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.

npm install -g gsd-pi@latest

GSD now provisions a managed RTK binary on supported macOS, Linux, and Windows installs to compress shell-command output in bash, async_bash, bg_shell, and verification flows. GSD forces RTK_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 for all managed invocations. Set GSD_RTK_DISABLED=1 to disable the integration.

📋 NOTICE: New to Node on Mac? If you installed Node.js via Homebrew, you may be running a development release instead of LTS. Read this guide to pin Node 24 LTS and avoid compatibility issues.

What's New in v2.82

State Reconciliation & Drift Detection (ADR-017)

Unified drift-detection framework — a new state-reconciliation layer replaces ad-hoc recovery checks. Each drift kind (stale worker, unregistered milestone, roadmap divergence, missing completion timestamp, merge-state, stale render) is owned by a focused detector + idempotent repair handler registered in a single registry, with a cap=2 retry contract that ensures repair-then-retry settles cleanly.
Stale session locks no longer block resume — when a /gsd auto process is SIGKILL'd, sleep-killed, or otherwise crashes, the auto.lock file is left behind with a dead PID. Previously you had to wait out a 30-minute stale window before /gsd would resume. The new stale-worker drift handler verifies the PID is alive and clears orphaned locks proactively on startup.
Unregistered milestones get imported automatically — if you scaffold a milestone directory (with ROADMAP.md/CONTEXT.md/SUMMARY.md) but never re-imported, dispatch couldn't see it. The unregistered-milestone handler now imports those rows idempotently before dispatch.
ROADMAP and DB stay in sync — divergence between ROADMAP.md (parsed slice sequence + depends declarations) and the corresponding DB slice rows is detected per-milestone and reconciled via importer upserts plus an explicit syncSliceDependencies pass.
Missing completion timestamps backfill from disk — entities marked complete in the DB but with a null completed_at are now backfilled from SUMMARY.md mtime, deterministically and idempotently. Tasks are checked independently of their parent slice status (a bug in the first cut nested task iteration behind slice completion).
Parallel spawns reconcile before fanning out — /gsd parallel start and slice-parallel-dispatch now run reconciliation at the parent before spawning auto-loop workers, so workers don't independently race on shared drift. Gate failures surface a typed exit reason (slice-parallel-reconciliation-failed) and a user-visible message instead of a confused hang.

Worktree Lifecycle Refactor (ADR-016 — final phases)

Phase 2 complete — the worktree-manager module finished absorbing fs primitives, git-CLI primitives, worktree-manager helpers, cache/preferences/paths, and the final gitServiceFactory. Lifecycle verbs are now first-class: adoptOrphanWorktree, adoptSessionRoot, resumeFromPausedSession, and restoreToProjectRoot are explicit entry points, and the stop-path routes through restoreToProjectRoot instead of ad-hoc cleanup. mergeMilestoneStandalone was extracted and mergeMilestoneToMain was privatized.
Phase 3 closes strict-closure residuals — dead defensive s.basePath = s.originalBasePath fallbacks were removed from both auto.ts stop-path catch blocks (the verb assigns basePath before any throwable work, so the fallback was unreachable). The public WorktreeLifecycleDeps interface dropped 15 @deprecated optional fields; the active dep bag is now three fields (gitServiceFactory, worktreeProjection, mergeMilestoneToMain). Test fixtures move to a dedicated WorktreeLifecycleTestOverrides type.

Auto-Mode Reliability

complete-slice closeout is read-only — the closeout prompt is no longer allowed to write project files, removing a class of races where closeout edits could fight with the next slice's setup. Write-gate planning and prompt contracts were updated to enforce this.
Verification retries back off properly — a new verification-retry-policy.ts adds bounded exponential backoff and runs stuck detection between attempts, so transient verification failures (slow tools, flaky LLM calls) no longer spin in tight retry loops.
Auto-loop exit paths are journaled end-to-end — post-unit finalize stops, all unit-end iteration exits, and the run-unit failsafe now journal cleanly. Auto-timeout recovery journaling completes its handoff record. The run-unit failsafe also defers when a recovery is already in flight to avoid double-firing.
Ghost completions and stale telemetry are guarded — auto-mode no longer stops on ghost completions before a milestone stop has actually fired, and unmerged-exit telemetry is gated on active worktrees so closed sessions don't generate noise.
Session-switch hygiene — completed-content aborts that fire while the session is switching are ignored instead of being misclassified as user aborts. Auto-commit skips .gitignored task key files so the working tree stays clean across slices.

TUI & Operator Experience

Operations console redesign — the auto-mode dashboard, notification overlay, parallel-monitor overlay, health widget, header renderer, and welcome screen were all rebuilt against a new shared render-kit. The result is a more consistent visual language across overlays, with refreshed reference designs (docs/dev/tui-recommended-design.html, tui-render-options.html) and expanded test coverage for the new components.
Milestone completion rollup — at the boundary between milestones, auto-mode now renders a CompletionDashboardSnapshot summarizing success criteria results, definition-of-done results, requirement outcomes, deviations, follow-ups, key decisions, key files, lessons learned, total cost, total tokens, cache hit rate, and slice progress. You no longer have to scroll back through the transcript to see what a milestone actually delivered.

