → Discuss or research the milestone.
• Roadmap exists, slices pending → Plan the next slice, execute one task, or switch to auto.
• Mid-task → Resume from where you left off.

/gsd next is an explicit alias for step mode. You can switch from step → auto mid-session via the wizard.

Step mode is the on-ramp. Auto mode is the highway.

Getting Started

Install

npm install -g gsd-pi

Log in to a provider

First, choose your LLM provider:

gsd
/login

Select from 20+ providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, GitHub Copilot, and more. If you have a Claude Max or Copilot subscription, the OAuth flow handles everything. Otherwise, paste your API key when prompted.

GSD auto-selects a default model after login. To switch models later:

/model

Use it

Open a terminal in your project and run:

gsd

GSD opens an interactive agent session. From there, you have two ways to work:

/gsd — step mode. Type /gsd and GSD executes one unit of work at a time, pausing between each with a wizard showing what completed and what's next. Same state machine as auto mode, but you stay in the loop. No project yet? It starts the discussion flow. Roadmap exists? It plans or executes the next step.

/gsd auto — autonomous mode. Type /gsd auto and walk away. GSD researches, plans, executes, verifies, commits, and advances through every slice until the milestone is complete. Fresh context window per task. No babysitting.

Two terminals, one project

The real workflow: run auto mode in one terminal, steer from another.

Terminal 1 — let it build

gsd
/gsd auto

Terminal 2 — steer while it works

gsd
/gsd discuss    # talk through architecture decisions
/gsd status     # check progress
/gsd queue      # queue the next milestone

Both terminals read and write the same .gsd/ files on disk. Your decisions in terminal 2 are picked up automatically at the next phase boundary — no need to stop auto mode.

First launch

On first run, GSD launches a branded setup wizard that walks you through LLM provider selection (OAuth or API key), then optional tool API keys (Brave Search, Context7, Jina, Slack, Discord). Every step is skippable — press Enter to skip any. If you have an existing Pi installation, your provider credentials (LLM and tool keys) are imported automatically. Run gsd config anytime to re-run the wizard.

Commands

| Command | What it does | | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | /gsd | Step mode — executes one unit at a time, pauses between each | | /gsd next | Explicit step mode (same as bare /gsd) | | /gsd auto | Autonomous mode — researches, plans, executes, commits, repeats | | /gsd stop | Stop auto mode gracefully | | /gsd discuss | Discuss architecture and decisions (works alongside auto mode) | | /gsd status | Progress dashboard | | /gsd queue | Queue future milestones (safe during auto mode) | | /gsd prefs | Model selection, timeouts, budget ceiling | | /gsd migrate | Migrate a v1 .planning directory to .gsd format | | /gsd doctor | Validate .gsd/ integrity, find and fix issues | | /worktree (/wt) | Git worktree lifecycle — create, switch, merge, remove | | /voice | Toggle real-time speech-to-text (macOS, Linux) | | /exit | Graceful shutdown — saves session state before exiting | | /kill | Kill GSD process immediately | | /clear | Start a new session (alias for /new) | | Ctrl+Alt+G | Toggle dashboard overlay | | Ctrl+Alt+V | Toggle voice transcription | | Ctrl+Alt+B | Show background shell processes | | gsd config | Re-run the setup wizard (LLM provider + tool keys) | | gsd --continue (-c) | Resume the most recent session for the current directory |

What GSD Manages For You

Context Engineering

Every dispatch is carefully constructed. The LLM never wastes tool calls on orientation.

| Artifact | Purpose | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | PROJECT.md | Living doc — what the project is right now | | DECISIONS.md | Append-only register of architectural decisions | | STATE.md | Quick-glance dashboard — always read first | | M001-ROADMAP.md | Milestone plan with slice checkboxes, risk levels, dependencies | | M001-CONTEXT.md | User decisions from the discuss phase | | M001-RESEARCH.md | Codebase and ecosystem research | | S01-PLAN.md | Slice task decomposition with must-haves | | T01-PLAN.md | Individual task plan with verification criteria | | T01-SUMMARY.md | What happened — YAML frontmatter + narrative | | S01-UAT.md | Human test script derived from slice outcomes |

Git Strategy

Branch-per-slice with squash merge. Fully automated.

main:
  docs(M001/S04): workflow documentation and examples
  fix(M001/S03): bug fixes and doc corrections
  feat(M001/S02): API endpoints and middleware
  feat(M001/S01): data model and type system

gsd/M001/S01 (deleted after merge):
  feat(S01/T03): file writer with round-trip fidelity
  feat(S01/T02): markdown parser for plan files
  feat(S01/T01): core types and interfaces

One commit per slice on main (or whichever branch you started from). Squash commits are the permanent record — branches are deleted after merge. Git bisect works. Individual slices are revertable.

