gsd — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install

What gsd does

This skill sets up a .planning/ folder with roadmaps, architecture maps, and phase instructions. Instead of generating passive documentation, each PLAN.md file serves directly as an execution prompt for the agent. The system reasons backward from end goals, defining what must be true before writing implementation steps.

Under the hood, specialized agents handle codebase mapping, ecosystem research, execution, and verification. Tasks run in dependency waves. Once an item is finished, the agent writes an independent commit like feat(01-01) to keep version control clean.

A key constraint is context consumption: the workflow stops plans before context exceeds roughly 50% capacity, keeping reasoning quality sharp. To run properly, it requires tool access to file editing, search, and terminal execution via Bash.