/surface

Manage the runtime skill surface without reinstall. Reads/writes `~/.claude/.gsd-surface.json` (sibling to `~/.claude/.gsd-profile`) and re-stages the active skills directory in place. Skill dirs live at `~/.claude/skills/gsd-*/`.

Sub-commands: list · status · profile · disable · enable · reset

Sub-command routing

Parse the first token of $ARGUMENTS:

Token	Action
list	Show enabled + disabled clusters and skills
status	Alias for list plus token cost summary
profile <name>	Write baseProfile and re-stage
profile <n1>,<n2>	Composed profiles (comma-separated, no spaces)
disable <cluster>	Add cluster to disabledClusters, re-stage
enable <cluster>	Remove cluster from disabledClusters, re-stage
reset	Delete .gsd-surface.json, return to install-time profile
(none)	Treat as list

---

list / status

Load the capability registry and call listSurface(runtimeConfigDir, manifest, CLUSTERS, registry) from gsd-core/bin/lib/surface.cjs. The registry is loaded via:

const registry = require('gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs');

Display:

Enabled (N skills, ~T tokens):
  core_loop:   new-project  discuss-phase  plan-phase  execute-phase  help  update
  audit_review: …
  …

Disabled:
  utility:  health  stats  settings  …

Token cost: ~T (budget cap ~500 tokens for 200k context @ 1%)

For status also append:

Base profile:   standard  (from .gsd-surface.json)
Install profile: standard  (from .gsd-profile)

---

profile <name>

1. Read current surface: readSurface(runtimeConfigDir) → if null, seed from readActiveProfile(runtimeConfigDir).
2. Set surfaceState.baseProfile = name.
3. writeSurface(runtimeConfigDir, surfaceState).
4. Resolve and re-apply:

   const registry = require('gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs');
   const layout = resolveRuntimeArtifactLayout(runtime, runtimeConfigDir, scope);
   applySurface(runtimeConfigDir, layout, manifest, CLUSTERS, registry);
   

5. Confirm: "Surface updated to profile <name>. N skills enabled."

---

disable <cluster>

Valid cluster names: core_loop, audit_review, milestone, research_ideate, workspace_state, docs, ui, ai_eval, ns_meta, utility.

1. Validate cluster name against Object.keys(CLUSTERS).
2. Read or initialize surface state.
3. Add cluster to surfaceState.disabledClusters (deduplicate).
4. writeSurface → resolve layout → applySurface:

   const registry = require('gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs');
   const layout = resolveRuntimeArtifactLayout(runtime, runtimeConfigDir, scope);
   applySurface(runtimeConfigDir, layout, manifest, CLUSTERS, registry);
   

5. Confirm: "Disabled cluster <cluster>. N skills removed from surface."

---

enable <cluster>

1. Read surface state; if null, nothing to enable — print "No surface delta active."
2. Remove cluster from surfaceState.disabledClusters.
3. writeSurface → resolve layout → applySurface:

   const registry = require('gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs');
   const layout = resolveRuntimeArtifactLayout(runtime, runtimeConfigDir, scope);
   applySurface(runtimeConfigDir, layout, manifest, CLUSTERS, registry);
   

4. Confirm: "Enabled cluster <cluster>. N skills added back to surface."

---

reset

1. Check if .gsd-surface.json exists.
2. Delete it.
3. Re-apply using only readActiveProfile(runtimeConfigDir) (install-time profile).
4. Confirm: "Surface reset to install-time profile <name>."

---

runtimeConfigDir resolution

The runtimeConfigDir for applySurface is the base Claude config directory (~/.claude), NOT the skills sub-directory (~/.claude/skills).

This matches installRuntimeArtifacts and uninstallRuntimeArtifacts, which also receive ~/.claude as configDir. The skill dirs themselves live at ~/.claude/skills/gsd-*/ because the claude global layout has destSubpath = 'skills' — they are derived from configDir, not the root for it.

# Claude Code — global install
RUNTIME_CONFIG_DIR="${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-$HOME/.claude}"
SCOPE="global"

# Artifact destinations are derived from runtime layout
# via resolveRuntimeArtifactLayout(runtime, RUNTIME_CONFIG_DIR, SCOPE)
# then applySurface(RUNTIME_CONFIG_DIR, layout, manifest, CLUSTERS)

Surface state is stored at ${RUNTIME_CONFIG_DIR}/.gsd-surface.json (i.e. ~/.claude/.gsd-surface.json).

All paths can be overridden by reading the CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR env var if set.

---

Error handling

• Unknown cluster name → list valid cluster names, exit without writing.
• Unknown profile name → list known profiles (core, standard, full), exit.
• Missing surface.cjs → prompt: "Run npm i -g gsd-core to reinstall GSD."

<execution_context> Surface state file: ~/.claude/.gsd-surface.json Install profile marker: ~/.claude/.gsd-profile Skill dirs: ~/.claude/skills/gsd-*/ Engine module: ~/.claude/gsd-core/bin/lib/surface.cjs Cluster definitions: ~/.claude/gsd-core/bin/lib/clusters.cjs </execution_context>