Superpowers Mode (Specs-Driven Development)

Superpowers mode is an opt-in per-session workflow discipline that enforces a structured development process: understand → design → plan → implement with tests → verify. It’s inspired by the superpowers workflow principles, reimplemented natively in Pando.

This mode helps ensure high-quality code changes by requiring design approval, written plans, test-first implementation, and verification before marking work complete.

How to Use

Enable

Type /superpowers [objective] in the chat input:

/superpowers                    # enable with no specific objective
/superpowers Fix login bug      # enable with a stated objective

This is a synchronous command — it activates immediately without an AI turn.

Disable

Type /superpowers-finish in the chat input:

/superpowers-finish

This triggers a real AI turn that:

1. Verifies what was done
2. Summarizes changes
3. States what is NOT done
4. Offers next actions

The mode only disables on a successful response. If the turn is cancelled or fails, the workflow stays active.

What It Does

When superpowers is active, every subsequent turn follows this lifecycle:

1. Understand — analyze the request before acting
2. Design + Approval — propose a design and wait for user approval before implementing
3. Written Plan — for multi-file work, create a prioritized plan with:
   • Phases ordered by risk and dependency
   • Exit criteria for each phase
   • Verification command for each phase
4. Test-First Implementation — write tests in small, testable increments
5. Reproduce Before Fixing — for bugs, reproduce the issue first
6. Verify with Real Output — run tests and checks, don’t assume correctness
7. Self-Review — review changes before presenting them

Safety Guarantees

Superpowers mode guarantees:

• Never commits, merges, or pushes — no automatic git side effects
• Never touches branches or worktrees — stays within the current working directory
• Never discards work — no git checkout or git reset
• Never changes git config — your git settings are untouched

Precedence

• Direct user instructions outrank the superpowers policy
• AGENTS.md rules outrank the superpowers policy
• The permission system still applies — tool approvals work as normal
• Trivial or read-only requests skip the workflow gates

Configuration

Superpowers mode has no configurable default by design — it is always opt-in per session. There is no TOML setting to enable it globally.

When to Use