commands.md

Commands Reference

Session Commands

Command	Description
/gsd	Step mode — execute one unit at a time, pause between each
/gsd next	Explicit step mode (same as /gsd)
/gsd auto	Autonomous mode — research, plan, execute, commit, repeat
/gsd quick	Execute a quick task with GSD guarantees (atomic commits, state tracking) without full planning overhead
/gsd stop	Stop auto mode gracefully
/gsd pause	Pause auto-mode (preserves state, /gsd auto to resume)
/gsd steer	Hard-steer plan documents during execution
/gsd discuss	Discuss architecture and decisions (works alongside auto mode)
/gsd status	Progress dashboard
/gsd widget	Cycle dashboard widget: full / small / min / off
/gsd queue	Queue and reorder future milestones (safe during auto mode)
/gsd capture	Fire-and-forget thought capture (works during auto mode)
/gsd triage	Manually trigger triage of pending captures
/gsd dispatch	Dispatch a specific phase directly (research, plan, execute, complete, reassess, uat, replan)
/gsd history	View execution history (supports --cost, --phase, --model filters)
/gsd forensics	Full-access GSD debugger — structured anomaly detection, unit traces, and LLM-guided root-cause analysis for auto-mode failures
/gsd cleanup	Clean up GSD state files and stale worktrees
/gsd visualize	Open workflow visualizer (progress, deps, metrics, timeline)
/gsd export --html	Generate self-contained HTML report for current or completed milestone
/gsd export --html --all	Generate retrospective reports for all milestones at once
/gsd update	Update GSD to the latest version in-session
/gsd knowledge	Add persistent project knowledge (rule, pattern, or lesson)
/gsd fast	Toggle service tier for supported models (prioritized API routing)
/gsd rate	Rate last unit's model tier (over/ok/under) — improves adaptive routing
/gsd changelog	Show categorized release notes
/gsd logs	Browse activity logs, debug logs, and metrics
/gsd remote	Control remote auto-mode
/gsd help	Categorized command reference with descriptions for all GSD subcommands

Configuration & Diagnostics

Command	Description
/gsd prefs	Model selection, timeouts, budget ceiling
/gsd mode	Switch workflow mode (solo/team) with coordinated defaults for milestone IDs, git commit behavior, and documentation
/gsd config	Re-run the provider setup wizard (LLM provider + tool keys)
/gsd keys	API key manager — list, add, remove, test, rotate, doctor
/gsd doctor	Runtime health checks with auto-fix — issues surface in real time across widget, visualizer, and HTML reports (v2.40)
/gsd inspect	Show SQLite DB diagnostics
/gsd init	Project init wizard — detect, configure, bootstrap .gsd/
/gsd setup	Global setup status and configuration
/gsd skill-health	Skill lifecycle dashboard — usage stats, success rates, token trends, staleness warnings
/gsd skill-health <name>	Detailed view for a single skill
/gsd skill-health --declining	Show only skills flagged for declining performance
/gsd skill-health --stale N	Show skills unused for N+ days
/gsd hooks	Show configured post-unit and pre-dispatch hooks
/gsd run-hook	Manually trigger a specific hook
/gsd migrate	Migrate a v1 .planning directory to .gsd format

Milestone Management

Command	Description
/gsd new-milestone	Create a new milestone
/gsd skip	Prevent a unit from auto-mode dispatch
/gsd undo	Revert last completed unit
/gsd undo-task	Reset a specific task's completion state (DB + markdown)
/gsd reset-slice	Reset a slice and all its tasks (DB + markdown)
/gsd park	Park a milestone — skip without deleting
/gsd unpark	Reactivate a parked milestone
Discard milestone	Available via /gsd wizard → "Milestone actions" → "Discard"

Parallel Orchestration

Command	Description
/gsd parallel start	Analyze eligibility, confirm, and start workers
/gsd parallel status	Show all workers with state, progress, and cost
/gsd parallel stop [MID]	Stop all workers or a specific milestone's worker
/gsd parallel pause [MID]	Pause all workers or a specific one
/gsd parallel resume [MID]	Resume paused workers
/gsd parallel merge [MID]	Merge completed milestones back to main

See Parallel Orchestration for full documentation.

