# Superpowers: Core Skill Library

> Empowering AI to Work Like Professional Programmers

Hello, I'm Programmer Fish Skin.

In previous articles, we explored various AI programming tools and standardized development frameworks. But you might wonder: Is there a complete development process that enables AI to work like a professional programmer?

In this article, I will introduce **Superpowers**, a software development process that makes AI programming assistants more professional.

## What is Superpowers?

[Superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers) is a **software development process** that enhances AI programming assistants. It not only provides a composable **programming skill package** for Claude Code but also offers guidelines and instructions to ensure AI uses these skills correctly.

Traditional AI programming starts writing code as soon as you state the requirements, often resulting in undesired outcomes. With Superpowers, AI first clarifies what you want, proposes a design for confirmation, creates a detailed execution plan, and then implements it step-by-step, with self-checks at each stage.

It's like giving superpowers to an AI that knows nothing when it joins the company, instantly equipping it with the development habits of a professional programmer.

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/%E6%BC%AB%E7%94%BB%E5%9B%BE8%E5%A4%A7.jpeg)

## Quick Start with Superpowers

Let me guide you through a practical example to quickly get started with Superpowers.

### 1. Installing Superpowers

Refer to the [Superpowers official documentation](https://github.com/obra/superpowers) and run the following commands in Claude Code to install.

First, register the marketplace:

```bash
/plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers-marketplace
```

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116171109190.png)

Then install the plugin from the marketplace:

```bash
/plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace
```

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116171125164.png)

After installation, run `/help` to view available commands. You will see these 3 commands:

- `/superpowers:brainstorm` Continuously improves design through user interaction
- `/superpowers:write-plan` Creates an implementation plan
- `/superpowers:execute-plan` Executes the plan in batches

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116171300633.png)

### 2. Standard Workflow

Let's take the development of a "User Registration Module" as an example to demonstrate Superpowers' official standard workflow.

First, run the `claude` command in the terminal to start Claude Code, then follow these 7 steps:

#### 1) Brainstorming => Aligning Requirements

Select the `/superpowers:brainstorm` command and input your requirements:

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116175524611.png)

Superpowers doesn't rush to write code. Instead, it aligns requirements through multiple rounds of Q&A, such as:

- What are the main scenarios for the user registration module?
- Which registration methods do you want to support?

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116175456666.png)

Through interactive Q&A, AI explores different solutions and continuously improves the design.

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116175907783.png)

Once the requirements and solutions are confirmed, it automatically saves the detailed design document to the `docs/plans/` directory.

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116180740987.png)

#### 2) Using Git Worktrees to Create an Independent Workspace (Optional)

After the design is approved, Superpowers helps you create a Git worktree, establishing an isolated workspace on a new branch, initializing the project, and verifying the test baseline is clean. This avoids polluting the main branch.

This step is optional. Here, I let AI continue execution to see what happens:

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116181020601.png)

#### 3) Writing Plans => Creating an Implementation Plan

Run the `/superpowers:write-plan` command to let Superpowers generate a detailed implementation plan, breaking down development tasks into atomic-level steps (each task takes 2 ~ 5 minutes).

Here, AI automatically executed it, skipping a command~

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116180907360-20260116180953363-20260116181058928-20260116181118631.png)

Review the implementation plan document generated by AI. Each task includes:

- Precise file paths
- Complete code content
- Verification steps

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116181910011.png)

Wow, this isn't just an implementation plan document—it feels like most of the code is already written!

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116181959589.png)

#### 4) Executing Tasks

Run the `/superpowers:execute-plan` command. Superpowers executes in one of the following ways:
- Subagent-Driven Development: Assigns a new subagent for each task, with two-stage reviews (specification compliance check + code quality check)
- Batch Execution: Executes tasks in batches, pausing at key nodes for manual checks

Here, AI directly asked me which method I preferred:

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116182128737.png)

I blindly chose Subagent-Driven, and AI automatically selected the corresponding development skills:

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116182244311.png)

Then AI started working:

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116182445078.png)

#### 5) Test-Driven Development

During implementation, Superpowers enforces the `Red-Green-Refactor` process:
- Write failing tests first
- Run tests to confirm failure
- Write minimal code to pass the test
- Run tests to confirm success
- Commit the code

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116183728764.png)

If code is written before tests, Superpowers deletes it, forcing you to write tests first.

#### 6) Code Review

After completing a batch of tasks, Superpowers automatically triggers code reviews, checking the code against the plan and reporting issues by severity. If critical issues are found, it halts further progress.

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116182947482.png)

#### 7) Completing Development

After all tasks are completed, Superpowers verifies that all tests pass:

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116194339313.png)

Then AI may provide options, such as merging into the main branch / creating a PR / keeping the branch / discarding changes.

If you're confident the feature works, you can use Superpowers' built-in skills to clean up the development branch.

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116194520921.png)

## Pros and Cons of Superpowers

Following this "design-first, code-later" standardized process ensures higher code quality, but the trade-off is that it's significantly slower than letting AI generate code directly. It's really slow! This simple requirement took me over half an hour!!!

![](https://pic.yupi.icu/1/image-20260116183405162.png)

If you're working on a large project requiring team collaboration, Superpowers is worth trying. The extra time spent upfront will pay off later. But if you're just writing a simple script or quickly validating an idea, using it is overkill—it's unnecessary.

## Final Thoughts

By now, you should have a basic understanding of Superpowers.

**Superpowers enables AI to work like a professional programmer, but the trade-off is slower development speed.**

If you're working on a large project, need high-quality code, and require team collaboration, Superpowers is a great choice. But if you're working on a simple personal project, letting AI generate code directly is faster.

Choosing the right tool ensures efficiency.

We've explored various standardized development tools, and I hope you find the development approach that best suits you.

## Recommended Resources

1) Fish Skin AI Navigation Website: [Comprehensive AI Resources, Latest AI News, Free AI Tutorials](https://ai.codefather.cn)

2) Programming Navigation Learning Circle: [Learning Paths, Programming Tutorials, Practical Projects, Job Hunting Guide, Q&A](https://www.codefather.cn)

3) Programmer Interview Cheatsheet: [Internship/Campus Recruitment/Social Recruitment High-Frequency Topics, Enterprise Exam Analysis](https://www.mianshiya.com)

4) Programmer Resume Writing Tool: [Professional Templates, Rich Examples, Direct to Interview](https://www.laoyujianli.com)

5) 1-on-1 Mock Interview: [Essential for Internship/Campus Recruitment/Social Recruitment Interviews to Get Offers](https://ai.mianshiya.com)