Site hero - Evolution
Get anything done: context under pressure.
GAD is an evolutionary context system: uncertainty in a phase (Shannon entropy) signals where new skills should form. Pressure comes from the work itself — species mutate, generations compete, and the survivors promote into permanent proto-skills for your workflow.
Shannon entropy
H(X) = −∑x p(x) log2 p(x)
Maximum when outcomes are evenly uncertain, zero when you already know the answer. We borrow the lens to ask: where is this phase still ambiguous?
Phase pressure v3 · gad-222
P = T + Cawc + Clwl + D·wd + (D/T)·wr
Every phase carries resolved entropy, latent entropy, and raw volume. Latent crosscuts (no decision yet) weigh heavier than anticipated ones — the unknown unknowns are where new skills are born.
- T
- tasks in the phase (implementation volume)
- D
- decisions recorded (resolved entropy)
- Ca
- anticipated crosscuts — cross-system tasks paired with a decision
- Cl
- latent crosscuts — cross-system work nobody knew to ask about
- wc, wl
- crosscut weights (default 2× anticipated, 4× latent)
- wd, wr
- decision weight and D/T ratio weight (direction density)
Where there is pressure, there is growth. High-pressure phases with low decision density are the ones that reliably produce new proto-skills.
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelSkills multiply as they are shed — each generation that drops a skill makes the next one possible.
Watch the two explainers
Two 30-second explainers. Two directly-downloadable skill stacks.
The left video names the Visual Context System pattern and the skills that install it into any GUI. The right video names the evolutionary framework that turns high-pressure phases into new skills. Every skill under each video is a real SKILL.md on GitHub — one click to view, one click to download.
Explainer · 30s
vcs-explainerVisual context system — anywhere
A 30-second walkthrough of the Visual Context System pattern: source-searchable cid/as identifiers, the SiteSection + Identified landmark pair, and the four skills that install this pattern into any GUI project.
Visual context anywhere.
Source-searchable identifiers (cid / as), two landmark primitives (SiteSection, Identified), and the four-skill stack that drops this pattern into any GUI project — React, Next, Unity, Blender, whatever has a DOM or a tree.
Skills you install to get this
- gad-visual-context-system>-
- gad-visual-context-panel-identities>-
- scaffold-visual-context-surface>-
- portfolio-syncKeep the public-facing GAD site and generated publishing artifacts in sync with the framework as it evolves. Trigger this skill whenever an eval run finishes, a new finding is written, a skill or agent changes, requirements or decisions move, or planning/docs outputs need regeneration.
Install the four skills, let the agent rewire your surfaces, then grep any pixel back to source.
Explainer · 30s
gad-evolution-explainerSkills born from pressure — the GAD evolution loop
30 seconds on why get-anything-done is evolutionary: the Pressure v3 formula (gad-222) that names skill candidates, the five-step detect → candidate → draft → install → shed loop, and the claim that every skill on this site was born this way.
Skills born from pressure.
The get-anything-done framework is evolutionary. The Pressure v3 formula (gad-222) names candidates, the five-step loop turns each into a proto-skill, and species.json tracks what the next generation still needs vs what gets shed.
Skills you install to get this
- create-proto-skill>-
- gad-evolution-evolve>-
- gad-evolution-validator>-
- gad-proto-skill-battery>-
- find-skills>-
- merge-skill>-
Every skill on this site was born this way — then audited, equipped, or shed by the next agent that cleared the threshold.
“Rapidity is the essence of war.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelTempo beats force: ship a small honest generation before you ship a perfect imagined one.
How skills form
From pressure to a skill you can install or shed.
The same pressure gauge that scores a phase also names which patterns deserve to become reusable skills. Every step below is a file on disk and a single CLI invocation — no curator in the middle, no LLM interpretation layer, just artifacts and grep-friendly names.