Verification

Every task has must-haves — mechanically checkable outcomes:

• Truths — Observable behaviors ("User can sign up with email")
• Artifacts — Files that must exist with real implementation, not stubs
• Key Links — Imports and wiring between artifacts

The verification ladder: static checks → command execution → behavioral testing → human review (only when the agent genuinely can't verify itself).

Dashboard

Ctrl+Alt+G or /gsd status opens a real-time overlay showing:

• Current milestone, slice, and task progress
• Auto mode elapsed time and phase
• Per-unit cost and token breakdown by phase, slice, and model
• Cost projections based on completed work
• Completed and in-progress units

Configuration

Preferences

GSD preferences live in ~/.gsd/preferences.md (global) or .gsd/preferences.md (project). Manage with /gsd prefs.

---
version: 1
models:
  research: claude-sonnet-4-6
  planning:
    model: claude-opus-4-6
    fallbacks:
      - openrouter/z-ai/glm-5
      - openrouter/minimax/minimax-m2.5
  execution: claude-sonnet-4-6
  completion: claude-sonnet-4-6
skill_discovery: suggest
auto_supervisor:
  soft_timeout_minutes: 20
  idle_timeout_minutes: 10
  hard_timeout_minutes: 30
budget_ceiling: 50.00
unique_milestone_ids: true
---

Key settings:

| Setting | What it controls | | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | models.* | Per-phase model selection — string for a single model, or {model, fallbacks} for automatic failover | | skill_discovery | auto / suggest / off — how GSD finds and applies skills | | auto_supervisor.* | Timeout thresholds for auto mode supervision | | budget_ceiling | USD ceiling — auto mode pauses when reached | | uat_dispatch | Enable automatic UAT runs after slice completion | | always_use_skills | Skills to always load when relevant | | skill_rules | Situational rules for skill routing | | unique_milestone_ids | Uses unique milestone names to avoid clashes when working in teams of people |

Bundled Tools

GSD ships with 14 extensions, all loaded automatically:

| Extension | What it provides | | ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | GSD | Core workflow engine, auto mode, commands, dashboard | | Browser Tools | Playwright-based browser with form intelligence, intent-ranked element finding, and semantic actions | | Search the Web | Brave Search, Tavily, or Jina page extraction | | Google Search | Gemini-powered web search with AI-synthesized answers | | Context7 | Up-to-date library/framework documentation | | Background Shell | Long-running process management with readiness detection | | Subagent | Delegated tasks with isolated context windows | | Mac Tools | macOS native app automation via Accessibility APIs | | MCPorter | Lazy on-demand MCP server integration | | Voice | Real-time speech-to-text transcription (macOS, Linux — Ubuntu 22.04+) | | Slash Commands | Custom command creation | | LSP | Language Server Protocol integration — diagnostics, go-to-definition, references, hover, symbols, rename, code actions | | Ask User Questions | Structured user input with single/multi-select | | Secure Env Collect | Masked secret collection without manual .env editing |

Bundled Agents

Three specialized subagents for delegated work:

| Agent | Role | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Scout | Fast codebase recon — returns compressed context for handoff | | Researcher | Web research — finds and synthesizes current information | | Worker | General-purpose execution in an isolated context window |

Working in teams

The best practice for working in teams is to ensure unique milestone names across all branches (by using unique_milestone_ids) and checking in the right .gsd/ artifacts to share valuable context between teammates.

Suggested .gitignore setup

# ── GSD: Runtime / Ephemeral (per-developer, per-session) ──────────────────
# Crash detection sentinel — PID lock, written per auto-mode session
.gsd/auto.lock
# Auto-mode dispatch tracker — prevents re-running completed units
.gsd/completed-units.json
# Derived state cache — regenerated from plan/roadmap files on disk
.gsd/STATE.md
# Per-developer token/cost accumulator
.gsd/metrics.json
# Raw JSONL session dumps — crash recovery forensics, auto-pruned
.gsd/activity/
# Unit execution records — dispatch phase, timeouts, recovery tracking
.gsd/runtime/
# Git worktree working copies
.gsd/worktrees/
# Session-specific interrupted-work markers
.gsd/milestones/**/continue.md
.gsd/milestones/**/*-CONTINUE.md

Unique Milestone Names

Create or amend your .gsd/preferences.md file within the repo to include unique_milestone_ids: true e.g.

---
version: 1
unique_milestone_ids: true
---

With the above .gitignore set up, the .gsd/preferences.md file is checked into the repo ensuring all teammates use unique milestone names to avoid collisions.

