gstack Workflow Assistant

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection

Transform Claude Code from a generic assistant into a team of specialists you can summon on demand. Eight opinionated workflow skills that act as CEO, Engineering Manager, Release Manager, and QA Engineer with slash commands for planning, review, shipping, and testing.

What It Does

gstack provides specialized AI personas and workflows:

• CEO Review: Rethink problems and find the 10-star product hiding in requests
• Engineering Planning: Lock in architecture, data flow, and edge cases
• Code Review: Paranoid staff engineer-level review that catches production bugs
• Release Management: One-command shipping with tests and PR creation
• QA Testing: Automated browser testing with screenshots and systematic coverage
• Browser Automation: Give AI eyes to click through your app and catch breakage
• Session Management: Import real browser cookies for authenticated testing
• Team Retrospectives: Engineering manager-style retros with per-person insights

Installation

Requirements

• Claude Code
• Git
• Bun v1.0+
• macOS or Linux (x64/arm64) for browser automation

Global Installation

git clone https://github.com/garrytan/gstack.git ~/.claude/skills/gstack
cd ~/.claude/skills/gstack
./setup

Project Installation

cp -Rf ~/.claude/skills/gstack .claude/skills/gstack
rm -rf .claude/skills/gstack/.git
cd .claude/skills/gstack
./setup

Add to your CLAUDE.md:

## gstack
Use /browse skill from gstack for all web browsing. Never use mcp__claude-in-chrome__* tools.

Available skills:
- /plan-ceo-review - Product strategy review
- /plan-eng-review - Technical architecture planning  
- /review - Thorough code review
- /ship - One-command branch shipping
- /browse - Browser automation and testing
- /qa - Systematic QA testing
- /setup-browser-cookies - Session management
- /retro - Engineering retrospectives

Core Commands

Planning Workflows

CEO Product Review

// Start with feature description, then review strategy
You: I want to add seller photo upload to the listing app

You: /plan-ceo-review
// AI responds as CEO: challenges assumptions, finds bigger opportunity
// "Photo upload" → "AI-powered listing creation from photos"

Engineering Architecture Review

You: /plan-eng-review
// AI responds as tech lead:
// - Architecture diagrams
// - State machines
// - Async job boundaries  
// - Failure modes
// - Test matrices

Code Quality Workflows

Thorough Code Review

You: /review
// Paranoid staff engineer review:
// - Race conditions
// - Trust boundaries
// - Missing error handling
// - Production failure modes

One-Command Shipping

You: /ship
// Automated release process:
// 1. Sync main branch
// 2. Run test suite
// 3. Resolve review comments
// 4. Push branch
// 5. Open pull request

QA and Testing Workflows

Browser Automation

You: /browse https://myapp.com
// AI navigates your app:
// - Takes screenshots
// - Clicks through workflows
// - Identifies breakage
// - Tests responsive design

Systematic QA Testing

You: /qa
// Branch-aware testing:
// - Analyzes git diff
// - Identifies affected pages
// - Tests localhost:3000
// - Full exploration mode
// - Regression testing

You: /qa https://staging.myapp.com --quick
// Quick smoke test: 5 pages in 30 seconds

Session Management

You: /setup-browser-cookies staging.myapp.com
// Imports cookies from real browser (Chrome, Arc, Brave, Edge)
// Enables testing authenticated pages without manual login

Team Workflows

Engineering Retrospectives

You: /retro
// Engineering manager-style retro:
// - Analyzes git history
// - Per-person contributions
// - Growth opportunities
// - Team dynamics
// - Saves to .context/retros/

Configuration

Browser Settings

gstack creates isolated browser instances in .gstack/ directory:

// Automatic browser configuration
{
  userDataDir: '.gstack/browser-data',
  headless: false, // for debugging
  viewport: { width: 1280, height: 720 },
  timeout: 30000
}

Project Structure

your-project/
├── .claude/
│   └── skills/
│       └── gstack/
│           ├── skills/           # Workflow prompts
│           ├── browse/           # Browser automation
│           └── package.json
├── .gstack/                      # Browser data (gitignored)
│   ├── browser-data/
│   └── screenshots/
└── .context/
    └── retros/                   # Retrospective history

Integration Patterns

Multi-Session Workflow

Use Conductor for parallel sessions:

// Session 1: Feature development
You: /plan-ceo-review
You: /plan-eng-review
// [implement feature]

// Session 2: Code review
You: /review
// [fix issues]

// Session 3: QA testing  
You: /qa --full

// Session 4: Release
You: /ship

CI/CD Integration

# .github/workflows/gstack-qa.yml
name: gstack QA
on: [pull_request]
jobs:
  qa:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: cd .claude/skills/gstack && ./setup
      - run: echo "/qa --regression" | claude-code

Team Onboarding

# Add to team docs
## Development Workflow
1. `/plan-ceo-review` - Validate product direction
2. `/plan-eng-review` - Lock architecture  
3. Implement feature
4. `/review` - Paranoid code review
5. `/qa` - Test branch thoroughly
6. `/ship` - One-command release
7. `/qa staging.app.com` - Staging verification

Advanced Usage

Custom QA Scenarios

// Feature-specific testing
You: /qa --focus=checkout-flow
You: /qa --mobile-only
You: /qa --accessibility

// Performance testing
You: /browse https://app.com
// Then: "Run lighthouse audit on this page"

Cross-Browser Testing

// Test in multiple browsers
You: /setup-browser-cookies app.com
You: /browse app.com --browser=chrome
// [switch session]
You: /browse app.com --browser=firefox

Regression Testing

// Before major changes
You: /qa --baseline
// [make changes]  
You: /qa --compare-baseline
// AI identifies visual/functional regressions

Troubleshooting

Binary Issues

# Rebuild browser automation binary
cd .claude/skills/gstack
rm -rf browse/dist
./setup

Permission Errors

# Fix executable permissions
cd .claude/skills/gstack
chmod +x setup browse/dist/browse

Missing Dependencies

# Reinstall Node dependencies
cd .claude/skills/gstack
rm -rf node_modules
bun install

Browser Automation Failures

// Debug browser issues
You: /browse --debug
// Runs browser in non-headless mode for inspection

// Clear browser data
rm -rf .gstack/browser-data

Skill Registration Issues

// Re-register skills
cd .claude/skills/gstack
./setup

// Verify skills are available
You: /plan-ceo-review --help

The skills work by providing specialized prompts and browser automation tools that transform Claude Code into domain experts. Each workflow enforces specific cognitive modes - CEO strategic thinking, engineering rigor, paranoid review, or systematic testing - instead of generic assistance.