amplifier-bundle-superpowers

Amplifier bundle for Superpowers, the excellent agentic skills framework and software development methodology created by Jesse Vincent.

About Superpowers

Superpowers is a battle-tested development methodology that transforms how AI coding agents work. Rather than letting agents jump straight to writing code, Superpowers enforces a disciplined workflow: design first, plan carefully, implement with TDD, and review rigorously. The result is agents that can work autonomously for hours without deviating from your plan.

The project has earned significant community adoption (43k+ stars) for good reason - it works. The core skills (brainstorming, test-driven development, subagent-driven development, systematic debugging, and more) represent hard-won lessons about what makes AI-assisted development reliable.

This bundle brings full Superpowers support to Amplifier, including the original skills library, Amplifier-native agents for the key workflow roles, workflow modes, and a recipe for the subagent-driven development pattern.

What This Bundle Provides

• The complete Superpowers skills library - All 14 original skills, loaded via Amplifier's skills system
• 5 specialized agents - Amplifier-native agents for brainstorming, planning, implementation, and two-stage review
• 6 workflow modes - /brainstorm, /write-plan, /execute-plan, /debug, /verify, /finish as Amplifier mode shortcuts
• Subagent-driven development recipe - The core execution workflow as a declarative Amplifier recipe
• Composable behavior - Include just the methodology in your own bundles

Quick Start

The recommended way to use Superpowers is to install the behavior at your app level. This works with any active bundle - you don't need to switch away from your current setup:

# Install (once)
amplifier bundle add --app git+https://github.com/microsoft/amplifier-bundle-superpowers@main#subdirectory=behaviors/superpowers-methodology.yaml

# Use it (in any session, with any bundle)
amplifier

The agent now has the Superpowers methodology and will suggest modes when appropriate. You can also activate modes directly:

/brainstorm    # Design before code
/write-plan    # Create implementation plan
/execute-plan  # Build with subagent-driven development
/debug         # Systematic 4-phase debugging
/verify        # Evidence-based completion verification
/finish        # Branch completion (merge/PR/keep/discard)

Or run the full automated pipeline:

"run the superpowers full development cycle recipe for [your feature]"

Or add it directly to ~/.amplifier/settings.yaml:

includes:
  - bundle: git+https://github.com/microsoft/amplifier-bundle-superpowers@main#subdirectory=behaviors/superpowers-methodology.yaml

This gives you the 5 specialist agents and methodology context layered on top of your existing bundle.

Alternative: Full Bundle

If you want the complete standalone experience with modes, recipes, and skills:

# Install (once)
amplifier bundle add --app git+https://github.com/microsoft/amplifier-bundle-superpowers@main

# Use it
amplifier

Same usage as above — modes and recipes are included directly in the bundle.

The Workflow

/brainstorm → Design Document
     ↓
/write-plan → Implementation Plan (bite-sized tasks)
     ↓
/execute-plan → Subagent-Driven Development
     ↓
     Per Task:
     1. Implementer agent (implements + tests + commits)
     2. Spec reviewer agent (validates against spec)
     3. Code quality reviewer agent (ensures quality)
     ↓
Finished → PR or Merge

Modes

The bundle provides six workflow modes:

Mode	Shortcut	Purpose
brainstorm	/brainstorm	Design refinement - explore approaches and trade-offs
write-plan	/write-plan	Create detailed implementation plan with TDD tasks
execute-plan	/execute-plan	Execute plan with subagent-driven development
debug	/debug	Systematic debugging with investigation-before-fixes discipline
verify	/verify	Verification and evidence-gathering before completion claims
finish	/finish	Branch completion with merge/PR/keep/discard options

Use /modes to list all available modes, /mode off to exit a mode.

Agents

Agent	Purpose
superpowers:brainstormer	Facilitates design refinement through dialogue
superpowers:plan-writer	Creates detailed implementation plans
superpowers:implementer	Implements tasks following strict TDD
superpowers:spec-reviewer	Reviews code against spec compliance
superpowers:code-quality-reviewer	Reviews code quality and best practices

Skills Library

The original Superpowers skills are fetched automatically from GitHub and available via the skills tool:

• test-driven-development - RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle
• systematic-debugging - 4-phase root cause analysis
• brainstorming - Design refinement process
• writing-plans - Implementation plan creation
• subagent-driven-development - Task execution with reviews
• verification-before-completion - Prove it works

Use load_skill(search="superpowers") to discover all available skills.

Composing the Methodology

The behavior install (shown in Quick Start) is the recommended approach - it layers the Superpowers agents and methodology on top of whatever bundle you already use, without changing your providers, tools, or other configuration.

You get all 5 agents (superpowers:brainstormer, superpowers:plan-writer, superpowers:implementer, superpowers:spec-reviewer, superpowers:code-quality-reviewer) and the methodology context.

For bundle authors who want to include the methodology in their own bundle YAML:

includes:
  - bundle: git+https://github.com/microsoft/amplifier-bundle-superpowers@main#subdirectory=behaviors/superpowers-methodology.yaml

Bundle Structure

amplifier-bundle-superpowers/
├── bundle.md                              # Root bundle (thin pattern)
├── behaviors/
│   └── superpowers-methodology.yaml       # Composable behavior
├── agents/
│   ├── brainstormer.md                    # Design refinement
│   ├── plan-writer.md                     # Implementation planning
│   ├── implementer.md                     # TDD implementation
│   ├── spec-reviewer.md                   # Spec compliance review
│   └── code-quality-reviewer.md           # Code quality review
├── modes/
│   ├── brainstorm.md                      # /brainstorm mode
│   ├── write-plan.md                      # /write-plan mode
│   ├── execute-plan.md                    # /execute-plan mode
│   ├── debug.md                           # /debug mode
│   ├── verify.md                          # /verify mode
│   └── finish.md                          # /finish mode
├── context/
│   ├── philosophy.md                      # WHY — principles, values, tenets
│   └── instructions.md                    # HOW — standing orders, reference tables
└── recipes/
    └── subagent-driven-development.yaml   # Workflow recipe

Acknowledgments

This bundle exists because of the outstanding work by Jesse Vincent and the contributors to Superpowers. The methodology, skills, and workflow patterns in this bundle originate from that project. We built this bundle to bring Superpowers support to Amplifier users because we believe it represents some of the best thinking on how to make AI-assisted software development disciplined and reliable.

The original Superpowers skills library is fetched directly from GitHub at runtime and cached locally - this bundle adds Amplifier-native agents, modes, and recipes on top of that foundation.

Superpowers is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

Note

This project is not currently accepting external contributions, but we're actively working toward opening this up. We value community input and look forward to collaborating in the future. For now, feel free to fork and experiment!

Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit Contributor License Agreements.

When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

Trademarks

This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.