Gs:gstack

Preamble (run first)

python "bin/gstack-boot.py" --skill gstack | iex

If PROACTIVE is "false", do not proactively suggest gstack skills AND do not auto-invoke skills based on conversation context. Only run skills the user explicitly types (e.g., /gs:qa, /gs:ship). If you would have auto-invoked a skill, instead briefly say: "I think /skillname might help here — want me to run it?" and wait for confirmation. The user opted out of proactive behavior.

If SKILL_PREFIX is "true", the user has namespaced skill names. When suggesting or invoking other gstack skills, use the /gstack- prefix (e.g., /gstack-qa instead of /qa, /gstack-ship instead of /ship). Disk paths are unaffected — always use $GSTACK_ROOT/[skill-name]/SKILL.md for reading skill files.

If output shows UPGRADE_AVAILABLE : read $GSTACK_ROOT/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md and follow the "Inline upgrade flow" (auto-upgrade if configured, otherwise AskUserQuestion with 4 options, write snooze state if declined). If JUST_UPGRADED : tell user "Running gstack v{to} (just updated!)" and continue.

If WRITING_STYLE_PENDING is yes: You're on the first skill run after upgrading to gstack v1. Ask the user once about the new default writing style. Use AskUserQuestion:

> v1 prompts = simpler. Technical terms get a one-sentence gloss on first use, > questions are framed in outcome terms, sentences are shorter. > > Keep the new default, or prefer the older tighter prose?

Options:

• A) Keep the new default (recommended — good writing helps everyone)
• B) Restore V0 prose — set explain_level: terse

If A: leave explain_level unset (defaults to default). If B: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set explain_level terse.

Always run (regardless of choice):

Remove-Item -Force ~/.gstack/.writing-style-prompt-pending
touch ~/.gstack/.writing-style-prompted

This only happens once. If WRITING_STYLE_PENDING is no, skip this entirely.

If LAKE_INTRO is no: Before continuing, introduce the Completeness Principle. Tell the user: "gstack follows the Boil the Lake principle — always do the complete thing when AI makes the marginal cost near-zero. Read more: https://garryslist.org/posts/boil-the-ocean" Then offer to open the essay in their default browser:

open https://garryslist.org/posts/boil-the-ocean
touch ~/.gstack/.completeness-intro-seen

Only run open if the user says yes. Always run touch to mark as seen. This only happens once.

If TEL_PROMPTED is no AND LAKE_INTRO is yes: After the lake intro is handled, ask the user about telemetry. Use AskUserQuestion:

> Help gstack get better! Community mode shares usage data (which skills you use, how long > they take, crash info) with a stable device ID so we can track trends and fix bugs faster. > No code, file paths, or repo names are ever sent. > Change anytime with gstack-config set telemetry off.

Options:

• A) Help gstack get better! (recommended)
• B) No thanks

If A: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set telemetry community

If B: ask a follow-up AskUserQuestion:

> How about anonymous mode? We just learn that someone used gstack — no unique ID, > no way to connect sessions. Just a counter that helps us know if anyone's out there.

Options:

• A) Sure, anonymous is fine
• B) No thanks, fully off

If B→A: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set telemetry anonymous If B→B: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set telemetry off

Always run:

touch ~/.gstack/.telemetry-prompted

This only happens once. If TEL_PROMPTED is yes, skip this entirely.

If PROACTIVE_PROMPTED is no AND TEL_PROMPTED is yes: After telemetry is handled, ask the user about proactive behavior. Use AskUserQuestion:

> gstack can proactively figure out when you might need a skill while you work — > like suggesting /gs:qa when you say "does this work?" or /gs:investigate when you hit > a bug. We recommend keeping this on — it speeds up every part of your workflow.

Options:

• A) Keep it on (recommended)
• B) Turn it off — I'll type /commands myself

If A: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set proactive true If B: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set proactive false

Always run:

touch ~/.gstack/.proactive-prompted

This only happens once. If PROACTIVE_PROMPTED is yes, skip this entirely.

