Executing Plans Inline
obra/superpowers
Has the agent carry out an implementation plan itself, task by task in the current session, keeping a ledger, proving each step with a test and ending with one whole-branch review.
A skill your agent uses when planning a multi-step task or working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable, resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item…
Install Real Work
$ npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install Elfocrash/skills real-work --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/real-work .claude/skills/real-work && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "real-work" agent skill from https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-work into .claude/skills/real-work/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "real-work", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-workType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install Elfocrash/skills real-work --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/real-work .agents/skills/real-work && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "real-work" agent skill from https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-work into .agents/skills/real-work/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "real-work", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install Elfocrash/skills real-work --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/real-work .cursor/skills/real-work && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "real-work" agent skill from https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-work into .cursor/skills/real-work/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "real-work", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git --path skills/real-work--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install Elfocrash/skills real-work --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/real-work .gemini/skills/real-work && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "real-work" agent skill from https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-work into .gemini/skills/real-work/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "real-work", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install Elfocrash/skills real-workInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/real-work .github/skills/real-work && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "real-work" agent skill from https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-work into .github/skills/real-work/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "real-work", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install Elfocrash/skills real-work --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/real-work .opencode/skills/real-work && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "real-work" agent skill from https://github.com/Elfocrash/skills/tree/master/skills/real-work into .opencode/skills/real-work/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "real-work", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
real-work- GitHub stars
- 147
- Token cost
- ~821 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 248 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 1
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
A skill your agent uses when planning a multi-step task or working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable, resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item…
- Works in 2 steps: Reach complete understanding first → Write the plan
- Planning a multi-step task
- SKILL.md covers 1. Reach complete…, 2. Write the plan and Common mistakes
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Real Work is an agent skill from Elfocrash/skills. Use when planning a multi-step task or working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable, resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item checkboxes, completion tracking, autonomous verification, and a handoff summary so a future agent can pick up where you left off. Use when user wants to create or design a plan or mentioned "real work".
Its SKILL.md is about 820 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Planning. The repository describes itself as: The skills I use during agentic coding. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Planning a multi-step task
- Working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable
- Resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item checkboxes
- Completion tracking
Example prompts
- “real work”
- “/real-work”
Workflow steps
2 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1a3c479. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Real Work loads about 821 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 95 tokens; SKILL.md has 248 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from Elfocrash/skills at commit 1a3c479, republished under its MIT licence (© Elfocrash). 248 words, ~821 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/real-work/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- real-work
- description
- Use when planning a multi-step task or working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable, resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item checkboxes, completion tracking, autonomous verification, and a handoff summary so a future agent can pick up where you left off. Use when user wants to create or design a plan or mentioned "real work".
Real Work
Turn planning into a durable, resumable artifact. The plan file — not the conversation — is the source of truth: it records what to do, what's done, how it was verified, and how to deploy. Any future agent can resume from it with zero prior context.
Use when planning multi-step / multi-session work that may outlive the current session. Skip for trivial single-session tasks.
1. Reach complete understanding first
Do not write the plan until scope is fully understood. Relentlessly ask the user questions until you both share a complete understanding with no gaps — treat an unasked question as a future bug.
- Don't stop at the first round; keep going until no ambiguity, assumption, or open decision remains. Probe edges: scope boundaries (in/out), dependencies, constraints, success criteria, data, environments, deployment, failure cases.
- Surface every assumption for the user to confirm. If an answer opens a new unknown, ask the follow-up — drill down recursively.
- Use
AskUserQuestionfor concrete choices. When done, summarize the full scope back and only proceed once the user confirms nothing is missing.
2. Write the plan
Save to plans/<descriptive-name>.md in the repository root (create plans/
if needed). Use this self-documenting template:
# <Work Title>
<1-2 sentence goal and scope.>
## For Future Agents
As work proceeds: mark checkboxes `- [x]` as items complete; when a phase is done,
set its status to `Complete` and write its **Phase Summary** (what was done, key
decisions, anything needed to continue with zero context); run the phase's
**Verification Plan** and record the result before moving on. When all phases are
done, fill in **Final Recap** and **Deployment Plan**.
