Step 10 of 14

GSD Workflow

GSD (Get Shit Done) is a project management system built into Claude Code. It takes a big goal and breaks it into phases, plans, and tasks — then executes them one by one. Instead of figuring out what to do next, you let GSD organize the work.

Think of GSD as your project manager. You tell it what you want to build. It creates the plan, tracks progress, and executes each step. You review the results and make decisions when needed.

The 4-Phase Workflow

Every GSD project follows the same lifecycle. Each phase builds on the previous one:

Phase Command What happens
1. Discuss /gsd:discuss-phase You and Claude talk about what to build. Claude asks questions, you make decisions. The output is a clear plan of what to do.
2. Plan /gsd:plan-phase Claude takes the discussion and creates detailed tasks with specific files, actions, and verification steps.
3. Execute /gsd:execute-phase Claude works through each task: creates files, writes code, runs commands, and commits the results.
4. Verify /gsd:verify-work Claude checks that everything was built correctly — runs tests, verifies files exist, confirms the work matches the plan.
The order matters. Always go discuss → plan → execute → verify. Skipping steps means Claude doesn't have the context it needs, and the results will be worse.

Starting a New Project

Before you can use the GSD workflow, you need to initialize a project. This tells GSD what you're building and creates the planning structure.

  1. Open Agent Deck and navigate to the session for your project.
  2. Launch Claude Code by typing claude and pressing Enter.
  3. Type: /gsd:new-project
  4. Claude will ask you questions about the project: What are you building? What's the goal? What technology do you want to use?
  5. Answer each question. Be specific — the more detail you give, the better the plan.
  6. Claude creates a .planning/ directory with your project setup: a roadmap, requirements, and phase structure.
Good project descriptions win. Use your prompt building skills here. Instead of "I want a website", say "I want a status dashboard that shows our Bittensor mining metrics. It should be a static HTML page with a dark theme, reading data from a JSON file."

Running Each Phase

Discuss Phase

This is where you and Claude align on what to build. Think of it as a planning meeting.

/gsd:discuss-phase

Claude will ask you questions about the current phase. Answer them honestly. If you're not sure about something, say so — Claude can suggest options. At the end, Claude writes a CONTEXT.md file that captures all your decisions.

Plan Phase

Claude reads the discussion context and creates specific, actionable plans.

/gsd:plan-phase

Each plan contains tasks with exact file names, exact code to write, and exact commands to verify success. You don't need to edit these plans — Claude handles the details.

Execute Phase

This is where the actual work happens. Claude works through each plan's tasks.

/gsd:execute-phase

Claude creates files, writes code, runs tests, and commits results. It may pause to ask you for decisions (like "should I use approach A or B?"), but most of the work is fully automated.

Verify Phase

After execution, Claude checks its own work.

/gsd:verify-work

Claude verifies that files exist, tests pass, and the implementation matches the plan. If something is missing or broken, it creates a list of gaps to fix.

Autonomous Mode

Normally, GSD pauses between phases and sometimes between tasks to ask for your input. In autonomous mode, Claude runs through everything without stopping.

/gsd:autonomous
Mode When to use What happens
Normal First time using GSD, complex projects, when you want to review each step Claude pauses for your input at key decisions
Autonomous Routine work, well-defined tasks, when you trust the plan Claude runs through all tasks without stopping, makes decisions on its own
Start with normal mode. Until you're comfortable with GSD and can review results confidently, don't use autonomous mode. It's faster, but if something goes wrong, you'll have more to undo.

The .planning/ Directory

When you run /gsd:new-project, Claude creates a .planning/ folder in your project. This is GSD's brain — it stores everything about the project plan and progress.

File What it contains
PROJECT.md Project description, goals, constraints, and technology stack
ROADMAP.md All phases listed in order with their status (pending, in progress, complete)
REQUIREMENTS.md Every requirement with an ID (like CC-01, GSD-03) — used to track what's been built
STATE.md Current position: which phase, which plan, what decisions have been made
phases/ One folder per phase, containing CONTEXT.md (discussion), PLAN.md files (tasks), and SUMMARY.md files (results)
You don't need to edit these files. GSD manages them automatically. But reading them helps you understand where the project stands and what's been decided. If you want to see the current state, open .planning/STATE.md.

Quick Reference

Command What it does
/gsd:new-project Initialize a new project with roadmap and requirements
/gsd:discuss-phase Start a discussion about the current phase
/gsd:plan-phase Create detailed execution plans from the discussion
/gsd:execute-phase Execute all plans in the current phase
/gsd:verify-work Verify that the executed work is complete and correct
/gsd:autonomous Run the full workflow without pausing for input
/gsd:map-codebase Analyze an existing codebase and create a structured summary of how it works
/gsd:progress See the current state of your project — which phases are done, what's next
← Prompt Building Nexus →