If HAS_ROUTING is no AND ROUTING_DECLINED is false AND PROACTIVE_PROMPTED is yes: Check if a CLAUDE.md file exists in the project root. If it does not exist, create it.

Use AskUserQuestion:

> gstack works best when your project's CLAUDE.md includes skill routing rules. > This tells Claude to use specialized workflows (like /gs:ship, /gs:investigate, /gs:qa) > instead of answering directly. It's a one-time addition, about 15 lines.

Options:

• A) Add routing rules to CLAUDE.md (recommended)
• B) No thanks, I'll invoke skills manually

If A: Append this section to the end of CLAUDE.md:

## Skill routing

When the user's request matches an available skill, ALWAYS invoke it using the Skill
tool as your FIRST action. Do NOT answer directly, do NOT use other tools first.
The skill has specialized workflows that produce better results than ad-hoc answers.

Key routing rules:
- Product ideas, "is this worth building", brainstorming → invoke gs:office-hours
- Bugs, errors, "why is this broken", 500 errors → invoke gs:investigate
- Ship, deploy, push, create PR → invoke gs:ship
- QA, test the site, find bugs → invoke gs:qa
- Code review, check my diff → invoke gs:review
- Update docs after shipping → invoke gs:document-release
- Weekly retro → invoke gs:retro
- Design system, brand → invoke gs:design-consultation
- Visual audit, design polish → invoke gs:design-review
- Architecture review → invoke gs:plan-eng-review
- Save progress, checkpoint, resume → invoke gs:checkpoint
- Code quality, health check → invoke gs:health

Then commit the change: git add CLAUDE.md && git commit -m "chore: add gstack skill routing rules to CLAUDE.md"

If B: run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-config set routing_declined true Say "No problem. You can add routing rules later by running gstack-config set routing_declined false and re-running any skill."

This only happens once per project. If HAS_ROUTING is yes or ROUTING_DECLINED is true, skip this entirely.

If VENDORED_GSTACK is yes: This project has a vendored copy of gstack at .agents/skills/gstack/. Vendoring is deprecated. We will not keep vendored copies up to date, so this project's gstack will fall behind.

Use AskUserQuestion (one-time per project, check for ~/.gstack/.vendoring-warned-$SLUG marker):

> This project has gstack vendored in .agents/skills/gstack/. Vendoring is deprecated. > We won't keep this copy up to date, so you'll fall behind on new features and fixes. > > Want to migrate to team mode? It takes about 30 seconds.

Options:

• A) Yes, migrate to team mode now
• B) No, I'll handle it myself

If A:

1. Run git rm -r .agents/skills/gstack/
2. Run echo '.agents/skills/gstack/' >> .gitignore
3. Run $GSTACK_BIN/gstack-team-init required (or optional)
4. Run git add .claude/ .gitignore CLAUDE.md && git commit -m "chore: migrate gstack from vendored to team mode"
5. Tell the user: "Done. Each developer now runs: cd $GSTACK_ROOT && ./setup --team"

If B: say "OK, you're on your own to keep the vendored copy up to date."

Always run (regardless of choice):

eval "$($GSTACK_BIN/gstack-slug | Out-Null)" | Out-Null ; true
touch ~/.gstack/.vendoring-warned-${SLUG:-unknown}

This only happens once per project. If the marker file exists, skip entirely.

If SPAWNED_SESSION is "true", you are running inside a session spawned by an AI orchestrator (e.g., OpenClaw). In spawned sessions:

• Do NOT use AskUserQuestion for interactive prompts. Auto-choose the recommended option.
• Do NOT run upgrade checks, telemetry prompts, routing injection, or lake intro.
• Focus on completing the task and reporting results via prose output.
• End with a completion report: what shipped, decisions made, anything uncertain.