Workflow Templates (v2.42)

Command	Description
/gsd start	Start a workflow template (bugfix, spike, feature, hotfix, refactor, security-audit, dep-upgrade, full-project)
/gsd start resume	Resume an in-progress workflow
/gsd templates	List available workflow templates
/gsd templates info <name>	Show detailed template info

Custom Workflows (v2.42)

Command	Description
/gsd workflow new	Create a new workflow definition (via skill)
/gsd workflow run <name>	Create a run and start auto-mode
/gsd workflow list	List workflow runs
/gsd workflow validate <name>	Validate a workflow definition YAML
/gsd workflow pause	Pause custom workflow auto-mode
/gsd workflow resume	Resume paused custom workflow auto-mode

Extensions

Command	Description
/gsd extensions list	List all extensions and their status
/gsd extensions enable <id>	Enable a disabled extension
/gsd extensions disable <id>	Disable an extension
/gsd extensions info <id>	Show extension details

cmux Integration

Command	Description
/gsd cmux status	Show cmux detection, prefs, and capabilities
/gsd cmux on	Enable cmux integration
/gsd cmux off	Disable cmux integration
/gsd cmux notifications on/off	Toggle cmux desktop notifications
/gsd cmux sidebar on/off	Toggle cmux sidebar metadata
/gsd cmux splits on/off	Toggle cmux visual subagent splits

GitHub Sync (v2.39)

Command	Description
/github-sync bootstrap	Initial setup — creates GitHub Milestones, Issues, and draft PRs from current .gsd/ state
/github-sync status	Show sync mapping counts (milestones, slices, tasks)

Enable with github.enabled: true in preferences. Requires gh CLI installed and authenticated. Sync mapping is persisted in .gsd/.github-sync.json.

Git Commands

Command	Description
/worktree (/wt)	Git worktree lifecycle — create, switch, merge, remove

Session Management

Command	Description
/clear	Start a new session (alias for /new)
/exit	Graceful shutdown — saves session state before exiting
/kill	Kill GSD process immediately
/model	Switch the active model
/login	Log in to an LLM provider
/thinking	Toggle thinking level during sessions
/voice	Toggle real-time speech-to-text (macOS, Linux)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Alt+G	Toggle dashboard overlay
Ctrl+Alt+V	Toggle voice transcription
Ctrl+Alt+B	Show background shell processes
Ctrl+V / Alt+V	Paste image from clipboard (screenshot → vision input)
Escape	Pause auto mode (preserves conversation)

Note: In terminals without Kitty keyboard protocol support (macOS Terminal.app, JetBrains IDEs), slash-command fallbacks are shown instead of Ctrl+Alt shortcuts.

Tip: If Ctrl+V is intercepted by your terminal (e.g. Warp), use Alt+V instead for clipboard image paste.

CLI Flags

Flag	Description
gsd	Start a new interactive session
gsd --continue (-c)	Resume the most recent session for the current directory
gsd --model <id>	Override the default model for this session
gsd --print "msg" (-p)	Single-shot prompt mode (no TUI)
gsd --mode <text|json|rpc|mcp>	Output mode for non-interactive use
gsd --list-models [search]	List available models and exit
gsd --web [path]	Start browser-based web interface (optional project path)
gsd --worktree (-w) [name]	Start session in a git worktree (auto-generates name if omitted)
gsd --no-session	Disable session persistence
gsd --extension <path>	Load an additional extension (can be repeated)
gsd --append-system-prompt <text>	Append text to the system prompt
gsd --tools <list>	Comma-separated list of tools to enable
gsd --version (-v)	Print version and exit
gsd --help (-h)	Print help and exit
gsd sessions	Interactive session picker — list all saved sessions for the current directory and choose one to resume
gsd --debug	Enable structured JSONL diagnostic logging for troubleshooting dispatch and state issues
gsd config	Set up global API keys for search and docs tools (saved to ~/.gsd/agent/auth.json, applies to all projects). See Global API Keys.
gsd update	Update GSD to the latest version
gsd headless new-milestone	Create a new milestone from a context file (headless — no TUI required)