See the full Changelog for the complete v2.82 entry and prior releases.

v2.81 highlights

Worktree safety is fail-closed — write/edit operations enforce the worktree-isolation contract; lifecycle and projection split into dedicated modules; milestone merge closeout is harder to wedge.
Memory, context, and token control — artifact integrity fingerprints, time-decay memory ranking, safer FTS5 fallback, request-time tool scoping, leaner workflow prompts, and more accurate session/context token accounting.
TUI polish — compact tool output with targets, refreshed chat/tool cards, adaptive refresher layouts, stable welcome/header lifecycle, and bottom-anchored auto-mode rendering.
Reliability, tests, and CI — auto-mode recovery and session handoff hardened, broad E2E coverage expansion (real-process MCP, fake LLM, native ABI, Docker, Windows), and a faster, less-noisy CI gate setup.

v2.80 highlights

DB-authoritative context — UOK contracts moved through database-backed runtime state, auto-run context mode was wired end-to-end, and planned slices recover after artifact writes.
Auto, deep mode, and gates — deep queued milestones continue, deep project milestones register cleanly, depth-verification regressions were closed, and task commits respect the milestone completion guard.
MCP, post-exec, and cross-platform hardening — post-exec import fallback handling, React Router +types imports, gsd_exec write gating, project-save behavior, and home-directory fallback behavior were tightened.
Reliability and review hardening — auto orchestration contracts, cancellation context preservation, recovery stop lifecycle events, trace correlation, cleanup-on-throw, and phase-result guards were improved.

v2.79 highlights

DB-backed runtime coordination — workers, leases, dispatches, command queue, locks, paused-session state, and stuck-state recovery moved into gsd.db
Workspace/worktree isolation — GsdWorkspace and MilestoneScope handles, symlink-safe canonicalization, worktree-scoped DB/metrics, cwd anchoring, and gsd worktree {list, merge, clean, remove}
Deep planning mode — /gsd new-project --deep, research dispatch units, EVAL-REVIEW, project-shape-aware questioning, and approval-gate hardening
Auto pipeline upgrades — delegation-policy verdicts, reactive-execute default, proactive rate limiting, manifest-driven skill surfacing, and subagent telemetry
MCP/model/cross-platform fixes — global MCP config, ask_user_questions over MCP, provider-agnostic model routing, Ollama timeouts, Windows fixes, and Anthropic prompt-cache preservation
Git and recovery reliability — self-merge guards, safer slice cadence, milestone-ID reservation, auto-commit hygiene, retryable GitHub sync, atomic metrics writes, and stronger teardown handling
VS Code and TUI polish — checkpoint tree view, image paste preservation, and bundled /gsd slash command protection

v2.78 highlights

Slice-cadence worktree collapse (#4765) — git.collapse_cadence: "milestone" | "slice" shrinks the orphan window per-slice; pair with git.milestone_resquash: true to collapse to one milestone commit
Worktree telemetry (#4764) — journal events + summarizeWorktreeTelemetry; /gsd forensics worktree section with worktree-orphan and worktree-unmerged-exit anomalies
Worktree-aware canonical milestone root (#4761) — resolveCanonicalMilestoneRoot routes validators through the live worktree
Bootstrap orphan audit (#4762) — in-progress milestones with commits ahead of main are no longer skipped
Unified component system — skills, agents, pipelines, and marketplace as one component model wired through runtime, dispatch, and telemetry
UnitContextManifest v2 (#4924, #4934) — typed manifest with declarative tools-policy and typed computed artifacts; CI-guarded
Composer migration phase 3 (#4782) — complete-slice, research-milestone, run-uat, reassess-roadmap build context through the manifest composer
Milestone scope classifier + pipeline variants (#4781) — auto picks a pipeline variant from milestone shape
Per-unit-type skill manifest resolver (#4779) — skills wire into specific unit types instead of being globally on
Single-writer-v3 control plane — durable-state writer gaps closed
Extensions framework — gsd extensions install / update / uninstall / list / info / validate; topological load order; cmux↔gsd decoupling via cmux-events; extracted @gsd-extensions/google-search
GPT-5.5 Codex support + xhigh thinking level; auth mode in /model; permission granularity picker; headless auto default → bypassPermissions (#4657)
Major git-safety pass — TOCTOU ancestry guard, atomic sync-lock with PID-verified stale override, .git/index.lock 5-min gate, env overlay strip, rebase/cherry-pick/revert detection, working-tree stash before reset --hard, unborn-branch worktree guard, user hooks + commit.gpgsign on auto-commits
Atomic .gsd/ state writes; compaction correctness fix (#4665); write-gate hardening (#4950); auto state-machine non-retriable policy errors (#4973), baseline restoration (#4961, #4966); slice + crash recovery; empty-turn recovery shape canonicalized

