garrytan/gstack
Use Garry Tan's exact Claude Code setup: 23 opinionated tools that serve as CEO, Designer, Eng Manager, Release Manager, Doc Engineer, and QA
gstack is Garry Tan's open-source Claude Code configuration, featuring 23 opinionated tools that give your AI assistant specialized roles: CEO for strategic decisions, Designer for UI, Eng Manager for code quality, Release Manager for deployments, Doc Engineer for documentation, and QA for testing.
Our Review
Garry Tan published gstack shortly after Claude Code launched, demonstrating something the documentation only hinted at: CLAUDE.md files enable genuine role specialization -- distinct agents with different authority, goals, and decision domains, beyond a single assistant wearing different hats. Each of gstack's 23 sub-agents has explicit review criteria for its function: a CEO agent challenges decisions on growth trade-offs, a Designer agent enforces visual consistency, a QA agent writes test cases with the specificity a human QA engineer would bring.
Key capabilities
- •CEO agent: reviews decisions from a strategic growth perspective, challenging plans that miss the long-term vision
- •Designer agent: evaluates UI and UX choices, enforcing visual consistency and accessibility standards
- •Eng Manager agent: reviews code for quality, architecture, and maintainability before it ships
- •Release Manager agent: manages deployment checklists, rollback plans, and version tagging
- •Doc Engineer agent: generates and maintains technical documentation, READMEs, and changelogs
- •QA agent: writes and validates test cases, catching regressions before they reach production
Getting started
Fork the garrytan/gstack repository, copy the CLAUDE.md files into your project root, and Claude Code activates each tool based on task context. No external dependencies or API keys are needed beyond Claude Code itself.
Limitation
gstack is a template, not a managed service. You own maintaining and evolving the 23 tool definitions as your codebase and team culture grow. The prompts reflect Garry Tan's engineering philosophy specifically -- teams with different workflows may need to rewrite sections substantially to match their own standards.
Our Verdict
gstack offers a concrete look at how an experienced builder structures AI-assisted software development. Rather than a vague "use AI more" directive, it gives you 23 specific sub-agents with well-defined roles, responsibilities, and review criteria. The nearly 100,000 stars and 14,000 forks in 2026 signal that developers find the opinionated defaults immediately useful.
The real value is not the code -- it's the mental model. Each tool file is essentially a written contract: here is what this role cares about, here is how it makes decisions, and here is what "done" looks like. Teams that invest 2-3 hours customizing the prompts to their own stack will get more consistent AI output than teams using generic prompts.
The limitation is the same as any template: it starts at Garry Tan's defaults and moves toward yours only if you do the work. Teams who fork and never customize will find the CEO agent making decisions that don't fit their context. Treat gstack as a starting architecture, not a finished product.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is gstack and who created it?
gstack is an open-source Claude Code configuration created by Garry Tan, president of Y Combinator. It provides 23 opinionated sub-agent definitions -- each with a specialized role like CEO, Designer, or QA -- that Claude Code can invoke when working on software projects. The repo has over 98,000 stars in 2026.
How do I use gstack in my Claude Code project?
Fork or clone the garrytan/gstack repository, then copy the CLAUDE.md tool definition files into your project. Claude Code reads these files and activates the relevant sub-agent based on your current task. No API keys or external services are needed -- the tools run entirely within your existing Claude Code setup.
What are the 23 tools in gstack?
gstack includes agents covering CEO (strategy), Designer (UI/UX), Eng Manager (code quality), Release Manager (deployments), Doc Engineer (documentation), QA (testing), and 17 more specialized roles. Each agent has its own CLAUDE.md with explicit goals, decision criteria, and review standards tailored to that engineering function.
Can I customize the gstack tool definitions?
Yes, and you should. The tool definitions reflect Garry Tan's engineering culture and defaults. Teams with different tech stacks, coding standards, or organizational structures will need to rewrite sections to match their context. Fork the repo, customize the CLAUDE.md files, and commit them alongside your project code.
How does gstack compare to writing your own CLAUDE.md?
gstack gives you 23 battle-tested starting points instead of a blank page. Writing your own CLAUDE.md from scratch requires figuring out what to include, how to structure role definitions, and what review criteria matter. gstack answers those questions with opinionated defaults you can adopt, adapt, or reject based on your team's needs in 2026.
What is gstack?
gstack is Garry Tan's open-source Claude Code configuration, featuring 23 opinionated tools that give your AI assistant specialized roles: CEO for strategic decisions, Designer for UI, Eng Manager for code quality, Release Manager for deployments, Doc Engineer for documentation, and QA for testing.
What license does gstack use?
gstack uses the MIT license.
What are alternatives to gstack?
Explore related tools and alternatives on My AI Guide.
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