# Get Shit Done

31 Hacker News commenters recommended Get Shit Done and 32 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free prompting and workflow system for Claude Code that plans work, keeps context small and lands features on larger projects. Critics say it is heavy on turns, tokens and up-front planning.

## Why people recommend it

- Keeps context small and relevant (3 comments): "forcing me to properly plan the implementation and ensuring the context remains small and relevant at all times" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48019245)) "boy has it changed the context rot I used to experience and the system is just one-shotting everything I ask" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47031598)) "it manages context effectively" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47423136))
- Strong results on larger projects (3 comments): "GSD consistently gets me 95% of the way there on complex tasks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418427)) "I was able to write 250K lines of code in less than a month" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418071)) "has been mind-blowing for larger projects and refactors" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46918983))
- Clear planning and completion criteria (3 comments): "I love the focus on defining what needs to be done and the criteria for completion." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46746665)) "It will ask you questions, break down the project into smaller tasks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030350)) "The process that Get Shit Done forces is pretty good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47213947))
- Few errors, features land quickly (2 comments): "the reliability and almost absence of any error is amazing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46909930)) "I just discuss with GSD and few hours later features land." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418336))

## What people warn about

- Overengineered for small tasks (6 comments): "for experienced engineers it quickly felt like overkill" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47430460)) "Both are dramatically over-engineered." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47419606)) "highly overengineered piece of software that unfortunately does not get shit done, burns limits and takes ages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418475))
- Too many turns and tokens (3 comments): "GSD pretty much solved these problems for me, but the down side of GSD is it takes too many turns to get something done." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418921)) "highly overengineered piece of software that unfortunately does not get shit done, burns limits and takes ages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418475)) "Required far too much back and forth. Ate too many tokens, and required too much human in the loop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47420772))
- Rigid plans, hard to adjust (2 comments): "It requires a waterfall process. And, I found it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to adjust phases/plans" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47419626)) "I think these type of systems (gsd/superpowers) are way too opinionated." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47419365))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Superpowers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/superpowers.md): 138 recommend
- [Claude Skills](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-skills.md): 59 recommend
- [grill-me skill by Matt Pocock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grill-me-skill.md): 39 recommend
- [Matt Pocock's skills](https://hackerapproved.com/p/matt-pocock-s-skills.md): 27 recommend
- [Claude Code skills](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-code-skills.md): 21 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Get Shit Done", https://hackerapproved.com/p/get-shit-done/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).