## Phase 1: <Title>
Status: Not started <!-- Not started | In progress | Complete -->
- [ ] <concrete, actionable item>
- [ ] <concrete, actionable item>
### Verification Plan
- <command/check the agent can run autonomously, with expected result>
### Phase Summary
_(write when phase completes)_
## Phase 2: <Title>
Status: Not started
- [ ] <actionable item>
### Verification Plan
- <autonomous check>
### Phase Summary
_(write when phase completes)_
## Final Recap
_(write when all phases complete: summary of the entire piece of work)_
## Deployment Plan
_(write when all phases complete: step-by-step deployment instructions)_Common mistakes
- Vague items — each checkbox is a concrete task ("Add retry logic to
PaymentClient.Charge"), not a theme ("improve payments"). - Non-autonomous verification — give runnable commands with expected output, not "test it manually".
- Wrong location — always the repo-root
plans/folder. - Pre-filling summaries — phase summaries, recap, and deployment plan stay as placeholders until that work actually completes.
© Elfocrash, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/real-work of Elfocrash/skills.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1a3c479
Compare with similar skills
Real Work next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Work this skillElfocrash/skills | 147 | — | ~821 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Executing Plans Inlineobra/superpowers | 296k | 2 repos | ~5.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Interview Meaddyosmani/agent-skills | 103k | 6 repos | ~3.8k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| OpenSpec Guided OnboardingFission-AI/OpenSpec | 71k | 1 repos | ~4.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Writing Plansgeeksblabla/stateofdev.ma | 163 | 57 repos | ~661 | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Subagent Driven DevelopmentAsvarox/allkaraoke | 261 | 38 repos | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | None |
Similar skills
Interview Me
addyosmani/agent-skills
Asks one question at a time, each with a best guess attached, until the agent is about 95 percent sure what you really want, before any plan, spec or code.
OpenSpec Guided Onboarding
Fission-AI/OpenSpec
Walks you through a complete OpenSpec workflow cycle with narration while doing real work in your codebase.
Writing Plans
geeksblabla/stateofdev.ma
A skill your agent uses when design is complete and you need detailed implementation tasks for engineers with zero codebase context - creates comprehensive implementation plans with exact file…
Subagent Driven Development
Asvarox/allkaraoke
A skill your agent uses when executing implementation plans with independent tasks in the current session
Planning With Files
jd-opensource/JoySafeter
Implements Manus-style file-based planning for complex tasks.
Related
Categories
Questions about Real Work
What does Real Work do?
A skill your agent uses when planning a multi-step task or working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable, resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item…. Real Work is an agent skill from Elfocrash/skills. Use when planning a multi-step task or working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable, resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item checkboxes, completion tracking, autonomous verification, and a handoff summary so a future agent can pick up where you left off.
When should I use Real Work?
Real Work fits situations like: planning a multi-step task; working in plan mode and you need to capture the plan as a durable; resumable artifact — breaking work into phases with per-item checkboxes; completion tracking.
How do I install Real Work in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/real-work in Elfocrash/skills) into .claude/skills/real-work in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Real Work in Codex?
Run `npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/real-work in Elfocrash/skills) into .agents/skills/real-work in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Real Work in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add Elfocrash/skills --skill real-work -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/real-work, .gemini/skills/real-work, .github/skills/real-work and .opencode/skills/real-work in your project.
What does Real Work need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Real Work is instructions for the agent only.
Does Real Work access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Real Work safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Real Work use?
Real Work is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Real Work use?
About 821 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Real Work?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Real Work: Executing Plans Inline (obra/superpowers, 296k stars), Interview Me (addyosmani/agent-skills, 103k stars), OpenSpec Guided Onboarding (Fission-AI/OpenSpec, 71k stars) and Writing Plans (geeksblabla/stateofdev.ma, 163 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Real Work?
Elfocrash (a GitHub user) maintains it in Elfocrash/skills, which has 147 GitHub stars. The repository was last updated on June 5, 2026.
Source: Elfocrash/skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.