v2.77 highlights

Context Mode — dispatch builds task-ready context automatically (artifacts, prior session, milestone/slice signals, execution metadata); enabled by default for new projects
Sandboxed execution tools — gsd_exec_search, gsd_resume, and sandboxed tool-output paths for context-mode flows
Memory architecture (ADR-013) — memories table is now authoritative; structured_fields adds typed metadata; decisions and KNOWLEDGE patterns/lessons are memory-backed projections after the cutover
Skill coverage — 9 gap-closing skills landed plus 6 planning/design skills surfaced
Hook stack — Layer 0 shell hooks and additional Layer 2 lifecycle events
TUI polish — dedicated chat-frame style for skill invocations; active-row overflow fixes
Worktree + dispatch resilience — crash-recovery dispatch hardened, safer path derivation, improved worktree context fallback
DB/schema guardrails — migration/index ordering and schema version stamping tightened
Preflight hardening — milestone completion enforces stricter clean-root checks with auto-stash

v2.75 highlights

Knowledge graph system — structured knowledge graph built from project artifacts
/gsd extract-learnings — extracts decisions, lessons, patterns, and surprises into LEARNINGS.md
Unified Orchestration Kernel (UOK) — now the default execution path with plan-v2 compile gates and reactive/parallel scheduling
GSD Extension API — third-party extensions loadable from .gsd/extensions/ (#3338)
v1 command parity — 12 missing commands added, closing the migration gap
Chat frame redesign — unified styling for compaction notices, tool cards, and chat frame with timestamps and model headers
Single-writer DB invariant — engine database enforces single-writer to prevent corruption
MCP worktree routing — tool writes routed to active worktree; worktree paths accepted in project root guard
Alibaba DashScope — added as a standalone provider (#3891)
Persistent language preference — /gsd language

v2.74 highlights

DB-authoritative milestone completeness — milestone completion state is derived from the database, not file markers (#4179)
Flat-rate provider detection — extended to custom and externalCli providers
Thinking level as effort — Claude Code passes thinking level as an effort parameter
False milestone merge prevention — auto-mode no longer falsely merges after a complete-milestone failure (#4175)
Premature auto-stop fix — prevents auto-mode from stopping early on blocked phase + missing reassessment
Inline tool call rendering — assistant tool calls render inline with text instead of grouped at the end
Custom model preservation — custom model selection preserved on /gsd auto bootstrap (#4122)

v2.73 highlights

Alibaba DashScope provider — added as a standalone provider (#3891)
Layered depth enforcement — discuss phase enforces depth gates for thorough requirements gathering (#4079)
Memory pressure watchdog — stuck detection state persisted across sessions (#3708)
Ollama cloud auth — cloud auth support and real context window resolution via /api/show (#4017)
DB corruption prevention — direct writes to gsd.db blocked via hooks (#3674)
Circular dependency cleanup — 3 circular dependencies broken in extension modules (#3730)
Subagent permissions — GSD subagents default to bypassPermissions with safe built-ins pre-authorized
Security hardening — auth middleware activated, shutdown/update routes hardened (#4023)
Stale slice reconciliation — stale slice rows reconciled and STATE.md rebuilt before DB close (#3658)
Subagent model preference — subagent_model preference wired through to dispatch prompt builders
Pipeline integrity — 5 pipeline issues addressed from release audit, package-lock.json regenerated during bumps

v2.72 highlights

8 specialist subagents — new specialist subagents and slim pro agents with GSD phase guard to prevent conflicts
Model selection hardening — unconfigured models blocked from selection, provider readiness required, session override honored
Auto-mode resilience — credential cooldown recovery with bounded retry budget, fire-and-forget auto start, scoped forensics
TUI overhaul — overlays, keyboard shortcuts, and notification flows redesigned for consistency
Capability-aware routing (ADR-004) — full implementation of capability scoring, before_model_select hook, and task metadata extraction
Multi-model provider strategy (ADR-005) — infrastructure for multi-provider model selection wired into live paths
Anti-fabrication guardrails — discuss prompts enforce turn-taking to prevent fabricated user responses
Windows portability — hardened cross-platform portability across runtime, tooling, and CI
MCP reliability — every registered tool exposed, SDK subpath resolution fixed, abort signals threaded through
Tool cache control — cache_control breakpoints added to tool definitions for improved prompt caching

v2.71 highlights

Secure credential collection over MCP — secure_env_collect tool uses MCP form elicitation to collect secrets without exposing values in tool output
MCP stream ordering — tool output renders in correct order, fixing interleaved output in Claude Code and other MCP clients
isError flag propagation — workflow tool execution failures correctly return isError: true
Multi-round discuss questions — new-project discuss phase supports multi-round questioning with structured question gates
TOCTOU file locking — race conditions in event log and custom workflow graph file locking fixed with atomic lock acquisition
State derive refactor — deriveStateFromDb god function extracted into composable, testable helpers
Pinned output fixes — restored above editor during tool execution, cleared on turn completion