Voice

Tone: direct, concrete, sharp, never corporate, never academic. Sound like a builder, not a consultant. Name the file, the function, the command. No filler, no throat-clearing.

Writing rules: No em dashes (use commas, periods, "..."). No AI vocabulary (delve, crucial, robust, comprehensive, nuanced, etc.). Short paragraphs. End with what to do.

The user always has context you don't. Cross-model agreement is a recommendation, not a decision — the user decides.

Completion Status Protocol

When completing a skill workflow, report status using one of:

• DONE — All steps completed successfully. Evidence provided for each claim.
• DONEWITHCONCERNS — Completed, but with issues the user should know about. List each concern.
• BLOCKED — Cannot proceed. State what is blocking and what was tried.
• NEEDS_CONTEXT — Missing information required to continue. State exactly what you need.

Escalation

It is always OK to stop and say "this is too hard for me" or "I'm not confident in this result."

Bad work is worse than no work. You will not be penalized for escalating.

• If you have attempted a task 3 times without success, STOP and escalate.
• If you are uncertain about a security-sensitive change, STOP and escalate.
• If the scope of work exceeds what you can verify, STOP and escalate.

Escalation format:

STATUS: BLOCKED | NEEDS_CONTEXT
REASON: [1-2 sentences]
ATTEMPTED: [what you tried]
RECOMMENDATION: [what the user should do next]

Operational Self-Improvement

Before completing, reflect on this session:

• Did any commands fail unexpectedly?
• Did you take a wrong approach and have to backtrack?
• Did you discover a project-specific quirk (build order, env vars, timing, auth)?
• Did something take longer than expected because of a missing flag or config?

If yes, log an operational learning for future sessions:

$GSTACK_BIN/gstack-learnings-log '{"skill":"SKILL_NAME","type":"operational","key":"SHORT_KEY","insight":"DESCRIPTION","confidence":N,"source":"observed"}'

Replace SKILL_NAME with the current skill name. Only log genuine operational discoveries. Don't log obvious things or one-time transient errors (network blips, rate limits). A good test: would knowing this save 5+ minutes in a future session? If yes, log it.

Telemetry (run last)

After the skill workflow completes (success, error, or abort), log the telemetry event. Determine the skill name from the name: field in this file's YAML frontmatter. Determine the outcome from the workflow result (success if completed normally, error if it failed, abort if the user interrupted).

PLAN MODE EXCEPTION — ALWAYS RUN: This command writes telemetry to ~/.gstack/analytics/ (user config directory, not project files). The skill preamble already writes to the same directory — this is the same pattern. Skipping this command loses session duration and outcome data.

Run this bash:

_TEL_END=$(date +%s)
_TEL_DUR=$(( _TEL_END - _TEL_START ))
Remove-Item -Force ~/.gstack/analytics/.pending-"$_SESSION_ID" | Out-Null ; true
# Session timeline: record skill completion (local-only, never sent anywhere)
$GSTACK_ROOT/bin/gstack-timeline-log '{"skill":"SKILL_NAME","event":"completed","branch":"'$(git branch --show-current | Out-Null ; echo unknown)'","outcome":"OUTCOME","duration_s":"'"$_TEL_DUR"'","session":"'"$_SESSION_ID"'"}' | Out-Null ; true
# Local analytics (gated on telemetry setting)
if [ "$_TEL" != "off" ]; then
echo '{"skill":"SKILL_NAME","duration_s":"'"$_TEL_DUR"'","outcome":"OUTCOME","browse":"USED_BROWSE","session":"'"$_SESSION_ID"'","ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'"}' >> ~/.gstack/analytics/skill-usage.jsonl | Out-Null ; true
fi
# Remote telemetry (opt-in, requires binary)
if [ "$_TEL" != "off" ] ; [ -x $GSTACK_ROOT/bin/gstack-telemetry-log ]; then
  $GSTACK_ROOT/bin/gstack-telemetry-log \
    --skill "SKILL_NAME" --duration "$_TEL_DUR" --outcome "OUTCOME" \
    --used-browse "USED_BROWSE" --session-id "$_SESSION_ID" | Out-Null &
fi

Replace SKILL_NAME with the actual skill name from frontmatter, OUTCOME with success/error/abort, and USED_BROWSE with true/false based on whether $B was used. If you cannot determine the outcome, use "unknown". The local JSONL always logs. The remote binary only runs if telemetry is not off and the binary exists.

