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Getting Started

Install

npm install -g gsd-pi

Requires Node.js ≥ 22.0.0 (24 LTS recommended) and Git.

command not found: gsd? Your shell may not have npm's global bin directory in $PATH. Run npm prefix -g to find it, then add $(npm prefix -g)/bin to your PATH. See Troubleshooting for details.

GSD checks for updates once every 24 hours. When a new version is available, you'll see an interactive prompt at startup with the option to update immediately or skip. You can also update from within a session with /gsd update.

Set up API keys

If you use a non-Anthropic model, you'll need a search API key for web search. Run /gsd config to set keys globally — they're saved to ~/.gsd/agent/auth.json and apply to all projects:

# Inside any GSD session:
/gsd config

See Global API Keys for details on supported keys.

Set up custom MCP servers

If you want GSD to call local or external MCP servers, add project-local config in .mcp.json or .gsd/mcp.json.

See Configuration → MCP Servers for examples and verification steps.

VS Code Extension

GSD is also available as a VS Code extension. Install from the marketplace (publisher: FluxLabs) or search for "GSD" in VS Code extensions. The extension provides:

  • @gsd chat participant — talk to the agent in VS Code Chat
  • Sidebar dashboard — connection status, model info, token usage, quick actions
  • Full command palette — start/stop agent, switch models, export sessions

The CLI (gsd-pi) must be installed first — the extension connects to it via RPC.

First Launch

Run gsd in any directory:

gsd

GSD displays a welcome screen showing your version, active model, and available tool keys. Then on first launch, it runs a setup wizard:

  1. LLM Provider — select from 20+ providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, GitHub Copilot, Amazon Bedrock, Azure, and more). OAuth flows handle Claude Max and Copilot subscriptions automatically; otherwise paste an API key.
  2. Tool API Keys (optional) — Brave Search, Context7, Jina, Slack, Discord. Press Enter to skip any.

If you have an existing Pi installation, provider credentials are imported automatically.

Re-run the wizard anytime with:

gsd config

Choose a Model

GSD auto-selects a default model after login. Switch later with:

/model

Or configure per-phase models in preferences — see Configuration.

Two Ways to Work

Step Mode — /gsd

Type /gsd inside a session. GSD executes one unit of work at a time, pausing between each with a wizard showing what completed and what's next.

  • No .gsd/ directory → starts a discussion flow to capture your project vision
  • Milestone exists, no roadmap → discuss or research the milestone
  • Roadmap exists, slices pending → plan the next slice or execute a task
  • Mid-task → resume where you left off

Step mode is the on-ramp. You stay in the loop, reviewing output between each step.

Auto Mode — /gsd auto

Type /gsd auto and walk away. GSD autonomously researches, plans, executes, verifies, commits, and advances through every slice until the milestone is complete.

/gsd auto

See Auto Mode for full details.

Two Terminals, One Project

The recommended workflow: auto mode in one terminal, steering from another.

Terminal 1 — let it build:

gsd
/gsd auto

Terminal 2 — steer while it works:

gsd
/gsd discuss    # talk through architecture decisions
/gsd status     # check progress
/gsd queue      # queue the next milestone

Both terminals read and write the same .gsd/ files. Decisions in terminal 2 are picked up at the next phase boundary automatically.

Project Structure

GSD organizes work into a hierarchy:

Milestone  →  a shippable version (4-10 slices)
  Slice    →  one demoable vertical capability (1-7 tasks)
    Task   →  one context-window-sized unit of work

The iron rule: a task must fit in one context window. If it can't, it's two tasks.

All state lives on disk in .gsd/:

.gsd/
  PROJECT.md          — what the project is right now
  REQUIREMENTS.md     — requirement contract (active/validated/deferred)
  DECISIONS.md        — append-only architectural decisions
  KNOWLEDGE.md        — cross-session rules, patterns, and lessons
  RUNTIME.md          — runtime context: API endpoints, env vars, services (v2.39)
  STATE.md            — quick-glance status
  milestones/
    M001/
      M001-ROADMAP.md — slice plan with risk levels and dependencies
      M001-CONTEXT.md — scope and goals from discussion
      slices/
        S01/
          S01-PLAN.md     — task decomposition
          S01-SUMMARY.md  — what happened
          S01-UAT.md      — human test script
          tasks/
            T01-PLAN.md
            T01-SUMMARY.md

Resume a Session

gsd --continue    # or gsd -c

Resumes the most recent session for the current directory.

To browse and pick from all saved sessions:

gsd sessions

Shows each session's date, message count, and first-message preview so you can choose which one to resume.

Next Steps

Troubleshooting

gsd command runs git svn dcommit instead of GSD

The oh-my-zsh git plugin defines alias gsd='git svn dcommit', which shadows the GSD binary.

Option 1 — Remove the alias in your ~/.zshrc (add after the source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh line):

unalias gsd 2>/dev/null

Option 2 — Use the alternative binary name:

gsd-cli

Both gsd and gsd-cli point to the same binary.