v2.70 and earlier

Full workflow over MCP (v2.68) — slice replanning, milestone management, slice completion, task completion, and core planning tools exposed over MCP
Transport-gated MCP (v2.68) — workflow tool availability adapts to provider transport capabilities automatically
Contextual tips system (v2.68) — TUI and web terminal surface contextual tips based on workflow state
Ask user questions over MCP (v2.70) — interactive questions exposed via elicitation for external integrations
Tiered Context Injection (M005) — relevance-scoped context with 65%+ token reduction
5-wave state machine hardening — critical data integrity fixes across atomic writes, event log reconciliation, session recovery
Slice-level parallelism — dependency-aware parallel dispatch within a milestone
MCP server — 6 read-only project state tools for external integrations, auto-wrapup guard, and question dedup
Ollama extension — first-class local LLM support via Ollama, with dynamic routing enabled by default
VS Code sidebar redesign — SCM provider, checkpoints, diagnostics panel, activity feed, workflow controls, session forking
Skills overhaul — 30+ skill packs covering major frameworks, databases, and cloud platforms
Single-writer state engine — disciplined state transitions with machine guards and TOCTOU hardening
DB-backed planning tools — atomic SQLite tool calls for state transitions
Declarative workflow engine — YAML workflows through auto-loop
Doctor: worktree lifecycle checks — validates worktree health, detects orphans, consolidates cleanup

Documentation

Full documentation is in the docs/ directory:

User Guides

Getting Started — install, first run, basic usage
Auto Mode — autonomous execution deep-dive
Configuration — all preferences, models, git, and hooks
Custom Models — add custom providers (Ollama, vLLM, LM Studio, proxies)
Token Optimization — profiles, context compression, complexity routing
Cost Management — budgets, tracking, projections
Git Strategy — worktree isolation, branching, merge behavior
Parallel Orchestration — run multiple milestones simultaneously
Working in Teams — unique IDs, shared artifacts
Skills — bundled skills, discovery, custom authoring
Commands Reference — all commands and keyboard shortcuts
Troubleshooting — common issues, doctor, forensics, recovery
Visualizer — workflow visualizer with stats and discussion status
Remote Questions — route decisions to Slack or Discord when human input is needed
Dynamic Model Routing — complexity-based model selection and budget pressure
Web Interface — browser-based project management and real-time progress
Migration from v1 — .planning → .gsd migration
Docker Sandbox — run GSD auto mode in an isolated Docker container

Developer Docs

Architecture — system design and dispatch pipeline
CI/CD Pipeline — three-stage promotion pipeline (Dev → Test → Prod)
E2E Testing — real-process CLI/runtime coverage and CI runner expectations
Pipeline Simplification (ADR-003) — merged research into planning, mechanical completion
VS Code Extension — chat participant, sidebar dashboard, RPC integration

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	Worktree isolation, sequential commits, 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
Verification	Manual	Automated verification commands with auto-fix retries
Reporting	None	Self-contained HTML reports with metrics and dep graphs
Parallel execution	None	Multi-worker parallel milestone orchestration

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:

Plan (with integrated research) → Execute (per task) → Complete → Reassess Roadmap → Next Slice
                                                                                      ↓ (all slices done)
                                                                              Validate Milestone → Complete Milestone

Plan scouts the codebase, researches relevant docs, and 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, then runs configured verification commands (lint, test, etc.) with auto-fix retries before the task closeout commit or snapshot is published. Failed or incomplete verification blocks execute-task closeout. Complete writes the summary, UAT script, marks the roadmap, and commits with meaningful messages derived from task summaries. Reassess checks if the roadmap still makes sense given what was learned. Validate Milestone runs a reconciliation gate after all slices complete — comparing roadmap success criteria against actual results before sealing the milestone.

When progressive planning is enabled, the first slice is fully planned up front while later slices may appear in M###-ROADMAP.md with a `[sketch]` badge. A sketch slice has an approved title, dependency shape, demo line, and scope boundary, but it has not yet been expanded into task plans; auto mode runs refine-slice just before execution to turn the sketch into a full slice plan using the latest prior-slice summaries.

`/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 the GSD database at the project root. It derives the next unit of work from authoritative SQLite state, 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 persists the result to the database, refreshes markdown projections such as STATE.md, and dispatches the next unit.

The database is authoritative for milestones, slices, tasks, requirements, summaries, and completion status. Durable decisions and project knowledge are stored in the memories table: decisions are architecture memories, and KNOWLEDGE patterns/lessons are pattern/gotcha memories. Markdown under .gsd/ is a rendered projection for review, prompts, and git-friendly history; it is not a runtime fallback unless you explicitly run a recovery/import command. In worktree mode, project-root DB state remains authoritative and worktree markdown projections are not synced back as state.

