Claude Code GSD Installation and Tutorial: How to Automate AI Coding Workflows

GSD (Get Shit Done) helps you turn Claude Code into a more structured AI development workflow. Instead of asking AI to write an entire application in one conversation, GSD breaks projects into manageable stages covering requirements, planning, implementation, and verification.

You can install it using a single npm command. It supports both global installation for all your projects and local installation for an individual project.

🚀 GSD at a Glance

Installation: npx get-shit-done-cc@latest
Platform: Claude Code and other supported AI coding tools
Main features: Project analysis, task planning, implementation, and verification
Key commands: /gsd-new-project, /gsd-plan-phase, /gsd-execute-phase
Updates: Run the installation command again

What Is GSD? 🤖

GSD, short for Get Shit Done, is an AI development workflow framework designed to organize complex coding projects into structured, manageable tasks.

With conventional AI coding, long conversations can lead to lost context, inconsistent decisions, and incomplete implementations.

GSD addresses these challenges by maintaining project requirements, development roadmaps, and progress information in dedicated files.

It is particularly useful for building websites, developing applications, and implementing features that require multiple development stages.

How to Install GSD for Claude Code

Before installing GSD, make sure you have Node.js, npm, and Claude Code installed.

Open your terminal and run:

npx get-shit-done-cc@latest

The installer will guide you through selecting your AI coding environment and installation location.

You can choose between:

Global installation: Makes GSD available across your projects.
Local installation: Installs GSD only in the current project.

Global installation is convenient if you regularly use Claude Code for multiple development projects.

Once installation is complete, restart Claude Code to load the new GSD commands.

How to Verify the Installation and Start a Project

Open your project in Claude Code and enter:

/gsd-help

This displays the available GSD commands and their usage instructions.

To initialize a new development project, run:

/gsd-new-project

Claude will guide you through questions about your project goals, features, requirements, and technical direction.

Once the initial analysis is complete, GSD creates planning documents such as PROJECT.md, REQUIREMENTS.md, ROADMAP.md, and STATE.md.

These files help Claude maintain a consistent understanding of the project throughout development.

The GSD AI Coding Workflow

A typical GSD development process follows these steps:

/gsd-discuss-phase – Discuss the requirements and scope of a development phase.
/gsd-plan-phase – Research and create an actionable development plan.
/gsd-execute-phase – Implement the planned tasks.
/gsd-verify-work – Verify the completed features and identify issues.
/gsd-progress – Check project status and determine the next action.

For example, when building a user registration system, you can separate the work into database design, API development, frontend implementation, and testing.

This makes it easier to review individual tasks and catch problems before moving to the next development stage.

Important Things to Know Before Using GSD

GSD does not guarantee completely autonomous development without human involvement.

The quality of its output depends heavily on how clearly you describe your requirements. Review the development plan before allowing major implementation tasks to proceed.

You should also inspect AI-generated code, run tests, and review potentially destructive operations such as package installation, database changes, file deletion, and deployment.

For existing projects, committing your current code to Git before introducing GSD is a sensible precaution.

How to Update GSD

GSD continues to evolve, so you can update your installation by running:

npx get-shit-done-cc@latest

After updating, restart Claude Code and run /gsd-help to check that the commands are available.

💡 If you want Claude Code to do more than generate individual code snippets, GSD is worth exploring. Start with a small project, run /gsd-new-project, and experience how structured planning and execution can improve your AI coding workflow.