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brainstorming (superpowers)

Install with caution obra/superpowers

obra/superpowers' pre-build questioning skill, plus an optional local visual-companion server. Read the server part before you enable it.

Verified · Repo on GitHub

What it does

Use before any creative work: figure out what the person actually wants and why before building. Plain language, open questions until it knows why you want the thing, and a question only when the answer would change what gets built; otherwise it states its call as a proposal you can correct. It offers to skip the questions entirely when you did not ask to brainstorm. It also offers an optional visual companion for mockups/diagrams.

Who made it / license / last checked

obra (Jesse Vincent) — superpowers · License: MIT (repo LICENSE) · Repo last commit checked: 2026-11-03 (v7.0.2 release commit)

Install

npx skills add obra/superpowers --skill brainstorming

Skills-CLI pattern; superpowers is also distributed as a plugin in several agents — check the repo README for your agent's exact route. We verified the skill folder, not each agent's installer.

What files / scripts it runs

SKILL.md (15,190 bytes after v7.0.2; 13,602 after v7.0.1; 10,073 on 19 Oct) + a visual-companion bundle: scripts/server.cjs (~26 KB Node server), helper.js, start-server.sh / stop-server.sh, and an HTML frame template. In our read, server.cjs binds to 127.0.0.1 by default, uses a per-session token/cookie and an Origin check — sensible local-only design — but it is still a server your agent can start.

Pros

  • The questioning method is excellent and explicitly anti-assumption
  • Server is local-only by design with token/cookie checks (verified in code, not just claimed)
  • MIT, very widely used pack

Cons

  • You are installing shell scripts + a Node server alongside a 'questioning' skill — more than most people expect
  • Only enable the visual companion when you need it; do not expose its port
  • Since v7.0.2 it goes and looks on its own (deeper into your project, your files and data, or the web) and then tells you, where it used to offer first
  • Must-use framing ('You MUST use this before any creative work') can slow tiny tasks — though it does offer a skip path

Alternatives

mattpocock grill-me/grilling (reviewed here) — same job, no server, harsher interrogation style.

Notes

The caution here is scope, not trust: a brainstorming skill that can start a server should say so up front. Now you know.

Sources

Checked 19 Oct 2026 (Europe/Madrid) from local clones of the repos above. Repo last-commit is a repo date, not a per-skill release date. Install counts, where quoted, are skills.sh leaderboard figures fetched that day and are distribution, not quality.

Verified on 2026-11-04 through the GitHub API (repo commit 22f0b46, v7.0.2, 2026-11-03). Since 30 Oct: v7.0.2 («brainstorming tuning») changes how it talks, not what it installs: it asks only when the answer would change what gets built, writes the short design straight away when there is one sensible way, sketches simple visuals in text before offering the visual companion, and does recon without asking first. server.cjs is unchanged; start-server.sh now makes the project folder path absolute. Verdict unchanged. Previous check on 2026-10-30, against a fresh clone (repo commit 2ce8aa1, 2026-10-21). Since 19 Oct: v7.0.1 («brainstorming retune») rewrote the skill: it now plays understanding back in 200–300-word chunks, sizes the work, and adds a builder check that hands the written design to a fresh subagent to find gaps (builder-check-prompt.md). It still ends each message with one question and offers to just get going when you did not ask to brainstorm. server.cjs still binds to 127.0.0.1 by default, but the host can be changed with the BRAINSTORM_HOST environment variable — leave it alone. Verdict unchanged.