Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system • Hacker News Board

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#61

Post by hatmanstack » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:44 PM UTC

gtirloni wrote: post #58

hatmanstack wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are we using cli wrappers if you're using Claude Code? I get if you need something like Codex but they released sub agents today so maybe not even that, but it's an unnecessary wrapper for Claude Code.

GSD and superpowers aren't CLI wrappers?

It's a cli wrapper. Don't know how you could say it wasn't.

edit: GSD is a cli wrapper, Superpowers not so much. Both are over-engineered for an easy problem IMHO.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#62

Post by jatora » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:48 PM UTC

Another heavily overengineered AND underengineered abomination. I'm convinced anyone who advocates for these types of tools would find just as much success just prompting claude code normally and taking a little bit to plan first. Such a waste of time to bother with these tools that solve a problem that never existed in the first place.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#63

Post by fcatalan » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:49 PM UTC

hatmanstack wrote: post #39

maccam912 wrote: post #10

I've had a good experience with https://github.com/obra/superpowers . At first glance this looks similar. Has anyone tried both who can offer a comparison?

I don't get why people need a cli wrapper for this. Can't you just use Claude skills and create everything you need?

Superpowers is literally a bunch of skills packaged in a Claude plugin

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#64

Post by icedchai » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:51 PM UTC

prakashrj wrote: post #15

rsoto2 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could copy 250k lines from github. Faster than using ai. Cheaper. Code is better tested/more secure. I can learn/build with other humans.

I was not a app developer before, but a systems engineer with devops experience. But I learnt a lot about apple development, app store connect and essential became a app developer in a month. I don't think I can learn so quickly with other humans help.

You might be surprised. In 2008, when the App Store first came out, I became an iPhone app developer after reading one book. I already knew C, so Objective C wasn't a big leap.

Between my own apps and consulting work, I had a pretty good side business. Like everything else though, those days didn't last forever. But there was a lot of easy money early on.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#65

Post by 1_1xdev1 » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:52 PM UTC

hatmanstack wrote: post #39

maccam912 wrote: post #10

I've had a good experience with https://github.com/obra/superpowers . At first glance this looks similar. Has anyone tried both who can offer a comparison?

I don't get why people need a cli wrapper for this. Can't you just use Claude skills and create everything you need?

What do you mean by cli wrapper?

Superpowers and gsd are claude code plugins (providing skills)

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#66

Post by DamienB » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

I've compared this to superpowers and the classic prd->task generator. And I came away convinced that less is more. At least at the moment. gsd performed well, but took hours instead of minutes. Having a simple explanation of how to create a PRD followed by a slightly more technical task list performed much better. It wasn't that grd or superpowers couldn't find a solution, it's just that they did it much slower and with a lot more help. For me, the lesson was that the workflow has changed, and we that we can't apply old project-dev paradigms to this new/alien technology. There's a new instruction manual and it doesn't build on the old one.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#67

Post by hatmanstack » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

fcatalan wrote: post #63

hatmanstack wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why people need a cli wrapper for this. Can't you just use Claude skills and create everything you need?

Superpowers is literally a bunch of skills packaged in a Claude plugin

Right on, I was going off the OP's GSD link, which looks like the def of a cli wrapper to me. Hadn't seen superpowers before, seems way too deterministic and convoluted, but you're right, not a cli wrapper.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#68

Post by arjie » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

hatmanstack wrote: post #59

arjie wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, I'll give these another shot. Perhaps I just haven't figured out how to use them right.

I don't know brother, I don't use them, they may be great they may suck. What I've found is that adding peripherals always creates more problems. If you aren't using Claude for professional work then just sticking with the factory plan mode probably works. If not, look into creating your own Claude skills, try to understand how prompt pipelines work and it will unlock a ton of automation for you. Not just for coding.

I do use Claude for professional work, but I suspect I don't know enough to be able to get anything useful out of your advice since I don't know how to add my own Claude skills that form a prompt pipeline without adding peripherals. I'll just have to catch this part of the whole thing as a late adopter, I suppose. Ah well, thanks for the help.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#69

Post by icedchai » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

prakashrj wrote: post #11

wslh wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

250K? Could you expand your experience with details about your project and the lessons and issues you found?

A self-hosted VPN server manager: a TypeScript/Hono backend that runs on your own VPS, paired with a SwiftUI iOS/macOS app. It lets you provision cloud servers across multiple providers (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr), manage them via a Tailscale-secured connection with TLS pinning, and control an OpenClaw gateway. I will open source it soon in few weeks, as I have still complete few more features.

This does not feel like 250K lines of complexity. Have you looked at any of the code at all? You likely have mass duplication, copy-pasta everywhere.

Re: Get Shit Done: A meta-prompting, context engineering and spec-driven dev system

#70

Post by chrisss395 » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 10:58 PM UTC

I'm curious if anyone has used this (or similar) to build a production system?

I'm facing increasing pressure from senior executives who think we can avoid the $$$ B2B SaaS by using AI to vibe code a custom solution. I love the idea of experimenting with this but am horrified by the first-ever-case being a production system that is critical to the annual strategic plan. :-/