superpowers-skills-reference.md

Superpowers Skills Reference

Reference for mapping prompt-cortex templates to superpowers skills. Use this when adding new templates — check which skills your template naturally complements and add them to the compatible_with field.

Skill Inventory

11 of 14 superpowers skills are template-complementary. 3 are meta/orchestration (not mapped to individual templates).

Template-Complementary Skills

Skill	When it fires	What it does	Best paired with templates that...
brainstorming	Before creative work	Explores intent, requirements, design before implementation	...involve design, architecture, or creating something new
test-driven-development	Before implementing features/bugfixes	Write test first, then implementation	...create code, fix bugs, or need verification
systematic-debugging	When encountering bugs/failures	Methodical debugging before proposing fixes	...debug errors, fix bugs, trace issues
verification-before-completion	Before claiming work is done	Run verification commands, confirm output before success claims	...audit, optimize, validate, or verify results
requesting-code-review	After completing tasks	Review implementation against plan and standards	...review code, PRs, security, architecture
receiving-code-review	When getting review feedback	Technical rigor when implementing suggestions	...refactor or fix issues from feedback
writing-plans	Before multi-step tasks	Design implementation plan before touching code	...require architecture, pipeline design, or planning
writing-skills	When creating/editing skills	Skill structure, system prompts, progressive disclosure	...craft prompts, system instructions, or reasoning patterns
dispatching-parallel-agents	When facing 2+ independent tasks	Parallel execution without shared state	...involve batch processing or multi-agent orchestration
finishing-a-development-branch	When implementation is complete	Merge, PR, or cleanup options	...complete PRs or git workflows
using-git-worktrees	Before feature work	Isolated git worktrees for safe development	...involve deployment, branching, or release

Meta/Orchestration Skills (NOT mapped to templates)

Skill	Why not mapped
executing-plans	Orchestrates plan execution — operates above the template level
subagent-driven-development	Dispatches subagents for plan tasks — orchestration, not content
using-superpowers	Meta-skill that establishes how to find/use other skills

Mapping Guidelines

When adding a new template, ask:

1. What does the user do AFTER getting this template's guidance?

   • If they'll write code → test-driven-development
   • If they'll review code → requesting-code-review
   • If they'll verify results → verification-before-completion

2. What should the user do BEFORE this template fires?

   • If design is needed → brainstorming
   • If a plan is needed → writing-plans
   • If debugging context → systematic-debugging

3. What lifecycle moment does this template serve?

   • Creating → brainstorming, writing-plans, test-driven-development
   • Reviewing → requesting-code-review, receiving-code-review
   • Fixing → systematic-debugging, test-driven-development
   • Shipping → verification-before-completion, finishing-a-development-branch

Rules

• Every template should map to 1-3 skills (not more — be selective)
• Choose skills that represent the natural next step in the workflow
• Don't map to meta/orchestration skills
• When in doubt, verification-before-completion is the most universal complement

Current Coverage Matrix

By superpowers skill (how many templates reference it)

Skill	Coding	AI Workflows	Total
brainstorming	6	8	14
test-driven-development	8	6	14
verification-before-completion	7	8	15
systematic-debugging	4	0	4
writing-plans	5	7	12
requesting-code-review	5	0	5
writing-skills	0	5	5
dispatching-parallel-agents	0	2	2
finishing-a-development-branch	1	0	1
using-git-worktrees	2	0	2
receiving-code-review	2	0	2