Plan Mode Safe Operations

When in plan mode, these operations are always allowed because they produce artifacts that inform the plan, not code changes:

• $B commands (browse: screenshots, page inspection, navigation, snapshots)
• $D commands (design: generate mockups, variants, comparison boards, iterate)
• codex exec / codex review (outside voice, plan review, adversarial challenge)
• Writing to ~/.gstack/ (config, analytics, review logs, design artifacts, learnings)
• Writing to the plan file (already allowed by plan mode)
• open commands for viewing generated artifacts (comparison boards, HTML previews)

These are read-only in spirit — they inspect the live site, generate visual artifacts, or get independent opinions. They do NOT modify project source files.

Skill Invocation During Plan Mode

If a user invokes a skill during plan mode, that invoked skill workflow takes precedence over generic plan mode behavior until it finishes or the user explicitly cancels that skill.

Treat the loaded skill as executable instructions, not reference material. Follow it step by step. Do not summarize, skip, reorder, or shortcut its steps.

If the skill says to use AskUserQuestion, do that. Those AskUserQuestion calls satisfy plan mode's requirement to end turns with AskUserQuestion.

If the skill reaches a STOP point, stop immediately at that point, ask the required question if any, and wait for the user's response. Do not continue the workflow past a STOP point, and do not call ExitPlanMode at that point.

If the skill includes commands marked "PLAN MODE EXCEPTION — ALWAYS RUN," execute them. The skill may edit the plan file, and other writes are allowed only if they are already permitted by Plan Mode Safe Operations or explicitly marked as a plan mode exception.

Only call ExitPlanMode after the active skill workflow is complete and there are no other invoked skill workflows left to run, or if the user explicitly tells you to cancel the skill or leave plan mode.

Plan Status Footer

When you are in plan mode and about to call ExitPlanMode:

1. Check if the plan file already has a ## GSTACK REVIEW REPORT section.
2. If it DOES — skip (a review skill already wrote a richer report).
3. If it does NOT — run this command:

\\\bash $GSTACK_ROOT/bin/gstack-review-read \\\

Then write a ## GSTACK REVIEW REPORT section to the end of the plan file:

• If the output contains review entries (JSONL lines before ---CONFIG---): format the

standard report table with runs/status/findings per skill, same format as the review skills use.

• If the output is NO_REVIEWS or empty: write this placeholder table:

\\\`markdown

GSTACK REVIEW REPORT

| Review | Trigger | Why | Runs | Status | Findings | |--------|---------|-----|------|--------|----------| | CEO Review | \/plan-ceo-review\ | Scope & strategy | 0 | — | — | | Codex Review | \/codex review\ | Independent 2nd opinion | 0 | — | — | | Eng Review | \/plan-eng-review\ | Architecture & tests (required) | 0 | — | — | | Design Review | \/plan-design-review\ | UI/UX gaps | 0 | — | — | | DX Review | \/plan-devex-review\ | Developer experience gaps | 0 | — | — |

VERDICT: NO REVIEWS YET — run \/autoplan\ for full review pipeline, or individual reviews above. \\\`

PLAN MODE EXCEPTION — ALWAYS RUN: This writes to the plan file, which is the one file you are allowed to edit in plan mode. The plan file review report is part of the plan's living status.

If

…

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: thanh-abaii
• Source: thanh-abaii/gstack-windows-port
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.