Superpowers prompt
Set up the free "Superpowers" plugin in my Claude Code so that on anything non-trivial you (Claude Code) stop guessing and instead brainstorm with me first, ask the questions a real engineer would, write a step-by-step plan, and then execute it with subagents in parallel - instead of diving straight into code on assumptions. Superpowers is a real, free, open-source Claude Code plugin (github.com/obra/superpowers, by Jesse Vincent / obra). It adds skills and commands to Claude Code - it does not touch my project code. Do the steps in order and change nothing until STEP 1. Safety first: check whether it is already installed - run `claude plugin list` and look for "superpowers". If it is already there, tell me, change nothing, and skip to VERIFY. (If a bare `claude ...` command is blocked inside this session, re-run just that command with CLAUDECODE cleared: `CLAUDECODE= claude ...` on macOS/Linux, or `$env:CLAUDECODE=''; claude ...` in PowerShell.) STEP 0 - Prerequisite: a recent Claude Code with plugin support (`claude plugin --help` should work). Run `claude --version`; if `claude plugin` is unknown, tell me to update first (`claude update`) and stop here until I have. STEP 1 - Install it from the Superpowers marketplace. Run these two commands: claude plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers-marketplace claude plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace That is the whole install - no API key, nothing beyond Claude Code. (If that marketplace ever fails, the plugin is also published on the official one: `claude plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official`.) STEP 2 - Restart so it loads. Plugins and their skills only load at startup, so tell me to fully quit and reopen Claude Code now (approve "superpowers" if it asks). Until I restart it is not active, so hand this back to me and wait. VERIFY (after I restart) - run `claude plugin list` and confirm "superpowers" shows as installed, then run `/help` and confirm the new Superpowers commands appear (e.g. `/superpowers:brainstorm`, `/superpowers:write-plan`, `/superpowers:execute-plan`). If they do not show up, tell me to run `/plugin update superpowers` and restart. Finally, tell me how it changes our workflow: from now on, when I ask for something complex, you should brainstorm and ask me the key questions first, then write a plan, then execute it (using subagents in parallel where the work is independent) - rather than guessing. Remind me I can also kick it off explicitly with `/superpowers:brainstorm` when I want the full process on a task.
Claude Code guesses. Ask it to build something real and it starts writing code immediately, without asking any of the questions it needs to - so it fills the gaps with assumptions, and when those assumptions are wrong you lose an hour unwinding code that was built on the wrong idea. Even plan mode doesn't fully fix it: it still guesses at the details instead of asking you the things a real engineer would nail down before writing a line.
Superpowers fixes that. It's a free, open-source Claude Code plugin (github.com/obra/superpowers) that puts a proper engineering process in front of the coding. On anything non-trivial it first runs a real brainstorming session with you - asking the relevant questions, surfacing the decisions and edge cases up front - then turns the answers into a step-by-step plan, and only then executes, handing independent chunks of work to subagents that run in parallel to save you time and context. Less guessing, fewer wrong turns, and the work actually finishes faster.
The prompt below installs it in about 30 seconds. It checks whether you already have it before changing anything, adds the plugin from its official marketplace, and verifies it's live at the end. Once it's in, the brainstorming and planning skills switch on automatically - so the next time you ask for something complex, Claude asks the right questions first instead of diving in and guessing.