KNOWLEDGE.md is hybrid: rules remain file-canonical, while patterns and lessons are stored in the memories table and rendered back into KNOWLEDGE.md on the next session-start projection. Existing pattern and lesson rows are backfilled into memories before projection, so newly captured patterns and lessons may appear in memory-backed prompt context before the file view refreshes.

What happens under the hood:

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."
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.
Context Mode — Context Mode is enabled by default and gives eligible auto-mode units guidance for preserving context. Agents are steered toward gsd_exec for noisy scans, builds, tests, and diagnostics; capped stdout/stderr and metadata are saved under .gsd/exec/ while only a short digest enters the conversation. gsd_exec_search lets agents reuse prior runs instead of repeating expensive checks, and gsd_resume reads a prior compaction snapshot from .gsd/last-snapshot.md when one exists. Opt out with context_mode.enabled: false to disable Context Mode guidance, snapshot injection, gsd_exec, gsd_exec_search, and gsd_resume; tune sandbox timeout/output caps and environment forwarding with context_mode.exec_timeout_ms, context_mode.exec_stdout_cap_bytes, context_mode.exec_digest_chars, and context_mode.exec_env_allowlist.
Git isolation — When git.isolation is set to worktree or branch, each milestone runs on its own milestone/<MID> branch (in a worktree or in-place). All slice work commits sequentially — no branch switching, no merge conflicts. When the milestone completes, it's squash-merged to main as one clean commit. The default is none (work on the current branch), configurable via preferences. If worktree is configured in a repo with no committed HEAD, GSD temporarily behaves as none until the first commit exists because git worktrees need a committed start point.
Crash recovery — Auto mode persists worker state, unit-dispatch state, and paused-session metadata in the project-root SQLite database. If the session dies, the next /gsd auto reconstructs the interrupted unit from DB-backed runtime state, reads the surviving session file, synthesizes a recovery briefing from every tool call that made it to disk, and resumes with full context. Parallel orchestrator IPC still lives under .gsd/parallel/, so multi-worker sessions survive crashes too. In headless mode, crashes trigger automatic restart with exponential backoff (default 3 attempts).
Provider error recovery — Transient provider errors (rate limits, 500/503 server errors, overloaded) auto-resume after a delay. Permanent errors (auth, billing) pause for manual review. The model fallback chain retries transient network errors before switching models.
Stuck and artifact detection — A sliding-window detector identifies repeated dispatch patterns (including multi-unit cycles). Missing expected artifacts use a separate bounded path: GSD retries artifact verification up to 3 times with failure context, then pauses auto mode with the missing artifact error instead of looping indefinitely.
Timeout supervision — Soft timeout warns the LLM to wrap up. Idle watchdog detects stalls. Hard timeout starts recovery and only pauses auto mode if durable progress cannot be made. Runtime progress is recorded under .gsd/runtime/, and journal events close out unit, finalize, and iteration phases for later forensics.
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.
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.
Verification enforcement — Configure simple executable commands (npm run lint, npm run test, etc.) that run automatically after task execution. Verification commands must not use shell composition or control syntax such as pipes, redirects, semicolons, backticks, or command substitution. Failures trigger auto-fix retries before advancing. Execute-task commits and snapshots are deferred until verification passes; failed or incomplete verification blocks closeout instead of publishing changes. Auto-discovered checks from package.json and Python pytest project markers (python-project) run in advisory mode — they log warnings but don't block on pre-existing errors. Configurable via verification_commands, verification_auto_fix, and verification_max_retries preferences.
Milestone validation — After all slices complete, a validate-milestone gate compares roadmap success criteria against actual results before sealing the milestone.
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 coordinate through the same project-root GSD runtime on local disk. The SQLite database is authoritative, .gsd/ markdown is refreshed from it, and your decisions in terminal 2 are picked up at the next phase boundary without stopping auto mode.

Headless mode — CI and scripts

gsd headless runs any /gsd command without a TUI. Designed for CI pipelines, cron jobs, and scripted automation.

# Run auto mode in CI
gsd headless --timeout 600000

# Create and execute a milestone end-to-end
gsd headless new-milestone --context spec.md --auto

# One unit at a time (cron-friendly)
gsd headless next

# Instant JSON snapshot (no LLM, ~50ms)
gsd headless query

# Force a specific pipeline phase
gsd headless dispatch plan

Headless auto-responds to interactive prompts, detects completion, and exits with structured codes: 0 complete, 1 error/timeout, 2 blocked. Auto-restarts on crash with exponential backoff. Use gsd headless query for instant, machine-readable state inspection — returns phase, next dispatch preview, and parallel worker costs as a single JSON object without spawning an LLM session. Pair with remote questions to route decisions to Slack or Discord when human input is needed.

Multi-session orchestration — headless mode supports DB-backed coordination across multiple GSD workers on the same machine. Worker registration, milestone leases, unit dispatch tracking, and command delivery live in .gsd/gsd.db, while .gsd/parallel/ remains a local runtime area for per-milestone locks and isolation artifacts.