1. Detect
Pressure surfaces a pattern
Self-eval walks the task registry and decisions and flags any phase that clears the threshold from the P = T + Cₐwc + Clwl + D·wd + (D/T)·wr formula.
artifact.planning/self-eval.json
commandgad self-eval
2. Candidate
Raw phase dump, not a curated brief
Each high-pressure phase gets a CANDIDATE.md — tasks, decisions, crosscuts, file refs. No pre-digestion; the drafter decides what matters.
artifact.planning/candidates/<slug>/CANDIDATE.md
3. Draft
Proto-skill lands in a lock-marked bundle
create-proto-skill writes PROVENANCE.md first, then workflow.md, then a sub-200-line SKILL.md. Crash-resumable, one slug at a time.
artifact.planning/proto-skills/<slug>/SKILL.md
commandgad evolution evolve
4. Install
Promote or equip the skill
Validator adds advisory notes. You promote into skills/, merge into a sibling, or equip per-project with gad skill promote.
artifactskills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
commandgad evolution install <slug>
5. Shed
Drop what the next generation won't need
Epigenetic skills build once and uninstall. Species DNA tracks active / epigenetic / shed so the load stays honest (decision gad-221).
artifactspecies.json activeSkills ⇢ shedSkills
Try one now
Featured skills, shown the way an agent reads them.
Each card is a real SKILL.md from this repo. Copy the raw file into your project's skills directory, or let the installer drop the full catalog.
skills/create-proto-skill/SKILL.md
create-proto-skill
>-
# create-proto-skill Lightweight bulk drafter inside the GAD evolution loop. Reads candidates, writes proto-skill bundles, hands off to `gad evolution validate`. ## When / When NOT to use **Use:** `gad:evolution:evolve` drafting step; user says "draft proto-skill for X" / "convert candidates"; you want SKILL.md without `gad-skill-creator`'s full eval loop. **Skip:** high-stakes skill needing real test runs → `gad-skill-creator`. Improving an existing tested skill → `gad-skill-creator`. Pattern not clear yet → `gad note`, let next evolution surface it. …
skills/gad-visual-context-system/SKILL.md
gad-visual-context-system
>-
# gad-visual-context-system **Workflow:** [workflows/visual-context-system.md](../../workflows/visual-context-system.md) Run the workflow. All procedural detail, examples, and tool sequencing live in the workflow file per the canonical skill shape (references/skill-shape.md, decision gad-190). …
skills/find-sprites/SKILL.md
find-sprites
Source visual assets (sprites, icons, tilesets, portraits) for a game or UI-heavy build in a way that yields a coherent, intentional look instead of a debug-console aesthetic. Use this skill when you need art for rooms, entities, UI controls, HP bars, spell icons, status effects, or any other visual element; when the build is failing its UI-quality gate because it looks unintentional; or when you're about to fall back to raw ASCII/text UI. The goal is "looks like someone designed it" — not photorealism, not 1:1 with AAA games, but internally consistent and readable.
# find-sprites Agents left to their own devices tend to ship raw text UI, emoji salad, or inconsistent asset mixtures. This skill exists because the `ui-quality` gate consistently fails when asset sourcing is treated as an afterthought. Source assets deliberately, in preference order, and commit to one visual direction. ## Preference order Work down this list. Only drop to the next tier if the current tier cannot cover your need. ### Tier 1 — Installable icon and sprite packages Lightweight, well-typed, import cleanly. Best for UI iconography, status effects, resource icons, and action buttons. | Package | Use for | |---|---| …
“Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelDNA shapes its expression according to the nature of the codebase over which it evolves.
Visual context system
From what you see to what you grep.
Point at the UI, not a screenshot. Alt + I lights greppable landmarks on every band — hover for the Visual Context Panel: one handoff with route, tokens, and context already wired. Alt + K searches the repo by the same names; dictate into the prompt when you want speed over typing.
Decorative preview: band panel, agent handoff mock, ID search mock with modal footer inside the search shell, standalone VC modal footer strip. Not connected to dev tools.
Static preview
Decorative dev chrome
Not wired to dev tools. Blocks below: band hover panel; agent handoff dialog + footer; ID search dialog + footer; VC modal footer on its own.
