dsh_superpowers

Superpowers for the DeepSeek Harness (dsh) — a self-contained dsh plugin package that

1. registers the Superpowers skills as a dsh skill catalog (14 skills, loaded with dsh's native skill tool, with each skill's directory handed to the model as its resource base), and
2. injects the using-superpowers bootstrap — plus a dsh tool mapping — as an always-on system-prompt section, so the skills auto-trigger from the first turn of every session with no per-session opt-in.

The package has no dependencies and needs no build step. The skills travel inside it: skills/ is a verbatim copy of the upstream Superpowers skills tree at the tag recorded in package.json (upstream.tag), plus this adapter's own references/dsh-tools.md and the one-line dsh pointer in skills/using-superpowers/SKILL.md. Upstream is MIT, Copyright (c) 2025 Jesse Vincent — see LICENSE.superpowers and references/CREDITS.md. npm run sync-skills re-syncs that tree against a newer upstream checkout and reports the drift.

Bundling is deliberate: a github:obra/superpowers dependency would make the skill source an exotic subdependency, which pnpm refuses to install (ERR_PNPM_EXOTIC_SUBDEP: Exotic dependency "superpowers" (resolved via git-repository) is not allowed in subdependencies) — every user's install would fail. Shipping the tree keeps dsh plugin add a plain, offline-capable install.

Install

Requirements: a working dsh install (dsh plugin, plus the app on PATH) and Node 18 or newer. The adapter is dependency-free and pure JS, so installation never triggers pnpm's build approval and needs no network beyond the repository itself.

# from GitHub (canonical)
dsh plugin --profile web add icanfinish11/dsh-superpowers

# from a local checkout
dsh plugin --profile web add link:/path/to/dsh-superpowers

dsh plugin runs pnpm inside $DSH_HOME/profiles/<name>/ and then reconciles the profile: the package declares dsh.bundle in its package.json, so it is appended to dsh.profile.bundles and its cordis.patch.yml is layered into the composed configuration. The skills come from the copy inside the installed package — nothing else is fetched.

Restart the harness afterwards — bundle patches are read at boot.

Verify:

dsh --profile web --dump-config | grep -A6 superpowers     # the mounted row
dsh --profile headless "In one short sentence: do you have superpowers, and name two skills."

Then, in a session:

dsh --profile headless "Let's make a react todo list"

The first thing that should happen is the brainstorming skill loading — before any code.

What you get

Superpowers piece	dsh surface
skills/ (14 skills)	ctx.skills.registerProvider(...) — one candidate per <skills>/<name>/SKILL.md, resourceBase set to the skill directory, rank 600
using-superpowers bootstrap	ctx.systemPrompt.section({ name: 'superpowers:bootstrap', order: 121 }), assembled into every request from the first turn
SessionStart hook (Claude Code)	Not used. dsh has no session-start hook channel; the system-prompt registry is its always-on contribution point, and a section cannot be lost to compaction the way an injected history message can
Tool mapping (references/<harness>-tools.md)	references/dsh-tools.md, and the same mapping inlined into the bootstrap so the model has it without a file read
Subagents, todos, worktrees, TDD	dsh's own tools: subagent / subagent_fork, todo_write, pwsh / bash, read / write / edit, grep / glob, web_search

Where the skills come from

skills/ in this package is the Superpowers skills tree, copied from upstream at the tag in package.json (upstream.tag, currently v6.3.0), with two dsh-owned additions:

• skills/using-superpowers/references/dsh-tools.md — this adapter's tool mapping,
• one line in skills/using-superpowers/SKILL.md's "Platform Adaptation" list pointing dsh at that file (the single SKILL.md edit the Superpowers porting guide allows).

The skills root is resolved at load time in this order, and the first candidate containing using-superpowers/SKILL.md wins:

1. the plugin's skillsDir config
2. the SUPERPOWERS_SKILLS_DIR environment variable
3. skills/ inside this package — the normal path
4. ../skills beside this package — useful when a development copy sits next to a Superpowers checkout
5. the skills/ directory of a superpowers package resolved as a dependency, if one is installed in the profile

If nothing resolves, the plugin logs a warning and degrades to bootstrap-only; it never fails the profile boot.

Adopting a new upstream release

git clone --depth 1 --branch vX.Y.Z https://github.com/obra/superpowers /tmp/superpowers
node scripts/sync-skills.mjs /tmp/superpowers --check   # report drift, write nothing
node scripts/sync-skills.mjs /tmp/superpowers           # re-copy, keeping the dsh additions

Then bump version, update upstream.tag and upstream.synced in package.json, review the diff, and run the tests. The sync script preserves references/dsh-tools.md and re-applies the platform pointer if upstream's copy of the file lacks it.

Configuration

The patch mounts the row as id: superpowers. Override it per profile in $DSH_HOME/profiles/<name>/cordis.patch.yml (a patch layer replaces the row's whole config, so restate every key you want to keep):

- id: superpowers
  config:
    skills: true          # register the skills catalog
    bootstrap: true       # inject the using-superpowers bootstrap
    toolMapping: true     # append the dsh tool mapping to the bootstrap
    order: 121            # system-prompt section order
    skillsDir: ''         # empty = automatic resolution

Key	Default	Meaning
skills	true	Register the skills catalog as a skill provider.
bootstrap	true	Contribute the superpowers:bootstrap system-prompt section.
toolMapping	true	Append the dsh tool mapping to the bootstrap.
order	121	Section order; dsh renders ascending (100–199 is the tool/behavior band).
skillsDir	''	Explicit skills root; empty resolves automatically.

Updating

dsh plugin --profile web add link:/path/to/dsh_superpowers   # re-link after local changes

For a newer Superpowers release, use the sync flow above; for a newer adapter release, reinstall and restart the harness (the bundle layer is read at boot).

Tests

node tests/test-plugin.mjs         # or: npm test / bash tests/run-tests.sh

The suite fakes dsh's skills and systemPrompt services, so it needs no harness install. It verifies the provider contract, the bundled skills tree, frontmatter edge cases, the bootstrap assembly, the tool mapping, and the degraded path.

Troubleshooting

The plugin is not loading

dsh plugin --profile web list

The package must be listed in dsh.profile.bundles inside $DSH_HOME/profiles/web/package.json; dsh plugin add does that automatically for any dependency declaring dsh.bundle. If it is missing, remove and re-add the package, then restart.

"skills directory not found"

The plugin could not resolve a skills root — the installed package is missing its skills/ tree (a partial checkout or a repackaged build). Point the plugin at a checkout instead:

- id: superpowers
  config:
    skillsDir: /absolute/path/to/superpowers/skills

The model does not know it has superpowers

The row is composed but the bundle layer is only read at boot: restart the harness. Then check the plugin log line (registered the Superpowers skill catalog from …).

A skill name collides with one of mine

dsh resolves duplicates by rank, nearest layer first: project roots (100/200) and user roots (400/500) all outrank this provider (600), so your own skill keeps the name.

Relationship to the in-repo port

Superpowers carries an in-repo dsh port (.dsh-plugin/ + root cordis.patch.yml) so a fork of that repository can be installed directly and an upstream PR can ship the integration there. This package covers the other case: a standalone plugin that carries the skills with it, so it installs from its own repository alone. The plugin module is the same code and resolves both layouts.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. The bundled skills tree is Superpowers, MIT, Copyright (c) 2025 Jesse Vincent — see LICENSE.superpowers and references/CREDITS.md.