# Superpowers Research Findings: Integration Triage

> **Issue:** #61 - Triage research/superpowers.md for remaining integration opportunities
> **Date:** December 25, 2025

---

## Executive Summary

This document systematically reviews `research/superpowers.md` against the issue's triage categories to identify remaining content that should be integrated into the project.

### Integration Status Overview

| Category | Items Identified | Status |
|----------|-----------------|--------|
| **A: MODELCLAUDE.md Additions** | 0 | Complete - all behavioral patterns integrated |
| **B: Project CLAUDE.md Additions** | 1 | Minor gap identified |
| **C: New Skill Reference Files** | 3 | Candidates identified |
| **D: Workflow Command Enhancements** | 2 | Opportunities identified |

---

## Category A: MODELCLAUDE.md Additions

**Review objective:** Content that applies universally to how Claude should behave in any project.

### Section 6: Subagent-Driven Development

**Status:** ✅ No additions needed

**Findings:** This section describes agent coordination patterns (fresh subagent per task, two-stage review). These are implementation patterns for skills, not universal Claude behaviors.

**Rationale:** Subagent coordination is a skill-specific workflow, not a universal behavioral rule. Users who want this behavior should use a dedicated skill.

### Section 7: Systematic Debugging

**Status:** ✅ Already integrated

**Findings:** The systematic debugging process is already in MODELCLAUDE.md (lines 80-99):
- Four mandatory phases covered
- Three-fix threshold covered (lines 67-77)
- Red flags covered

**Verification:** Direct comparison shows content is equivalent.

### Section 10: Skills Architecture

**Status:** ✅ Not applicable to MODELCLAUDE.md

**Findings:** Skills architecture (file structure, when to use separate files) is skill-authoring guidance, not universal Claude behavior. Already integrated into project CLAUDE.md.

### Section 12: Technical Insights

**Status:** ✅ No behavioral rules identified

**Findings:** This section covers:
- Token efficiency (framework metrics, not behavioral rules)
- Extensibility mechanisms (technical implementation details)
- Self-updating memory (framework feature, not applicable)
- Installation and usage (framework-specific)

**Conclusion:** No universal behavioral rules to extract.

---

## Category B: Project CLAUDE.md Additions

**Review objective:** Content specific to authoring/maintaining this skills repository.

### Section 10: Skills Architecture

**Status:** ⚠️ Partial gap identified

**Currently in CLAUDE.md:**
- Description Trap concept
- Frontmatter requirements
- Reference file header format
- Progressive disclosure architecture (80-100 line SKILL.md, 100-600 line references)

**Not currently in CLAUDE.md:**
- Personal skills and shadowing mechanism
- Skill categories enumeration

**Recommendation:** The personal skills/shadowing content is specific to obra/superpowers and not relevant to this project. No additions needed.

### Section 11: Key Takeaways

**Status:** ✅ Already addressed

**Findings:** The key takeaways are meta-observations about the patterns, not authoring rules:
1. 1% Rule - Already in MODELCLAUDE.md
2. Testing Iron Laws - Already in MODELCLAUDE.md
3. Two-Stage Review - Already in MODELCLAUDE.md
4. Persuasion Guardrails - Interaction patterns, covered in MODELCLAUDE.md
5. Systematic Debugging - Already in MODELCLAUDE.md
6. Description Trap - Already in CLAUDE.md

### Section 12: Technical Insights - Token Efficiency Patterns

**Status:** ⚠️ Minor addition opportunity

**Research content (lines 1002-1009):**
```
- Core documentation pulls in under 2k tokens
- Shell scripts fetch additional components as needed
- Complete planning-to-implementation cycles: ~100k tokens
- Sub-agents manage token-heavy implementation details
```

**Potential addition to CLAUDE.md:**

```markdown
### Token Efficiency Guidelines

- Target 80-100 lines for SKILL.md files
- Target 100-600 lines per reference file
- Goal: 50% token reduction through selective loading
```

**Recommendation:** This is already implied by the Progressive Disclosure Architecture section. No explicit addition needed.

---

## Category C: New Skill Reference Files

**Review objective:** Deep technical content that should be progressive-disclosure loaded.

### Section 5: Persuasion as Guardrails

**Status:** 🟡 Candidate for new reference file

**Content analysis:** 57 lines of interaction design patterns including:
- Collaborative framing technique
- Incremental validation (200-300 words, checkpoints)
- Choice architecture (multiple choice vs open-ended)
- Sequential questioning (one question per message)
- YAGNI framing
- Deliberate pacing with validation checkpoints

**Current integration:** Partial - lines 60-64 of MODELCLAUDE.md contain abbreviated bullets:
```markdown
- **One question at a time** - Prevents cognitive overload
- **Incremental validation** - Present in 200-300 word sections
- **Choice architecture** - Multiple choice over open-ended
- **YAGNI ruthlessly** - Remove unnecessary features
```

**Gap:** Missing detailed technique descriptions and examples.

**Recommendation:** Create reference file `interaction-design.md` for skills that need persuasion/interaction patterns (brainstorming, debugging-wizard, etc.)

