v1.0.108 · shipped 7 releases in 24h MIT · No telemetry Claude Code plugin

The engineering process
without the overhead

You don't have a CTO. Or you are the CTO — and you're the bottleneck. Plug great_cto into Claude Code. Architecture, TDD, code review, QA, security, deploy — one pipeline. Two decisions per feature.

7 agents · 10 archetypes · 15 commands · 12-angle review · 13 compliance frameworks

$ npx great-cto init
great_cto pipeline demo: /start → approve architecture → ship

Describe the feature. Make two decisions.

You never write the architecture doc, the QA report, or the release notes. You approve, or you don't.

claude-code · /start
You: /start "add Stripe subscriptions — monthly and annual plans" pipeline: standard (5 agents) | ~45min | security gate: mandatory ARCH-stripe-subscriptions.md ready — DECISION 1: approve architecture? You: approved implementation + 12-angle review + QA + security + canary deploy DECISION 2: ship? You: ship it canary 5% → 20% → 100% → RELEASE doc written # done

The rest is automatic.

Everything you need day-to-day lives behind three commands. Everything else runs on a trigger — you don't remember it, you don't invoke it.

/start "…"
Full SDLC pipeline. Detects archetype, generates architecture + ADR, implements with TDD, runs 12-angle review, QA, security, deploys.
/review
12 independent review angles — performance, security, SQL safety, concurrency, API contracts, design system, accessibility. Each finding P0 / P1 / P2.
/inbox
Open gates, blocked tasks, incidents, backlog hygiene, DORA / SLO / security alerts. Everything that needs a decision right now — in one place.

Runs where you already work.

great_cto is a Claude Code plugin. No dashboards. No SaaS. File-based configs under .great_cto/ — inspect and edit anything.

Twelve independent angles. Not one giant prompt.

Each angle runs as a separate pass with its own rubric. Findings rated P0 / P1 / P2 — P0 blocks the gate until you decide.

01
Performance
N+1, unbounded loops, missing cache
02
Security
injection, auth bypass, IDOR, XSS, SSRF
03
Readability
naming, complexity, error handling
04
SQL Safety
raw interpolation, missing transactions
05
LLM Trust
prompt injection, output sanitization
06
Side Effects
mutations in conditionals, duplicate events
07
Data Privacy
PII in logs, GDPR/HIPAA violations
08
Error Handling
swallowed exceptions, missing timeouts
09
Concurrency
race conditions, deadlocks, stampede
10
Dep Freshness
CVEs, abandoned packages
11
API Contracts
breaking changes, status code drift
12
Design System
hardcoded tokens, accessibility

Scales to the work.

You don't pay for what you don't need. /start picks the scale automatically — override with "make it deep" or "this is just a quick fix".

quick 1–3 agents ~5–20min Hotfix · typo · new endpoint · small feature
standard 5 agents ~45min Default — standard feature, new service
deep 7+ agents ~90min+ Cross-cutting change · regulated domain · arch migration

Batteries included.

7
Specialized agents
10
Archetypes
13
Compliance frameworks
15
Commands

Detected from your repo.

npx great-cto init scans your codebase, picks the right archetype, and wires compliance gates automatically. Each archetype gets a default security tier — signals raise it automatically during implementation.

web-service baseline
REST · GraphQL · SSR · SPA · full-stack
mobile-app baseline
iOS · Android · Electron · extensions
ai-system standard
Agents · RAG · MCP · LLM ops · ML · voice
data-platform baseline
Pipelines · warehouses · analytics
infra standard
IaC · K8s · platform eng · migrations
library baseline
SDKs · CLIs · compilers · plugins · games
commerce standard
E-commerce · payments · SaaS
web3 deep
Smart contracts · DeFi · custody · bots
iot-embedded deep
IoT devices · hardware drivers
regulated deep
GxP · financial services · ISO 27001

Risk-based. Not archetype-bound.

Archetype is a starting point, not a verdict. The real tier is set by signals — conditions detected in your diff as it lands. A web-service that adds Stripe and touches auth/ gets the same depth of review as commerce does by default.

baseline ~2 min · always on · never skipped
CVE scan · secret scan · dependency freshness. Runs on every pipeline, every archetype. This is the floor — there is no "off."
standard ~15–25 min · STRIDE + compliance
Threat model · OWASP checklist · compliance pack (GDPR / PCI-DSS / HIPAA / …) · data-flow sketch. Default for ai-system · commerce · infra. Triggered on any upgrade signal below.
deep ~45–90 min · pen-test-style
Everything standard + penetration review (injection / IDOR / SSRF / XSS / auth bypass) + external-dep supply-chain audit + formal dataflow diagram with kill-chain analysis. Always on for web3 · iot-embedded · regulated.

Signals that upgrade the tier

senior-dev watches your diff and emits SECURITY_SIGNAL: lines. Signals only upgrade — never downgrade.

pci-dep-introducedStripe · Plaid · Square · Braintree · Adyen added
crypto-dep-introducedjose · jsonwebtoken · bcrypt · argon2 · libsodium
auth-path-changedfiles in auth/ · iam/ · oauth/ · saml/ · middleware/auth*
pii-field-addedmigration adds ssn · dob · passport · medical_* · health_*
iac-perimeter-changedsecurity groups · IAM policies · public buckets · 0.0.0.0/0
high-cve-in-depnpm audit / pip-audit / cargo audit reports ≥ High

FAQ

Is it production-ready?
v1.0.101 — actively maintained. MIT license, no telemetry, no SaaS lock-in. File-based configs in .great_cto/ — inspect and edit anything.
What does a real month cost?
Typical solo or small-team usage is $20–50/month in Anthropic API costs. Heavy month with many large features: ~$100. No per-seat fee from great_cto — costs are your own Anthropic usage.
Solo founder — isn't this overkill?
For a one-line typo, yes. That's why pipelines scale. /start "fix typo" runs 1 agent in ~5 min. /start "add Stripe subscriptions" runs 5 agents in ~45 min. You never pay for what you don't need.
Does it replace engineers?
No. great_cto codifies the process — architecture reviews, QA planning, security checklists, release gates. A human still writes code, owns decisions, and approves the two gates per feature. It replaces the slow, ad-hoc scaffolding around engineers on teams that don't yet have full-time specialists for each role.
What if I disagree with the architecture?
Reject at gate 1. tech-lead iterates. Your two decisions are literally approve or reject — no commitment.
I already have CLAUDE.md and a few prompts. Why switch?
You don't have to. Start with /audit — it finds gaps in your existing repo and creates a task backlog. Use that even if you never run the full pipeline.
Requirements?
Claude Code, Node 18.17+, Superpowers, and Beads. All free and open source.

Stop being the bottleneck.

Two decisions per feature. The rest happens in the pipeline.

$ npx great-cto init