| name | gstack-skills |
| description | Complete development workflow suite from Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan's gstack. Use /gstack or any gstack command (/office-hours, /review, /ship, etc.) to access specialized workflows for product ideation, code review, testing, QA, and deployment. Automatically routes to the appropriate specialized skill.
|
| version | 2.0.0 |
| author | Garry Tan (Original), gstack-openclaw-skills Team |
| tags | ["development","workflow","AI","productivity","gstack","startup","code-review","qa","deployment"] |
gstack-skills - Complete Development Workflow Suite
Complete development workflow suite adapted from Garry Tan's gstack for OpenClaw/WorkBuddy. Provides 15 specialized tools covering the entire development lifecycle from product ideation to deployment.
About gstack
gstack is Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan's open-source Claude Code configuration that helped him write 600,000+ lines of production code in 60 days (35% tests). This OpenClaw adaptation makes those powerful workflows available to any AI agent.
Quick Start
Use any of these commands directly:
/gstack - Get help and see all available commands/office-hours - Validate product ideas and design thinking/plan-ceo-review - CEO perspective on feature planning/plan-eng-review - Engineering architecture review/review - Pre-merge code review/qa - Test application and fix bugs/ship - Automated release workflow/investigate - Systematic root cause analysis
Example usage:
User: /office-hours I have an idea for an AI-powered code review tool
User: /review my current branch
User: /ship the user authentication feature
Command Routing
When a user invokes any gstack command, this skill automatically routes to the appropriate specialized skill:
| Command | Specialized Skill | Purpose |
|---|
/gstack | gstack-skills | Show help and command overview |
/office-hours | office-hours | Product ideation and validation |
/plan-ceo-review | plan-ceo-review | CEO perspective planning |
/plan-eng-review | plan-eng-review | Engineering architecture review |
/plan-design-review | plan-design-review | Design review |
/design-consultation | design-consultation | Design system consultation |
/review | review | Pre-merge code review |
/investigate | investigate | Root cause analysis |
/design-review | design-review | Design audit and fixes |
/qa | qa | Test application and fix bugs |
/qa-only | qa-only | Bug reporting only |
/ship | ship | Automated release workflow |
/document-release | document-release | Update documentation |
/retro | retro | Team retrospective |
/codex | codex | OpenAI Codex independent review |
/careful | careful | Dangerous operation warnings |
/freeze | freeze | Lock file editing scope |
/guard | guard | Full safety mode (careful + freeze) |
When to Use This Skill
This skill acts as a router and should be used when:
- User invokes
/gstack - Show command overview and recommendations
- User needs guidance - Help choose the right gstack command for their task
- User is new to gstack - Provide context and explain the workflow philosophy
- User wants to learn - Explain how gstack commands work together
For specific command execution, this skill routes to the appropriate specialized skill.
Core Philosophy
Boil the Lake Principle
"Don't be half-invested, boil the whole lake" - Garry Tan
AI-assisted development should pursue complete implementation, not shortcuts. When a problem is identified, actually fix it. Completing a task means truly completing it.
Intelligent Borrowing
When borrowing features from other products, always consider:
- Why does it work in the original product?
- Will it succeed or fail in your product?
- What adaptations are needed for success?