**Destination:** Could be a reference for `debugging-wizard` or a new `interaction-design-specialist` skill.

### Section 6: Subagent-Driven Development

**Status:** 🟡 Candidate for new reference file

**Content analysis:** 90 lines covering:
- Two-stage review workflow (spec compliance → code quality)
- Review loop protocol (same implementer fixes issues)
- Red flags (suspicious quick completion)
- Three verification categories (missing requirements, unnecessary additions, interpretation gaps)
- Key principles for before/during implementation

**Current integration:** Partial - Two-stage review is in MODELCLAUDE.md but without the detailed workflow.

**Gap:** Missing:
- Detailed reviewer subagent instructions
- Review loop protocol specifics
- Subagent dispatch patterns
- Red flag detection

**Recommendation:** Create reference file for `multi-agent-coordinator` skill or similar.

**Priority:** Medium - useful for orchestration-focused skills.

### Section 10: Skills Architecture

**Status:** 🟡 Candidate for skill creation reference

**Content analysis:** File structure patterns, SKILL.md format, when to use separate files.

**Current integration:** Partially in project CLAUDE.md.

**Gap:** The detailed "When to Use Separate Files" guidance (lines 778-787):
```
Self-Contained Skills:
- Everything in a single SKILL.md file
- Content remains concise and focused
- Typically under 100 lines total

Skills with Supporting Materials:
Use separate files only when:
- Heavy reference material exceeds 100 lines
- Reusable tools or scripts require dedicated files
- API documentation needs comprehensive coverage
- Examples are extensive (50+ lines)
```

**Recommendation:** Expand project CLAUDE.md's "Reference File Standards" section or create a dedicated `skill-authoring.md` reference file.

**Priority:** Low - current guidance is sufficient for most cases.

---

## Category D: Workflow Command Enhancements

**Review objective:** Content that should enhance existing slash commands.

### Parallel Agent Dispatching Patterns

**Status:** 🟡 Opportunity identified

**Source content:** Section 6 discusses dispatching fresh subagents per task.

**Current state:** No explicit `/dispatch` or `/parallel` command in this project.

**Potential enhancement:** Could inform a future `execute-ticket` or `complete-epic` skill enhancement for parallel execution.

**Recommendation:** File as future enhancement. Not blocking for current skills.

### Review Loop Protocols

**Status:** 🟡 Opportunity identified

**Source content:** Section 6 describes the review loop:
1. Reviewer identifies issues
2. Same implementation subagent fixes them
3. Same reviewer re-examines changes
4. Repeat until approval

**Current state:** Two-stage review mentioned in MODELCLAUDE.md but loop protocol not explicit.

**Potential enhancement:** The `complete-epic` skill or a `/review` command could implement this loop.

**Recommendation:** Consider adding to code-reviewer skill reference files.

### Verification Checkpoints

**Status:** ✅ Already integrated

The verification discipline is fully captured in MODELCLAUDE.md (lines 19-37).

---

## Section-by-Section Triage Summary

| Section | Integration Status | Destination | Action |
|---------|-------------------|-------------|--------|
| 1. Executive Summary | ✅ Complete | N/A | None |
| 2. Repository Overview | ✅ Complete | N/A | None |
| 3. Core Concepts (1% Rule, Testing Laws, Verification) | ✅ Complete | MODELCLAUDE.md | None |
| 4. Testing Anti-Patterns | ✅ Complete | test-master references | Already filed as #57 |
| 5. Persuasion as Guardrails | ⚠️ Partial | Reference file | Create interaction-design reference |
| 6. Subagent-Driven Development | ⚠️ Partial | Reference file | Create multi-agent reference |
| 7. Systematic Debugging | ✅ Complete | MODELCLAUDE.md | Already filed as #58 |
| 8. Code Review Reception | ✅ Complete | MODELCLAUDE.md | Already filed as #60 |
| 9. The Description Trap | ✅ Complete | CLAUDE.md | None |
| 10. Skills Architecture | ⚠️ Partial | CLAUDE.md | Minor expansion possible |
| 11. Key Takeaways | ✅ Complete | N/A | None |
| 12. Technical Insights | ✅ Complete | N/A | None |
| 13. Community/Ecosystem | ✅ Complete | N/A | None |
| 14. Conclusion | ✅ Complete | N/A | None |

---

## Recommended Actions

### High Priority

None identified. Core behavioral patterns are fully integrated.

### Medium Priority

1. **Create interaction-design reference file**
   - Source: Section 5 (Persuasion as Guardrails)
   - Destination: New reference for interaction-heavy skills
   - Content: Detailed persuasion techniques with examples

2. **Create multi-agent workflow reference file**
   - Source: Section 6 (Subagent-Driven Development)
   - Destination: Reference for orchestration skills
   - Content: Review loop protocol, dispatch patterns, red flags

### Low Priority

3. **Expand skill authoring guidance**
   - Source: Section 10 (Skills Architecture)
   - Destination: Project CLAUDE.md or dedicated reference
   - Content: When to use separate files, file organization patterns

---

## Already Filed Issues

These items from research/superpowers.md have already been extracted and filed:

| Issue | Content | Status |
|-------|---------|--------|
| #56 | TDD Iron Laws | Filed |
| #57 | Testing Anti-Patterns | Filed |
| #58 | Systematic Debugging | Filed |
| #59 | Spec Compliance Review | Filed |
| #60 | Receiving Feedback | Filed |

---

## Conclusion

The systematic review reveals that **the core behavioral patterns from superpowers have been successfully integrated** into MODELCLAUDE.md and the project CLAUDE.md.

The remaining opportunities are:
1. **Reference files for deep technical content** (interaction design, multi-agent workflows) - useful but not critical
2. **Workflow command enhancements** - future consideration for orchestration features

No urgent integration gaps were identified. The issue #61 can be closed after deciding whether to pursue the medium-priority reference file creations.
