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The management commands handle everything outside the project lifecycle itself: configuring GSD’s behavior, managing parallel workspaces and workstreams, capturing lightweight tasks and ideas, and performing safe housekeeping operations like undo and cleanup. Most of these commands work at the tool or workspace level rather than the phase level.

/gsd-settings

Interactive six-section configuration wizard. Syntax
/gsd-settings
What it does Opens an interactive multi-section configuration wizard that walks you through GSD settings across six areas: Planning, Execution, Docs & Output, Features, Model & Pipeline, and Misc. Reads the current config.json, presents your existing values, merges your answers, and writes the updated config with a confirmation display and quick command references. Use /gsd-config for advanced knobs and integration settings.

/gsd-config

Configure GSD settings — common toggles, advanced knobs, integrations, and model profiles. Syntax
/gsd-config
/gsd-config --advanced
/gsd-config --integrations
/gsd-config --profile quality
What it does Consolidated configuration command with mode routing. Without a flag it runs the same interactive multi-section configuration wizard as /gsd-settings. With --advanced it exposes power-user knobs across planning, execution, discussion, cross-AI, git, and runtime settings. With --integrations it manages third-party API keys, code-review CLI routing, and agent-skill injection. With --profile it switches your model profile without any interactive prompts. Flags
--advanced
flag
Open the advanced settings wizard covering planning granularity, timeouts, branch templates, cross-AI execution configuration, and runtime tuning.
--integrations
flag
Open the integrations settings wizard covering API keys (Brave, Firecrawl, Exa), review CLI routing, and agent-skill injection configuration.
--profile [name]
string
Switch the active model profile without interactive prompts. Accepted values: quality, balanced, budget, inherit.

/gsd-surface

Toggle which skill commands are surfaced without reinstalling GSD. Syntax
/gsd-surface list
/gsd-surface status
/gsd-surface profile standard
/gsd-surface disable utility
/gsd-surface enable audit_review
/gsd-surface reset
What it does Manages the runtime skill surface by reading and writing ~/.claude/.gsd-surface.json and re-staging the active skills directory in place. Use this to reduce context token usage from skill definitions by disabling clusters you don’t need, or to switch between surface profiles. Valid cluster names: core_loop, audit_review, milestone, research_ideate, workspace_state, docs, ui, ai_eval, ns_meta, utility Subcommands
list
string
Show all enabled and disabled clusters and skills with their approximate token cost.
status
string
Alias for list, plus a summary of the base profile and install-time profile.
profile [name]
string
Switch the base surface profile. Accepted values: core, standard, full. Comma-separate profile names to compose multiple profiles (no spaces), e.g., profile core,audit_review.
disable [cluster]
string
Add a cluster to the disabled list and immediately remove its skills from the active surface.
enable [cluster]
string
Remove a cluster from the disabled list and restore its skills to the active surface.
reset
string
Delete .gsd-surface.json and return to the install-time profile defaults.

/gsd-update

Update GSD to the latest version with changelog display. Syntax
/gsd-update
/gsd-update --sync
/gsd-update --reapply
/gsd-update --next
What it does Checks for a new version of GSD, fetches and displays the changelog, prompts for confirmation, then runs the update, clears caches, and reminds you to restart. Handles both local and global installations. Without a flag it targets @latest. Flags
--sync
flag
Sync managed GSD skills across all runtime roots. Use after an update if you work across multiple runtimes and want to keep skill definitions aligned. Supports --from, --to, --dry-run, and --apply sub-flags.
--reapply
flag
Reapply local modifications after a GSD update. Performs a three-way merge between the pristine baseline, your user-modified backup, and the newly installed version to recover your customizations.
--next
flag
Target the @next release-candidate dist-tag instead of @latest. Use to install or refresh a release candidate (e.g., 1.4.0-rc.1). Also accepted as --rc.