Recommended Workflow
The complete development lifecycle:
1. /office-hours → Validate product ideas
2. /plan-ceo-review → CEO perspective review
3. /plan-eng-review → Engineering architecture review
4. /plan-design-review → Design review
5. /review → Code review
6. /qa → Test and fix bugs
7. /ship → Release to production
Command Overviews
Product Ideation Phase
/office-hours
YC office hours tool for product idea validation. Use when:
- User says "brainstorm", "I have an idea", "help me think through this"
- Validating startup concepts
- Design thinking and problem reframing
/plan-ceo-review
CEO/founder perspective planning. Use when:
- User says "think bigger", "expand scope", "strategic review"
- Evaluating feature ambition
- Challenging assumptions and finding 10x opportunities
/plan-eng-review
Engineering manager perspective. Use when:
- User says "engineering review", "architecture review"
- Evaluating technical architecture
- Assessing implementation approaches
/plan-design-review
Designer perspective. Use when:
- User says "design review"
- Checking UX and design quality
Development Phase
/review
Pre-merge code review. Use when:
- User says "review this PR", "code review", "pre-landing review"
- Code is about to be merged
- Analyzing SQL security, race conditions, LLM trust boundaries
/investigate
Debugging expert. Use when:
- User says "debug this", "investigate", "root cause"
- Systematic root cause analysis needed
- Complex troubleshooting
/design-consultation
Design partner consultation. Use when:
- User says "design consultation"
- Building complete design systems
- Design thinking workshops
Testing & Release Phase
/qa
QA engineer. Use when:
- User says "run QA", "test this", "check bugs"
- Code changes need verification
- Systematic testing and bug fixing
/qa-only
QA reporter. Use when:
- User says "qa-only" or just wants bug reports
- No automatic fixing, just reporting
/ship
Release engineer. Use when:
- User says "ship", "deploy", "push to main", "create PR"
- Fully automated release workflow
- Merge base branch, run tests, version management, create PR
Documentation & Review
/document-release
Technical writer. Use when:
- User says "document release", "update docs"
- Updating project documentation
/retro
Engineering manager. Use when:
- User says "retro", "retrospective"
- Team weekly reports
Power Tools
/codex
OpenAI Codex independent review. Use when:
- Needing a second opinion
- Cross-validating review results
/careful
Safety guardrails. Use when:
- About to perform dangerous operations
- Delete operations, file overwrites, dangerous commands
/freeze
Lock file editing scope. Use when:
- Want to restrict which files can be edited
- Focus changes to specific directories
/guard
Full safety mode. Use when:
- Maximum caution needed
- Combines careful + freeze for complete safety
Usage Examples
Example 1: New Feature Development
User: I want to add user authentication to my app
AI: Let's use the gstack workflow for this.
Step 1: /office-hours
Let me help you validate and think through the authentication feature...
[office-hours skill executes]
Step 2: /plan-eng-review
Now let's review the technical architecture...
[plan-eng-review skill executes]
Step 3: Implementation
[Code implementation happens]
Step 4: /review
Let me review your authentication code...
[review skill executes]
Step 5: /qa
Now let's test the authentication feature...
[qa skill executes]
Step 6: /ship
Ready to ship! Let me prepare the release...
[ship skill executes]
Example 2: Quick Code Review
User: /review my current branch
AI: I'll review your current branch changes...
[review skill executes automatically]
Example 3: Bug Investigation
User: /investigate the login bug users are reporting
AI: I'll systematically investigate the root cause...
[investigate skill executes automatically]
Integration with Other Skills
gstack-skills can work alongside other skills:
- data-analysis-workflows: For analyzing product metrics during
/office-hours
- sql-queries: When
/review or /investigate needs database analysis
- testing skills: When
/qa needs specialized testing knowledge
Skill Dependencies
This skill depends on the following specialized skills, which must be available:
- office-hours
- plan-ceo-review
- plan-eng-review
- plan-design-review
- review
- investigate
- qa
- qa-only
- ship
- document-release
- retro
- codex
- careful
- freeze
- guard
Error Handling
If a specialized skill is not available:
- Inform the user which skill is missing
- Suggest installing the missing skill
- Offer to proceed with general capabilities as fallback
Best Practices
- Start with
/office-hours for new features to validate ideas
- Use
/review before merging any code
- Always
/qa before shipping to production
- Use
/careful or /guard for risky operations
- Follow the complete workflow for major features
Limitations
- Some commands require specific tooling (git, test frameworks)
/ship assumes git-based workflow- Certain workflows are optimized for web applications
Learn More
Version: 2.0.0 (OpenClaw/WorkBuddy adaptation)
Original Author: Garry Tan, Y Combinator
Adaptation Team: gstack-openclaw-skills Team