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 new-project [--deep]`	Bootstrap a project with staged project-level discovery
`/gsd quick`	Execute a quick task with GSD guarantees, skip planning overhead
`/gsd stop`	Stop auto mode gracefully
`/gsd steer`	Hard-steer plan documents during execution
`/gsd discuss`	Discuss architecture and decisions (works alongside auto mode)
`/gsd rethink`	Conversational project reorganization
`/gsd mcp`	MCP server status and connectivity
`/gsd status`	Progress dashboard
`/gsd brief <mode>`	Generate a visual HTML brief (diagram, plan, diff, recap, table, slides)
`/gsd queue`	Queue/reorder future milestones (`pending`, `queued`, or legacy `planned`; safe during auto mode)
`/gsd prefs`	Model selection, timeouts, budget ceiling
`/gsd migrate`	Migrate a v1 `.planning` directory to `.gsd` format
`/gsd help`	Categorized command reference for all GSD subcommands
`/gsd mode`	Switch workflow mode (solo/team) with coordinated defaults
`/gsd workflow`	Unified workflow plugins — list, run `<name>`, install, info, validate
`/gsd start <template>`	Launch a bundled or custom workflow template (bugfix, release, etc.)
`/gsd forensics`	Full-access GSD debugger for auto-mode failure investigation
`/gsd cleanup`	Archive phase directories from completed milestones
`/gsd doctor`	Runtime health checks — issues surface across widget, visualizer, and reports
`/gsd keys`	API key manager — list, add, remove, test, rotate, doctor
`/gsd logs`	Browse activity, debug, and metrics logs
`/gsd export --html`	Generate HTML report for current or completed milestone
`/worktree` (`/wt`)	Git worktree lifecycle — create, switch, merge, remove
`/gsd worktree` (`/gsd wt`)	TUI worktree management — list, merge, clean, remove with safety checks
`/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
`Alt+V`	Paste clipboard image (macOS)
`gsd config`	Re-run the setup wizard (LLM provider + tool keys)
`gsd update`	Update GSD to the latest version
`gsd headless [cmd]`	Run `/gsd` commands without TUI (CI, cron, scripts)
`gsd headless query`	Instant JSON snapshot — state, next dispatch, costs (no LLM)
`gsd --continue` (`-c`)	Resume the most recent session for the current directory
`gsd --worktree` (`-w`)	Launch an isolated worktree session for the active milestone
`gsd sessions`	Interactive session picker — browse and resume any saved session

What GSD Manages For You

Context Engineering

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

Artifact	Purpose
`gsd.db`	Authoritative runtime state for hierarchy and completion
`PROJECT.md`	Living doc — what the project is right now
`REQUIREMENTS.md`	Project-level capability contract and out-of-scope list
`DECISIONS.md`	Projected register of memory-backed architectural decisions
`KNOWLEDGE.md`	Hybrid knowledge projection: manual Rules plus memory-backed Patterns/Lessons
`RUNTIME.md`	Runtime context — API endpoints, env vars, services (v2.39)
`runtime/research-decision.json`	Deep-mode marker for project research vs skip
`research/*.md`	Optional deep-mode project research: stack, features, architecture, pitfalls
`STATE.md`	Quick-glance dashboard rendered from the database
`M001-ROADMAP.md`	Milestone plan with slice checkboxes, risk levels, dependencies, and `[sketch]` badges for slices awaiting `refine-slice`
`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 squash commit per milestone on main (or whichever branch you started from). The worktree is torn down after merge. Git bisect works. Individual milestones are revertable. Commit messages are generated from task summaries — no more generic "complete task" messages.

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).

Project Knowledge

.gsd/KNOWLEDGE.md remains the human-readable register for durable project knowledge, but the memory store is now authoritative for generated Patterns and Lessons. On startup, GSD backfills existing ## Patterns and ## Lessons Learned rows into gsd.db memories, then rewrites KNOWLEDGE.md as a hybrid projection: the manual ## Rules section is preserved from the file, while Patterns and Lessons are rendered from the backfilled memory rows.

Keep hand-authored operating rules in ## Rules or add them with /gsd knowledge rule. Patterns and Lessons that agents discover are retrieved through the memory system for prompts and projected back into KNOWLEDGE.md for review, reports, and git history.

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

HTML Reports

After a milestone completes, GSD auto-generates a self-contained HTML report in .gsd/reports/. Each report includes project summary, progress tree, slice dependency graph (SVG DAG), cost/token metrics with bar charts, execution timeline, changelog, and knowledge base sections. No external dependencies — all CSS and JS are inlined, printable to PDF from any browser.

An auto-generated index.html shows all reports with progression metrics across milestones.

