stacks

Use for headless browser QA on Stacks applications — navigation, screenshots, responsive testing, console/network monitoring, and accessibility snapshots. Dependency-free: drives a system browser over the Chrome DevTools Protocol using only Bun (no Playwright/Puppeteer). Invoke with /stacks-browse.

Use when styling components in a Stacks application — utility-first CSS classes, theming, responsive design, variants, custom rules, or CSS generation. Crosswind is the CSS utility engine powering Stacks' Crosswind config.

Use when working with UI in a Stacks application — components, composables, reactivity (refs/watch/computed), Craft native components, Crosswind CSS, Crosswind utility framework, accessibility, or the STX templating engine. Covers @stacksjs/ui, @stacksjs/stx, and related UI tooling.

Use when building, modifying, or debugging API endpoints in a Stacks application — defining routes, handling requests, API middleware, working with the API server, HTTP client (fetcher), API resources, or OpenAPI generation. Covers both @stacksjs/api utilities and the stacks-api server implementation.

Use when working with routing in a Stacks application — defining routes, HTTP methods, route groups, middleware, named routes, URL generation, request enhancement (Laravel-style input/query/file helpers), response helpers, error responses, route model binding, or rate limiting. Covers @stacksjs/router, routes/, and app/Routes.ts.

Use when defining or organizing route files in a Stacks application — creating route files in routes/, registering them in app/Routes.ts, using route prefixes and middleware groups, or the default API routes structure. For the router API itself (request helpers, response helpers, middleware classes), see stacks-router.

Use when linting or formatting code in a Stacks project. CRITICAL - always use pickier, NEVER eslint directly. Run 'bunx --bun pickier .' to lint, 'bunx --bun pickier . --fix' to auto-fix. For unused variables, prefer eslint-disable-next-line comments over underscore prefix. Covers @stacksjs/lint and config/code-style.ts.

Use when working with the Stacks CLI (buddy/bud/stacks/stx) — understanding all 50+ commands with their flags and options, adding custom commands, the make:* scaffolding commands, development server commands, build commands, deployment commands, email/mail commands, environment management, or domain/DNS commands. Covers @stacksjs/buddy and all CLI command files.

Use when working with the Stacks build system — building component libraries, CLI binaries, server Docker images, documentation, or the framework core. Covers @stacksjs/build, buddy build commands, build actions, and the server build pipeline.

Use when working with Stacks configuration — the 44 config files, config helper functions, default values, environment-specific overrides, or the defineApp/defineDatabase/etc builder functions. Covers @stacksjs/config and the config/ directory.

Use for safety rails — warns on destructive commands (rm -rf, DROP TABLE, force-push, git reset --hard) and provides freeze mode for focused debugging. Invoke with /stacks-guard.

Use when debugging issues in the Stacks project — four-phase root-cause debugging with hypothesis testing and escalation. Enforces "no fixes without root cause." Invoke with /stacks-investigate.

Use for structured product brainstorming about Stacks features — two modes (startup diagnostic for new ideas, builder generative for existing features). Produces design documents, never code. Invoke with /stacks-office-hours.

Use for architecture review of Stacks changes — scope review (CEO-level), data flow analysis, dependency analysis, test matrices, and implementation plans. Invoke with /stacks-plan-review.

Use for git-based session retrospectives — session detection, commit categorization, focus scores, streak counting, and behavioral observations. Invoke with /stacks-retro.

Use when reviewing code changes in the Stacks project — two-pass code review with critical issue detection, test coverage audit, and auto-fix workflow. Invoke with /stacks-review.

Use when performing security analysis on a Stacks application — OWASP Top 10, STRIDE threat modeling, attack surface mapping, dependency audit. Requires concrete exploit scenarios. Invoke with /stacks-security-audit.

Use when working with data models in Stacks — the defineModel() API, model attributes with validation and factories, relationships (hasOne/hasMany/belongsTo/belongsToMany), traits (useAuth, useUuid, useTimestamps, useSearch, useApi, billable, taggable, categorizable, commentable, likeable, observe), computed properties (get/set), model generation, and the 50+ built-in framework models. Covers model definitions and storage/framework/models/.

