Now liveThe Skillselion MCP - thousands of ranked skills, loaded into your agent mid-task. No install.Get it →
obra avatar

Getting Started With Skills

  • 704 installs
  • 733 repo stars
  • Updated October 14, 2025
  • obra/superpowers-skills

getting started with skills is a version 4.0.2 agent skill that enforces mandatory skill discovery, Read-tool verification, brainstorming before coding, and TodoWrite checklists so agents follow proven workflows.

About

getting started with skills is a superpowers-skills wiki intro at version 4.0.2 that agents should load at session start. Critical rules require calling the Read tool before announcing skill usage, following mandatory workflows such as brainstorming before coding, and creating TodoWrite todos so checklist steps are not skipped mentally. Before any task, agents check the skills list or run find-skills with a pattern to locate relevant capabilities. Developers rely on getting started with skills to stop agents from reinventing solutions or skipping proven steps at the beginning of every conversation.

  • Mandatory 3-step workflow before ANY task: check skills list, read full SKILL.md, announce usage
  • Enforces 'Read tool before announcing skill usage' rule to prevent hallucinated compliance
  • Requires creating TodoWrite todos for every checklist to eliminate mental tracking errors
  • Includes find-skills search tool and explicit anti-rationalization guidelines
  • 9 critical rules and mandatory workflows that apply to every conversation

Getting Started With Skills by the numbers

  • 704 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • +28 installs in the week ending Jul 26, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
  • Ranked #601 of 3,301 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
  • Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
npx skills add https://github.com/obra/superpowers-skills --skill getting-started-with-skills

Add your badge

Show developers this skill is listed on Skillselion. Paste this into your README.

Listed on Skillselion
Installs704
repo stars733
Security audit3 / 3 scanners passed
Last updatedOctober 14, 2025
Repositoryobra/superpowers-skills

How do agents discover and follow skills correctly?

Ensure they always discover and correctly follow proven agent skills instead of reinventing solutions or skipping steps.

Who is it for?

Developers configuring Claude or Cursor agents who need enforced skill search and mandatory pre-coding workflows.

Skip if: One-off debugging tasks where skill discovery overhead is unnecessary or projects without any installed agent skills.

When should I use this skill?

A new conversation starts or the user begins any task and agents must check for relevant skills first.

What you get

Verified skill reads, TodoWrite task checklists, and brainstorming gates before implementation starts.

  • Skill discovery report
  • TodoWrite checklist
  • Brainstorming gate completion

By the numbers

  • Ships at version 4.0.2 with mandatory pre-task skill discovery rules

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Getting Started with Skills

Critical Rules

1. Use Read tool before announcing skill usage. The session-start hook does NOT read skills for you. Announcing without calling Read = lying.

2. Follow mandatory workflows. Brainstorming before coding. Check for skills before ANY task.

3. Create TodoWrite todos for checklists. Mental tracking = steps get skipped. Every time.

Mandatory Workflow: Before ANY Task

1. Check skills list at session start, or run find-skills [PATTERN] to filter.

2. If relevant skill exists, YOU MUST use it:

  • Use Read tool with full path: ${SUPERPOWERS_SKILLS_ROOT}/skills/category/skill-name/SKILL.md
  • Read ENTIRE file, not just frontmatter
  • Announce: "I've read [Skill Name] skill and I'm using it to [purpose]"
  • Follow it exactly

Don't rationalize:

  • "I remember this skill" - Skills evolve. Read the current version.
  • "Session-start showed it to me" - That was using-skills/SKILL.md only. Read the actual skill.
  • "This doesn't count as a task" - It counts. Find and read skills.

Why: Skills document proven techniques that save time and prevent mistakes. Not using available skills means repeating solved problems and making known errors.

If a skill for your task exists, you must use it or you will fail at your task.

Skills with Checklists

If a skill has a checklist, YOU MUST create TodoWrite todos for EACH item.

Don't:

  • Work through checklist mentally
  • Skip creating todos "to save time"
  • Batch multiple items into one todo
  • Mark complete without doing them

Why: Checklists without TodoWrite tracking = steps get skipped. Every time. The overhead of TodoWrite is tiny compared to the cost of missing steps.

Examples: skills/testing/test-driven-development/SKILL.md, skills/debugging/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md, skills/meta/writing-skills/SKILL.md

Announcing Skill Usage

After you've read a skill with Read tool, announce you're using it:

"I've read the [Skill Name] skill and I'm using it to [what you're doing]."

Examples:

  • "I've read the Brainstorming skill and I'm using it to refine your idea into a design."
  • "I've read the Test-Driven Development skill and I'm using it to implement this feature."
  • "I've read the Systematic Debugging skill and I'm using it to find the root cause."

Why: Transparency helps your human partner understand your process and catch errors early. It also confirms you actually read the skill.

How to Read a Skill

Every skill has the same structure:

1. Frontmatter - when_to_use tells you if this skill matches your situation 2. Overview - Core principle in 1-2 sentences 3. Quick Reference - Scan for your specific pattern 4. Implementation - Full details and examples 5. Supporting files - Load only when implementing

Many skills contain rigid rules (TDD, debugging, verification). Follow them exactly. Don't adapt away the discipline.

Some skills are flexible patterns (architecture, naming). Adapt core principles to your context.

The skill itself tells you which type it is.

Instructions ≠ Permission to Skip Workflows

Your human partner's specific instructions describe WHAT to do, not HOW.

"Add X", "Fix Y" = the goal, NOT permission to skip brainstorming, TDD, or RED-GREEN-REFACTOR.

Red flags: "Instruction was specific" • "Seems simple" • "Workflow is overkill"

Why: Specific instructions mean clear requirements, which is when workflows matter MOST. Skipping process on "simple" tasks is how simple tasks become complex problems.

Summary

Starting any task: 1. Run find-skills to check for relevant skills 2. If relevant skill exists → Use Read tool with full path (includes /SKILL.md) 3. Announce you're using it 4. Follow what it says

Skill has checklist? TodoWrite for every item.

Finding a relevant skill = mandatory to read and use it. Not optional.

Related skills

How it compares

Use getting started with skills as the session gate before domain-specific implementation skills.

FAQ

When should getting started with skills activate?

getting started with skills activates when starting any conversation, requiring agents to check the skills list or run find-skills before tackling tasks.

Why must agents call Read before announcing a skill?

getting started with skills states that session-start hooks do not read skills automatically, so announcing usage without calling Read is considered incorrect behavior.

Is Getting Started With Skills safe to install?

skills.sh reports 3 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.

This week in AI coding

Five minutes, every Monday - the tools, releases and tactics for developers.

unsubscribe anytime.