Automatic — generated after milestone completion (configurable via auto_report preference)
Manual — run /gsd export --html anytime

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-4-7
    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
verification_commands:
  - npm run lint
  - npm run test
auto_report: true
---

Key settings:

Setting	What it controls
`models.*`	Per-phase model selection — string for a single model, or `{model, fallbacks}` for automatic failover
`planning_depth`	`light` / `deep` — opt into staged project discovery before milestone planning
`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
`skill_staleness_days`	Skills unused for N days get deprioritized (default: 60, 0 = disabled)
`unique_milestone_ids`	Uses unique milestone names to avoid clashes when working in teams of people
`git.isolation`	`none` (default), `worktree`, or `branch` — enable worktree or branch isolation for milestone work. `worktree` requires a committed `HEAD`; zero-commit repos temporarily run as `none`
`git.manage_gitignore`	Set `false` to prevent GSD from modifying `.gitignore`
`context_mode.enabled`	Context Mode is default-on; set `false` to disable prompt guidance, snapshot injection, `gsd_exec`, `gsd_exec_search`, and `gsd_resume`
`context_mode.exec_timeout_ms`	Timeout for sandboxed `gsd_exec` runs (default: 30000)
`context_mode.exec_stdout_cap_bytes`	Persisted stdout cap for `gsd_exec` output (default: 1048576)
`context_mode.exec_digest_chars`	Trailing stdout characters returned to the agent context (default: 300)
`context_mode.exec_env_allowlist`	Environment variables forwarded to sandboxed `gsd_exec` runs in addition to `PATH` and `HOME`
`verification_commands`	Array of simple executable commands to run after task execution (e.g., `["npm run lint", "npm run test"]`); avoid pipes, redirects, semicolons, backticks, and command substitution
`verification_auto_fix`	Auto-retry on verification failures (default: true)
`verification_max_retries`	Max retries for verification failures (default: 2)
`phases.require_slice_discussion`	Pause auto-mode before each slice for human discussion review
`auto_report`	Auto-generate HTML reports after milestone completion (default: true)

Agent Instructions

Place an AGENTS.md file in any directory to provide persistent behavioral guidance for that scope. Pi core loads AGENTS.md automatically (with CLAUDE.md as a fallback) at both user and project levels. Use these files for coding standards, architectural decisions, domain terminology, or workflow preferences.

Note: The legacy agent-instructions.md format (~/.gsd/agent-instructions.md and .gsd/agent-instructions.md) is deprecated and no longer loaded. Migrate any existing instructions to AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md.

Debug Mode

Start GSD with gsd --debug to enable structured JSONL diagnostic logging. Debug logs capture dispatch decisions, state transitions, and timing data for troubleshooting auto-mode issues.

Token Optimization

GSD includes a coordinated token optimization system that reduces usage by 40-60% on cost-sensitive workloads. Set a single preference to coordinate model tier selection, phase skipping, and context compression:

token_profile: budget # or balanced (default), quality

Profile	Savings	What It Does
`budget`	40-60%	Light/standard tier defaults, skip research/reassess, minimal context inlining
`balanced`	10-20%	Standard tier for core work, light tier for simple work, standard context
`quality`	0%	Heavy tier for planning, standard tier for core work, full context

Complexity-based routing automatically classifies tasks as simple/standard/complex and routes to appropriate available models. Token profiles define provider-agnostic tier intentions, so simple docs tasks use a light-tier configured model and complex architectural work can use a heavy-tier configured model. The classification is heuristic (sub-millisecond, no LLM calls) and learns from outcomes via a persistent routing history.

Budget pressure graduates model downgrading as you approach your budget ceiling — 50%, 75%, and 90% thresholds progressively shift work to cheaper tiers.

See the full Token Optimization Guide for details.

Bundled Tools

GSD ships with 24 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, semantic actions, PDF export, session state persistence, network mocking, device emulation, structured extraction, visual diffing, region zoom, test code generation, and prompt injection detection
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
Async Jobs	Background bash commands with job tracking and cancellation
Subagent	Delegated tasks with isolated context windows
GitHub	Full-suite GitHub issues and PR management via `/gh` command
Mac Tools	macOS native app automation via Accessibility APIs
MCP Client	Native MCP server integration via @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
Voice	Real-time speech-to-text transcription (macOS, Linux — Ubuntu 22.04+)
Slash Commands	Custom command creation
Ask User Questions	Structured user input with single/multi-select
Secure Env Collect	Masked secret collection without manual .env editing
Remote Questions	Route decisions to Slack/Discord when human input is needed in headless/CI mode
Universal Config	Discover and import MCP servers and rules from other AI coding tools
AWS Auth	Automatic Bedrock credential refresh for AWS-hosted models
Ollama	First-class local LLM support via Ollama
Claude Code CLI	External provider extension for Claude Code CLI
cmux	Claude multiplexer integration — desktop notifications, sidebar metadata, visual subagent splits
GitHub Sync	Auto-sync milestones to GitHub Issues, PRs, and Milestones
LSP	Language Server Protocol — diagnostics, definitions, references, hover, rename
TTSR	Tool-triggered system rules — conditional context injection based on tool usage