Milestone names will now be generated with a 6 char random string appended e.g. instead of M001 you'll get something like M001-ush8s3

Migrating an existing git ignored .gsd/ folder

1. Ensure you are not in the middle of any milestones (clean state)
2. Update the .gsd/ related entries in your .gitignore to follow the Suggested .gitignore setup section under Working in teams (ensure you are no longer blanket ignoring the whole .gsd/ directory)
3. Update your .gsd/preferences.md file within the repo as per section Unique Milestone Names
4. If you want to update all your existing milestones use this prompt in GSD: I have turned on unique milestone ids, please update all old milestone ids to use this new format e.g. M001-abc123 where abc123 is a random 6 char lowercase alpha numeric string. Update all references in all .gsd file contents, file names and directory names. Validate your work once done to ensure referential integrity.
5. Commit to git

Architecture

GSD is a TypeScript application that embeds the Pi coding agent SDK.

gsd (CLI binary)
  └─ loader.ts          Sets PI_PACKAGE_DIR, GSD env vars, dynamic-imports cli.ts
      └─ cli.ts         Wires SDK managers, loads extensions, starts InteractiveMode
          ├─ onboarding.ts   First-run setup wizard (LLM provider + tool keys)
          ├─ wizard.ts       Env hydration from stored auth.json credentials
          ├─ app-paths.ts    ~/.gsd/agent/, ~/.gsd/sessions/, auth.json
          ├─ resource-loader.ts  Syncs bundled extensions + agents to ~/.gsd/agent/
          └─ src/resources/
              ├─ extensions/gsd/    Core GSD extension (auto, state, commands, ...)
              ├─ extensions/...     12 supporting extensions
              ├─ agents/            scout, researcher, worker
              ├─ AGENTS.md          Agent routing instructions
              └─ GSD-WORKFLOW.md    Manual bootstrap protocol

Key design decisions:

• pkg/ shim directory — PI_PACKAGE_DIR points here (not project root) to avoid Pi's theme resolution collision with our src/ directory. Contains only piConfig and theme assets.
• Two-file loader pattern — loader.ts sets all env vars with zero SDK imports, then dynamic-imports cli.ts which does static SDK imports. This ensures PI_PACKAGE_DIR is set before any SDK code evaluates.
• Always-overwrite sync — npm update -g takes effect immediately. Bundled extensions and agents are synced to ~/.gsd/agent/ on every launch, not just first run.
• State lives on disk — .gsd/ is the source of truth. Auto mode reads it, writes it, and advances based on what it finds. No in-memory state survives across sessions.

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 20.6.0 (22+ recommended)
• An LLM provider — any of the 20+ supported providers (see Use Any Model)
• Git — initialized automatically if missing

Optional:

• Brave Search API key (web research)
• Tavily API key (web research — alternative to Brave)
• Google Gemini API key (web research via Gemini Search grounding)
• Context7 API key (library docs)
• Jina API key (page extraction)

Use Any Model

GSD isn't locked to one provider. It runs on the Pi SDK, which supports 20+ model providers out of the box. Use different models for different phases — Opus for planning, Sonnet for execution, a fast model for research.

Built-in Providers

Anthropic, OpenAI, Google (Gemini), OpenRouter, GitHub Copilot, Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Google Vertex, Groq, Cerebras, Mistral, xAI, HuggingFace, Vercel AI Gateway, and more.

OAuth / Max Plans

If you have a Claude Max, Codex, or GitHub Copilot subscription, you can use those directly — Pi handles the OAuth flow. No API key needed.

Note: Using OAuth tokens from subscription plans (e.g. Claude Max) outside their native applications may not be explicitly permitted by the provider's Terms of Service. GSD supports API key authentication for all providers as an alternative. Use at your own discretion.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter gives you access to hundreds of models through a single API key. Use it to run GSD with Llama, DeepSeek, Qwen, or anything else OpenRouter supports.

Per-Phase Model Selection

In your preferences (/gsd prefs), assign different models to different phases:

models:
  research: openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-r1
  planning:
    model: claude-opus-4-6
    fallbacks:
      - openrouter/z-ai/glm-5
  execution: claude-sonnet-4-6
  completion: claude-sonnet-4-6

Use expensive models where quality matters (planning, complex execution) and cheaper/faster models where speed matters (research, simple completions). Each phase accepts a simple model string or an object with model and fallbacks — if the primary model fails (provider outage, rate limit, credit exhaustion), GSD automatically tries the next fallback. GSD tracks cost per-model so you can see exactly where your budget goes.

Star History

License

MIT License

The original GSD showed what was possible. This version delivers it.

npm install -g gsd-pi && gsd