Use when adding a new feature end-to-end in a Stacks application — the complete workflow from model definition through migration, action, route, test, and deployment. Covers the recommended order of operations for building features.

Use when working with the Stacks ORM — defining models with defineModel(), model relationships (hasOne, hasMany, belongsTo, belongsToMany, morphOne, hasManyThrough), attributes, traits, factories, computed properties, query building, transactions, or the 50+ built-in models. Covers @stacksjs/orm, storage/framework/orm/, and storage/framework/models/.

Use when working with collection data structures in Stacks — chaining array operations, Laravel-style collection methods, mapping, filtering, reducing, or grouping. Covers @stacksjs/collections which wraps ts-collect.

Use when managing dependencies in a Stacks project — system dependencies via Pantry, Bun workspaces, buddy-bot updates, better-dx tooling, or dependency configuration. Covers config/deps.ts, Pantry, and workspace management.

Use when implementing health checks in a Stacks application — service monitoring, health endpoints, or diagnostic checks. Covers @stacksjs/health (currently WIP — Oh Dear integration planned).

Use when building database queries in a Stacks application — constructing SQL queries, using the fluent query API, or configuring the query builder. Covers @stacksjs/query-builder which wraps bun-query-builder, and config/qb.ts.

Use when generating new code with Stacks — buddy make commands, project scaffolding, component/page/store/layout generation, or project templates. Covers buddy make:* commands and STX scaffolding utilities.

Use when working with STX templates in a Stacks application — template syntax, components, directives, signals, reactivity, SSR, streaming, hydration, or debugging STX rendering. STX is the ONLY templating system for Stacks.

Use when working with path aliases in a Stacks project — import resolution, module aliasing, or debugging import paths. Covers @stacksjs/alias which defines 260+ path mappings for the entire framework.

Use when working with cron expressions in a Stacks application — parsing cron syntax, registering OS-level cron jobs, or low-level scheduling. Covers @stacksjs/cron. For higher-level scheduling, see stacks-scheduler.

Use when building desktop applications with Stacks — Tauri integration, dev windows, system tray, or desktop-specific features. Covers @stacksjs/desktop (currently stubbed, Tauri integration pending).

Use when managing DNS in a Stacks application — Route53 hosted zones, domain records, nameserver management, or DNS configuration. Covers @stacksjs/dns (AWS Route53 driver), @stacksjs/dnsx, and config/dns.ts.

Use when building or configuring documentation for a Stacks project — BunPress setup, doc generation, navigation, sidebar structure, or documentation meta/SEO. Covers @stacksjs/docs and config/docs.ts.

Use when working with framework constants in a Stacks application — NpmScript commands, Action identifiers, or any enumerated constants used across the build system, CLI, and actions. Covers @stacksjs/enums.

Use when working with the Stacks plugin system — Bun plugins, Vite plugins, preloader, or extending the framework's build/serve capabilities. Covers @stacksjs/plugins.

Use when working with the Stacks extension registry — framework extension metadata, package discovery, or the registry system. Covers @stacksjs/registry.

Use when working with the Stacks REPL — interactive TypeScript sessions, tinker sessions, debugging, or exploring the framework interactively. Covers @stacksjs/repl and @stacksjs/tinker.

Use when executing shell commands in a Stacks application — running system commands, process management, or using the shell operator. Covers @stacksjs/shell which wraps Bun's native $ operator.

Use when working with the CMS in a Stacks application — posts, authors, pages, categories, tags, comments, blog configuration, RSS feeds, or sitemaps. Covers @stacksjs/cms, CMS models, routes, and actions.

Use when setting up or configuring the Stacks development environment — dev server, hot reload, development utilities, or IDE configuration. Covers the @stacksjs/development package, the dev server, CLI commands, reverse proxy, SSL, and dev workflow.

Use when working with fake data generation in a Stacks application — seeding databases, generating test data, model factories, or using faker utilities. Covers @stacksjs/faker (wrapper around ts-mocker) and its integration with the database seeder.

Use when working with git in a Stacks application — commit conventions, git hooks, changelog generation, commit scopes/types, or GitHub API types. Covers @stacksjs/git, config/git.ts, config/commit.ts, and the git hooks system.