Establishes how to find and use skills

Using superpowers

by obra · MIT license · ★ 289,792 on GitHub · updated Sep 20

Use when starting any conversation - establishes how to find and use skills, requiring skill invocation before ANY response including clarifying questions

---
name: using-superpowers
description: Use when starting any conversation - establishes how to find and use skills, requiring skill invocation before ANY response including clarifying questions
---

<SUBAGENT-STOP>
If you were dispatched as a subagent to execute a specific task, ignore this skill.
</SUBAGENT-STOP>

<EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>
If you think there is even a 1% chance a skill might apply to what you are doing, you ABSOLUTELY MUST invoke the skill.

IF A SKILL APPLIES TO YOUR TASK, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT.

This is not negotiable. You cannot rationalize your way out of this.
</EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>

## The Rule

Overview

IF A SKILL APPLIES TO YOUR TASK, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT.

The SKILL.md below is the copy AgentAlley read and checked. The repo has changed it since; the other files are from commit 5bf4e78.

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add obra/superpowers --skill using-superpowers -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (manual)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -sL https://codeload.github.com/obra/superpowers/tar.gz/5bf4e7801107 \
  | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skills --strip-components=2 superpowers-5bf4e7801107/skills/using-superpowers

Windows (PowerShell)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude\skills" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest "https://m.agentalley.io/zip/f15efd2742333666e570/using-superpowers.zip" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\using-superpowers.zip"; Expand-Archive "$env:TEMP\using-superpowers.zip" -DestinationPath "$HOME\.claude\skills" -Force

Claude.ai / desktopDownload the ZIP and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

Files included

SKILL.md3.1 KB
references/7 files · 17.0 KB

Read the files here

obra/5bf4e788 files

SKILL.md3.1 KB

SKILL.md

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using-superpowers/SKILL.md64 lines · 3.0 KB

PreviewCode

Outline

RawView on GitHub

<SUBAGENT-STOP> If you were dispatched as a subagent to execute a specific task, ignore this skill. </SUBAGENT-STOP><EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT> If you think there is even a 1% chance a skill might apply to what you are doing, you ABSOLUTELY MUST invoke the skill.

IF A SKILL APPLIES TO YOUR TASK, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT.

This is not negotiable. You cannot rationalize your way out of this. </EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>

The Rule

Invoke relevant or requested skills BEFORE any response or action — including clarifying questions, exploring the codebase, or checking files. If it turns out wrong for the situation, you don't have to use it.

Before entering plan mode: if you haven't already brainstormed, invoke the brainstorming skill first.

Then announce "Using [skill] to [purpose]" and follow the skill exactly. If it has a checklist, create a todo per item.

Skill Priority

When multiple skills apply, process skills come first — they set the approach, then implementation skills (frontend-design, etc.) carry it out. Brainstorming and systematic-debugging are Superpowers' most common process skills, but the rule holds for any of them.

"Let's build X" → superpowers:brainstorming first, then implementation skills.
"Fix this bug" → superpowers:systematic-debugging first, then domain skills.

Red Flags

These thoughts mean STOP—you're rationalizing:

Thought	Reality
"This is just a simple question"	Questions are tasks. Check for skills.
"I need more context first"	Skill check comes BEFORE clarifying questions.
"Let me explore the codebase first"	Skills tell you HOW to explore. Check first.
"I can check git/files quickly"	Files lack conversation context. Check for skills.
"Let me gather information first"	Skills tell you HOW to gather information.
"This doesn't need a formal skill"	If a skill exists, use it.
"I remember this skill"	Skills evolve. Read current version.
"This doesn't count as a task"	Action = task. Check for skills.
"The skill is overkill"	Simple things become complex. Use it.
"I'll just do this one thing first"	Check BEFORE doing anything.
"This feels productive"	Undisciplined action wastes time. Skills prevent this.
"I know what that means"	Knowing the concept ≠ using the skill. Invoke it.

Platform Adaptation

If your harness appears here, read its reference file for special instructions:

Codex: references/codex-tools.md
Pi: references/pi-tools.md
Antigravity: references/antigravity-tools.md
Hermes Agent: references/hermes-tools.md

User Instructions

User instructions (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md, etc, direct requests) take precedence over skills, which in turn override default behavior. Only skip skill workflows or instructions when your human partner has explicitly told you to.

1	---
2	name: using-superpowers
3	description: Use when starting any conversation - establishes how to find and use skills, requiring skill invocation before ANY response including clarifying questions
4	---
5
6	<SUBAGENT-STOP>
7	If you were dispatched as a subagent to execute a specific task, ignore this skill.
8	</SUBAGENT-STOP>
9
10	<EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>
11	If you think there is even a 1% chance a skill might apply to what you are doing, you ABSOLUTELY MUST invoke the skill.
12
13	IF A SKILL APPLIES TO YOUR TASK, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT.
14
15	This is not negotiable. You cannot rationalize your way out of this.
16	</EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>
17
18	## The Rule
19
20	Invoke relevant or requested skills BEFORE any response or action — including clarifying questions, exploring the codebase, or checking files. If it turns out wrong for the situation, you don't have to use it.
21
22	Before entering plan mode: if you haven't already brainstormed, invoke the brainstorming skill first.
23
24	Then announce "Using [skill] to [purpose]" and follow the skill exactly. If it has a checklist, create a todo per item.
25
26	## Skill Priority
27
28	When multiple skills apply, process skills come first — they set the approach, then implementation skills (frontend-design, etc.) carry it out. Brainstorming and systematic-debugging are Superpowers' most common process skills, but the rule holds for any of them.
29
30	- "Let's build X" → superpowers:brainstorming first, then implementation skills.
31	- "Fix this bug" → superpowers:systematic-debugging first, then domain skills.
32
33	## Red Flags
34
35	These thoughts mean STOP—you're rationalizing:
36
37	\| Thought \| Reality \|
38	\|---------\|---------\|
39	\| "This is just a simple question" \| Questions are tasks. Check for skills. \|
40	\| "I need more context first" \| Skill check comes BEFORE clarifying questions. \|
41	\| "Let me explore the codebase first" \| Skills tell you HOW to explore. Check first. \|
42	\| "I can check git/files quickly" \| Files lack conversation context. Check for skills. \|
43	\| "Let me gather information first" \| Skills tell you HOW to gather information. \|
44	\| "This doesn't need a formal skill" \| If a skill exists, use it. \|
45	\| "I remember this skill" \| Skills evolve. Read current version. \|
46	\| "This doesn't count as a task" \| Action = task. Check for skills. \|
47	\| "The skill is overkill" \| Simple things become complex. Use it. \|
48	\| "I'll just do this one thing first" \| Check BEFORE doing anything. \|
49	\| "This feels productive" \| Undisciplined action wastes time. Skills prevent this. \|
50	\| "I know what that means" \| Knowing the concept ≠ using the skill. Invoke it. \|
51
52	## Platform Adaptation
53
54	If your harness appears here, read its reference file for special instructions:
55
56	- Codex: `references/codex-tools.md`
57	- Pi: `references/pi-tools.md`
58	- Antigravity: `references/antigravity-tools.md`
59	- Hermes Agent: `references/hermes-tools.md`
60
61	## User Instructions
62
63	User instructions (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md, etc, direct requests) take precedence over skills, which in turn override default behavior. Only skip skill workflows or instructions when your human partner has explicitly told you to.
64