Most tool "installation guides" go like this: ten steps, something breaks at step seven, you start Googling error messages, two hours later it still isn't running.

Gstack is different — installation really is just two commands, and Claude runs the whole process itself.

The only prerequisites: Claude Code, Git, and Bun v1.0+. If you have all three, read on.

Before You Install

Confirm all three tools are present:

# Check Claude Code version
claude --version
 
# Check Git
git --version
 
# Check Bun (1.0 or higher)
bun --version

If you don't have Bun, install it with one line:

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Personal Installation (Most Common)

Open Claude Code and paste this command for Claude to run:

git clone https://github.com/garrytan/gstack.git ~/.claude/skills/gstack && cd ~/.claude/skills/gstack && ./setup

Claude will:

Clone the entire repo to ~/.claude/skills/gstack/
Create symlinks for each skill
Compile the Chromium binary needed for /browse (about 58MB, supports macOS and Linux)
Install node_modules

The whole process takes about 2-5 minutes, mostly waiting for the binary to compile. No PATH configuration, no sudo required — everything lives inside .claude/.

Verify the Installation

After installation, try any slash command inside Claude Code:

/plan-ceo-review

If Claude starts asking you questions like "What feature or idea do you want to evaluate?" — installation succeeded.

If nothing happens, check whether the symlinks were created correctly:

ls ~/.claude/skills/

You should see a gstack/ directory and symlinks for each skill (plan-ceo-review, review, ship, etc.).

Team Installation (Optional)

If you want to add Gstack to a repo so the whole team shares it:

cp -Rf ~/.claude/skills/gstack .claude/skills/gstack && rm -rf .claude/skills/gstack/.git && cd .claude/skills/gstack && ./setup

This commits the skill files (Markdown prompts) into your repo — excluding the binary, which each person needs to compile by running setup once. Teammates run ./setup after their first checkout and they're done.

Common Issues

Q: ./setup gets stuck halfway?
Usually happens during binary compilation. Confirm Bun is version 1.0 or higher, and if it's an older version, upgrade first: bun upgrade.

Q: /browse is installed but Chromium fails to start?
Confirm you're on macOS or Linux (x64 / arm64). Windows currently doesn't support the browser features in /browse and /qa, but all other skills work fine.

Q: How do I update to the latest version?
Run /gstack-upgrade inside Claude Code. It automatically detects your installation method (global or inside the repo), upgrades, and tells you what changed.

Q: Token consumption is higher than expected?
Each Gstack skill has some context initialization overhead, and complex review tasks can burn 10K+ tokens. Use them selectively — you don't need every skill for every task. /plan-ceo-review + /plan-eng-review for new feature development, /review + /qa before going live, and that's enough.

Three Things to Do Right After Installing

1. Run a `/plan-ceo-review` to get a feel for it

Find a feature or decision you've been considering recently — nothing formal, just say "I want to add a notification system to my app" — then watch how Gstack's CEO mode responds.

It will be noticeably different from your usual Claude conversations. It won't jump straight to "okay, here's the design." It'll ask you a few questions you probably hadn't considered.

2. Try `/review` on real code

Pick a piece of code you think is "probably fine" and run it through /review. Most people are a bit surprised the first time — it doesn't find typos; it finds the type of issues that "you don't normally think about but will break under high traffic."

3. Set up `/setup-browser-cookies` (if you plan to use `/qa`)

If your app has a login, run this command to import your session cookies before running /qa — otherwise AI tests only unauthenticated pages and misses the important functionality.

This step is quick. It opens an interactive picker where you choose which domains' cookies to import, and the cookie values are never shown on screen.

Installed and basics understood — now we move into the most valuable part of Gstack: Plan Review.

→ Plan Review Dual Mode: CEO Thinking + Engineer Architecture — Why Use Them Separately

Back to Series Overview

This is the second stop in the Gstack series, covering installation and quick start. For the complete reading path and other post topics, return to Gstack Beginner Course.