Band hover panel (shape only)
Visual Context Panel
Visual context · 2 items
Get anything done
Target - visual-context-site-section
Agent handoff dialog (shape only — matches DevIdAgentPromptDialog)
Agent handoff
Route: http://localhost:3000/ Label: visual-context-site-section Component: SiteSection search: cid="visual-context-site-section"
Live — (dictation line when the real strip is listening)
Component ID search dialog (shape only — matches DevIdSearchDialog)
Component ID search (dev)
Search cid / as / id. Jump to route and auto-highlight target.
- Go to component
visual-context-site-section
cid · components/landing/home/LandingVisualContextAndPromptBand.tsx:9
- Go to component
LandingVisualContextPanelShowcase
as · components/landing/home/LandingVisualContextAndPromptBand.tsx:49
- Copied
devid-search-dialog-input
cid · components/devid/DevIdSearchDialog.tsx:88
Live — (dictation line when the real strip is listening)
VC modal footer (shape only — matches DevIdModalContextFooter)
Live — (dictation line when the real strip is listening)
Agent handoff templates (quick prompts)
Same Update / Delete template strings as the Agent handoff modal, built for a live landmark on this route: cid="agent-handoff-cycle-site-section" (the band below). Read-only CodeMirror — open the real modal from any band panel to edit, dictate, and copy.
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelAppear vague when your requirements are crisp, and crisp when your requirements are vague — the gauges tell the truth either way.
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelWhere there is pressure, there is growth — and the opportunity to shed what the next generation no longer needs.
Handoff cycle
You at the browser and mic — Message modal + clipboard are automatic assembly — then the agent runs the paste. Click a step for detail.
Browse site
Dev IDs · greppable cid
Visual context
Band hover opens Message
You capture
Speech + CRUD verbs
Clipboard
Handoff assembled for you
Coding agent
Claude Code, Cursor, Codex…
Ship & return
Reload · next band
Live VCS demo · try it on this band
The ring above is runnable — on the very section you're reading.
Every step in the diagram is a real control you can fire against the band named agent-handoff-cycle-site-section. Toggle dev IDs, pick a verb, narrate the change, stop — and the quick prompt lands on your clipboard with route, cid, source hints, and CRUD scaffolding already filled. Paste it into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any agent that accepts text.
- 1
Alt + I
Toggle dev IDs. Every SiteSection band on the page now shows its cid label.
- 2
Hover this band
The Visual Context panel opens with the cid, route, and source-hint pre-filled.
- 3
Pick a verb
Update (narrate the change with Web Speech) or Delete (read-only brief).
- 4
Stop → paste
The prompt is copied to the clipboard. Paste into any coding agent; come back and reload.
The loop is agent-agnostic because the handoff names real UI tokens, not screenshots. GAD sits downstream of Get Shit Done: small loops, visible state, measurement — so regressions surface in numbers instead of vibes.
Visual Context panel
Toggle dev IDs
Alt+I reveals the cid badge on every band.
Hover + pick a verb
Update (narrate the change) or Delete (read-only brief).
Narrate or type
Web Speech merges into the Update flow; typed notes append below the locked template.
Stop → prompt on clipboard
Route, cid, source-file hints, and CRUD scaffolding all pre-filled.
Clipboard payload — example
Update target. Route: http://localhost:3001/ Target: agent-handoff-cycle-site-section Source hint: LandingAgentHandoffCycle (SiteSection) Operation: UPDATE Notes: <your narration>
Philosophy is upstream of Get Shit Done — creator talk ↗
“The wise warrior avoids the battle.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelThe wise builder avoids the feature — every unimplemented abstraction is a bug that cannot be written.
Install + upstream context
Ship the installer. Credit the lineage.
Windows builds publish on GitHub Releases — the installer is how teams pull templates, hooks, and CLI updates without cloning this monorepo. When you want the human story behind structured planning loops, watch the upstream session, then browse the original GSD repository for their cadence (we iterate our fork separately).
We do not ask operators to track our private iteration velocity — consume releases, read decisions in DECISIONS.xml, and only open our GitHub when you intend to fork or patch the framework itself.
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In our modelThe supreme art of distribution is to colonise the ecosystem without forking.