/gsd-workspace

Manage isolated GSD workspace environments. Syntax
/gsd-workspace --new
/gsd-workspace --new --name feature-x --repos myrepo --strategy worktree
/gsd-workspace --list
/gsd-workspace --remove feature-x
What it does Creates, lists, and removes isolated workspace environments — each with independent .planning/ directories and repo copies. Workspaces use either a git worktree strategy (faster, shares object store) or a full clone strategy (fully isolated, higher disk usage). Flags
--new
flag
Create a new isolated workspace. Combine with --name, --repos, and --strategy to configure it.
--list
flag
List all active GSD workspaces in ~/gsd-workspaces/ with their status and current phase.
--remove
flag
Remove a named workspace and clean up any associated worktrees. Pass the workspace name as the next argument.
--name [name]
string
Name for the new workspace. Used with --new.
--repos [repos]
string
Comma-separated list of repositories to include in the workspace. Used with --new.
--strategy [strategy]
string
Isolation strategy for the new workspace. Accepted values:
  • worktree — git worktree (faster, shares object store)
  • clone — full clone (fully isolated, higher disk usage)

/gsd-workstreams

Manage parallel workstreams for concurrent milestone work. Syntax
/gsd-workstreams list
/gsd-workstreams create payments
/gsd-workstreams status payments
/gsd-workstreams switch payments
/gsd-workstreams progress
/gsd-workstreams complete payments
/gsd-workstreams resume payments
What it does Manages parallel workstreams that let multiple milestone tracks run concurrently. Each workstream is an isolated context with its own phase state. Switching workstreams sets the active context for subsequent GSD commands. Completing a workstream archives it to milestones/. Defaults to list when no subcommand is provided. Subcommands
list
string
List all workstreams with name, status, current phase, and progress.
create [name]
string
Create a new workstream. After creation, run /gsd-new-milestone --ws [name] to set up its milestone.
status [name]
string
Show detailed phase breakdown and state information for the named workstream.
switch [name]
string
Set the named workstream as active for the current session.
progress
string
Show a progress summary across all workstreams.
complete [name]
string
Archive the named workstream to milestones/.
resume [name]
string
Set the named workstream as active and prompt you to run /gsd-resume-work --ws [name].

/gsd-capture

Capture ideas, tasks, notes, and seeds to their destination. Syntax
/gsd-capture "refactor the auth module to use JWTs"
/gsd-capture --note "talked to design team — they want rounded corners"
/gsd-capture --backlog "add dark mode support"
/gsd-capture --seed "migrate to Rust when team grows"
/gsd-capture --list
What it does Routes a captured item to the right destination in the GSD system based on the flag you use. Without a flag it creates a structured todo. With --note it appends a timestamped note. With --backlog it adds to the ROADMAP.md backlog section with 999.x numbering. With --seed it plants a forward-looking idea with trigger conditions in .planning/seeds/. Flags
(no flag)
string
Create a structured todo in .planning/todos/.
--note [text]
string
Zero-friction idea capture. Appends a timestamped note, lists existing notes, or promotes a note to a todo or phase.
--backlog [text]
string
Add an idea to the ROADMAP.md backlog parking lot with 999.x phase numbering.
--seed [text]
string
Capture a forward-looking idea with trigger conditions as .planning/seeds/SEED-NNN-slug.md.
--list
flag
Open an interactive todo browser and action router for pending todos.

/gsd-thread

Manage persistent context threads for cross-session work. Syntax
/gsd-thread "investigating the N+1 query in orders"
/gsd-thread list
/gsd-thread list --open
/gsd-thread list --resolved
/gsd-thread status auth-refactor
/gsd-thread close auth-refactor
/gsd-thread resume auth-refactor
What it does Creates, lists, closes, and resumes persistent context threads — lightweight cross-session knowledge stores for work that spans multiple sessions but doesn’t belong to any specific phase. Threads keep a named context alive so you can return to it without losing track of where you left off. Subcommands
list
string
List all threads. Add --open to show only open threads, or --resolved to show only closed ones.
status [slug]
string
Show the current status and context summary for a thread identified by its slug.
close [slug]
string
Mark a thread as resolved.
resume [slug]
string
Resume a thread by restoring its context into the current session.