Bundled Agents

Five 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
JavaScript Pro	JavaScript-specialized execution and debugging
TypeScript Pro	TypeScript-specialized execution and debugging

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) ──────────────────
# Auto-mode dispatch tracker — prevents re-running completed units (includes archived per-milestone files)
.gsd/completed-units*.json
# State manifest — workflow state for recovery
.gsd/state-manifest.json
# Derived state projection — regenerated from the authoritative database
.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, timeout recovery progress, and finalize tracking
.gsd/runtime/
# Git worktree working copies
.gsd/worktrees/
# Parallel runtime locks and per-milestone isolation artifacts
.gsd/parallel/
# SQLite database and WAL sidecars — authoritative runtime state, local only
.gsd/gsd.db*
# Daily-rotated event journal — structured unit/finalize/iteration event log for forensics
.gsd/journal/
# Doctor run history — diagnostic check results
.gsd/doctor-history.jsonl
# Workflow event log — structured event stream
.gsd/event-log.jsonl
# Generated HTML reports (regenerable via /gsd export --html)
.gsd/reports/
# 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

Ensure you are not in the middle of any milestones (clean state)
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)
Update your .gsd/PREFERENCES.md file within the repo as per section Unique Milestone Names
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.
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
          ├─ headless.ts     Headless orchestrator (spawns RPC child, auto-responds, detects completion)
          ├─ 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/...     21 supporting extensions
              ├─ agents/            scout, researcher, worker, javascript-pro, typescript-pro
              └─ 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.
DB-authoritative state — the project-root GSD database is the runtime source of truth. .gsd/ markdown files are rendered projections for review, prompt context, and git history. KNOWLEDGE.md keeps rules file-canonical and projects patterns/lessons from memories at session start. No in-memory state survives across sessions.

Requirements

Node.js ≥ 22.0.0 (24 LTS 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, Anthropic (Vertex AI), 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.

⚠️ Important: Using OAuth tokens from subscription plans outside their native applications may violate the provider's Terms of Service. In particular:

Google Gemini — Using Gemini CLI or Antigravity OAuth tokens in third-party tools has resulted in Google account suspensions. This affects your entire Google account, not just the Gemini service. Use a Gemini API key instead.

Claude Max — Anthropic's ToS may not explicitly permit OAuth use outside Claude's own applications.

GitHub Copilot — Usage outside GitHub's own tools may be restricted by your subscription terms.

GSD supports API key authentication for all providers as the safe alternative. We strongly recommend using API keys over OAuth for Google Gemini.

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-4-7
    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.

Ecosystem

Project	Description
GSD2 Config Utility	Standalone configuration tool for managing GSD preferences, providers, and API keys

Star History

License

MIT License

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

npm install -g gsd-pi && gsd

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 5,873 Commits
.github		.github
.plans		.plans
docker		docker
docs		docs
extensions/google-search		extensions/google-search
gitbook		gitbook
gsd-orchestrator		gsd-orchestrator
mintlify-docs		mintlify-docs
native		native
packages		packages
pkg		pkg
scripts		scripts
src		src
studio		studio
tests		tests
vscode-extension		vscode-extension
web		web
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
.npmignore		.npmignore
.npmrc		.npmrc
.prompt-injection-scanignore		.prompt-injection-scanignore
.secretscanignore		.secretscanignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CONTEXT.md		CONTEXT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
VISION.md		VISION.md
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
tsconfig.extensions.json		tsconfig.extensions.json
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
tsconfig.resources.json		tsconfig.resources.json
tsconfig.test.json		tsconfig.test.json

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GSD 2

What's New in v2.82

State Reconciliation & Drift Detection (ADR-017)

Worktree Lifecycle Refactor (ADR-016 — final phases)

Auto-Mode Reliability

TUI & Operator Experience

Documentation

User Guides

Developer Docs

What Changed From v1

Migrating from v1

How It Works

The Loop

/gsd auto — The Main Event

/gsd and /gsd next — Step Mode

Getting Started

Install

Log in to a provider

Use it

Two terminals, one project

Headless mode — CI and scripts

First launch

Commands

What GSD Manages For You

Context Engineering

Git Strategy

Verification

Project Knowledge

Dashboard

HTML Reports

Configuration

Preferences

Agent Instructions

Debug Mode

Token Optimization

Bundled Tools

Bundled Agents

Working in teams

Suggested .gitignore setup

Unique Milestone Names

Migrating an existing git ignored .gsd/ folder

Architecture

Requirements

Use Any Model

Built-in Providers

OAuth / Max Plans

OpenRouter

Per-Phase Model Selection

Ecosystem

Star History

License

About

Topics

Resources

License

Contributing

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Releases 115

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`/gsd auto` — The Main Event

`/gsd` and `/gsd next` — Step Mode

Migrating an existing git ignored `.gsd/` folder

Packages