Headless Mode

gsd headless runs /gsd commands without a TUI — designed for CI, cron jobs, and scripted automation. It spawns a child process in RPC mode, auto-responds to interactive prompts, detects completion, and exits with meaningful exit codes.

# Run auto mode (default)
gsd headless

# Run a single unit
gsd headless next

# Instant JSON snapshot — no LLM, ~50ms
gsd headless query

# With timeout for CI
gsd headless --timeout 600000 auto

# Force a specific phase
gsd headless dispatch plan

# Create a new milestone from a context file and start auto mode
gsd headless new-milestone --context brief.md --auto

# Create a milestone from inline text
gsd headless new-milestone --context-text "Build a REST API with auth"

# Pipe context from stdin
echo "Build a CLI tool" | gsd headless new-milestone --context -

Flag	Description
--timeout N	Overall timeout in milliseconds (default: 300000 / 5 min)
--max-restarts N	Auto-restart on crash with exponential backoff (default: 3). Set 0 to disable
--json	Stream all events as JSONL to stdout
--model ID	Override the model for the headless session
--context <file>	Context file for new-milestone (use - for stdin)
--context-text <text>	Inline context text for new-milestone
--auto	Chain into auto-mode after milestone creation

Exit codes: 0 = complete, 1 = error or timeout, 2 = blocked.

Any /gsd subcommand works as a positional argument — gsd headless status, gsd headless doctor, gsd headless dispatch execute, etc.

gsd headless query

Returns a single JSON object with the full project snapshot — no LLM session, no RPC child, instant response (~50ms). This is the recommended way for orchestrators and scripts to inspect GSD state.

gsd headless query | jq '.state.phase'
# "executing"

gsd headless query | jq '.next'
# {"action":"dispatch","unitType":"execute-task","unitId":"M001/S01/T03"}

gsd headless query | jq '.cost.total'
# 4.25

Output schema:

{
  "state": {
    "phase": "executing",
    "activeMilestone": { "id": "M001", "title": "..." },
    "activeSlice": { "id": "S01", "title": "..." },
    "activeTask": { "id": "T01", "title": "..." },
    "registry": [{ "id": "M001", "status": "active" }, ...],
    "progress": { "milestones": { "done": 0, "total": 2 }, "slices": { "done": 1, "total": 3 } },
    "blockers": []
  },
  "next": {
    "action": "dispatch",
    "unitType": "execute-task",
    "unitId": "M001/S01/T01"
  },
  "cost": {
    "workers": [{ "milestoneId": "M001", "cost": 1.50, "state": "running", ... }],
    "total": 1.50
  }
}

MCP Server Mode

gsd --mode mcp runs GSD as a Model Context Protocol server over stdin/stdout. This exposes all GSD tools (read, write, edit, bash, etc.) to external AI clients — Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot, and any MCP-compatible host.

# Start GSD as an MCP server
gsd --mode mcp

The server registers all tools from the agent session and maps MCP tools/list and tools/call requests to GSD tool definitions. It runs until the transport closes.

In-Session Update

/gsd update checks npm for a newer version of GSD and installs it without leaving the session.

/gsd update
# Current version: v2.36.0
# Checking npm registry...
# Updated to v2.37.0. Restart GSD to use the new version.

If already up to date, it reports so and takes no action.

Export

/gsd export generates reports of milestone work.

# Generate HTML report for the active milestone
/gsd export --html

# Generate retrospective reports for ALL milestones at once
/gsd export --html --all

Reports are saved to .gsd/reports/ with a browseable index.html that links to all generated snapshots.