/gsd-quick

Execute an ad-hoc task with GSD guarantees but skip optional agents. Syntax
/gsd-quick "add rate limiting to the upload endpoint"
/gsd-quick "fix flaky test in auth suite" --validate
/gsd-quick "update CORS headers" --discuss
/gsd-quick "investigate caching options" --research
/gsd-quick "add pagination to the orders API" --full
/gsd-quick list
/gsd-quick status upload-rate-limit
/gsd-quick resume upload-rate-limit
What it does Executes small, ad-hoc tasks with GSD guarantees — atomic commits, STATE.md tracking — using a shorter pipeline than full phase execution. Quick tasks live in .planning/quick/ and update the “Quick Tasks Completed” table in STATE.md, not ROADMAP.md. By default, research, discussion, plan-checking, and verification agents are all skipped. Flags
--full
flag
Enable the complete quality pipeline: discussion + research + plan-checking + post-execution verification. One flag for everything.
--validate
flag
Enable plan-checking (max 2 iterations) and post-execution verification only, without discussion or research.
--discuss
flag
Run a lightweight discussion phase before planning to surface assumptions and clarify gray areas.
--research
flag
Spawn a focused research agent before planning to investigate implementation approaches, library options, and pitfalls.
Subcommands
list
string
List all quick tasks with slug, date, and status (complete, in-progress, or abandoned).
status [slug]
string
Show the status, plan description, and last action for a specific quick task by slug.
resume [slug]
string
Resume a specific in-progress quick task by slug, restoring plan context and continuing execution.

/gsd-fast [task]

Execute a trivial inline task with no planning overhead. Syntax
/gsd-fast "fix typo in README"
/gsd-fast "bump version to 1.2.1 in package.json"
/gsd-fast "add missing semicolons in config.ts"
What it does Executes a trivial task directly in the current context without spawning subagents or generating any plan files. Designed for tasks you can describe in one sentence and execute in under two minutes — typo fixes, config tweaks, small refactors, forgotten commits, simple additions. Use /gsd-quick for anything that needs research, multi-step planning, or verification.

/gsd-undo

Safe git revert for phase and plan commits. Syntax
/gsd-undo --last 5
/gsd-undo --phase 03
/gsd-undo --plan 03-02
What it does Rolls back GSD phase or plan commits safely using the phase manifest, with dependency checks and a mandatory confirmation gate before execution. Shows you exactly what will be reverted and warns about downstream phases that depend on the work you’re about to undo. Flags
--last N
number
Show the most recent N GSD commits for interactive selection. You choose which to revert from the list.
--phase NN
string
Revert all commits for phase NN. Uses the phase manifest first, then falls back to git log pattern matching.
--plan NN-MM
string
Revert all commits for a specific plan identified by phase number and plan number (e.g., 03-02 for phase 3, plan 2).

/gsd-cleanup

Archive phase directories and prune stale branches. Syntax
/gsd-cleanup
What it does Archives phase directories from completed milestones into .planning/milestones/v{X.Y}-phases/. Use this when .planning/phases/ has accumulated directories from past milestones and you want to keep the working directory clean. Always shows you a dry-run summary of what will be moved and waits for confirmation before archiving.

/gsd-help

Show available GSD commands and usage guidance. Syntax
/gsd-help
/gsd-help --brief
/gsd-help --full
/gsd-help workflow
/gsd-help --brief ship
What it does Displays GSD reference content at the tier you request. Output is strictly reference material — no project-specific analysis, git status, file context, or next-step suggestions are included. Flags
(no flag)
string
One-page tour of all GSD commands with short descriptions and common usage patterns.
--brief
flag
Single-line refresher per command. Fastest lookup when you just need a syntax reminder.
--full
flag
Complete reference output covering every command, every flag, and all usage notes.
[topic]
string
Display the reference section for a single topic, e.g., /gsd-help workflow or /gsd-help ship.
--brief [topic]
string
Signature plus a one-line summary for a single topic. Compact scoped lookup — e.g., /gsd-help --brief plan-phase.