How i use the pstack plugin
Most people install pstack in Cursor, open Grok Bot, say “build my app,” and wonder why Cloud Agents ignore /poteto-mode. The setup is three pieces. Mix them up and you get slop at scale. Grok Bot is
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Most people install pstack in Cursor, open Grok Bot, say “build my app,” and wonder why Cloud Agents ignore /poteto-mode.
The setup is three pieces. Mix them up and you get slop at scale.
Grok Bot is the coordinator. Persistent cloud computer, plugins, routines. It does not index your repo.
A Cursor Cloud Agent is the worker. Isolated VM, clones GitHub, opens a PR.
pstack by Lauren Tan (@poteto) is the engineering standard: /poteto-mode, playbooks, principles, /swarm, verification. Less code, higher quality — not more loc.
https://cursor.com/marketplace/cursor/pstack https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack https://cursor.com/docs/grok-bot
If you want to go fast, go deep first. Then parallelize.
Credit: @poteto built pstack. This is her factory, written so Cloud Agents can follow it.
- Connect GitHub
Cloud Agents only see repos on GitHub linked at cursor.com → Dashboard → Integrations → GitHub. Same connection Grok Bot uses when it works on a repo.
Grok Bot Origin repos are not this path yet.
After you spawn agents from the Bot, enable Source → Grok Bot on cursor.com/agents and in the desktop sidebar or they stay hidden.
- Install pstack in the right places
Local Cursor: /add-plugin pstack then /setup-pstack.
Grok Bot: add pstack from the Bot plugin catalog so the coordinator speaks the same language.
That is not enough for Cloud Agents.
Account plugins and ~/.cursor/skills/ often do not load on the cloud VM. Cursor staff have said: commit the skill into the repo, or the agent searches the checkout and misses /poteto-mode.
User-level skills are not copied to Cloud Agents. Project skills in the repo are.
- Vendor pstack into the repo
From repo root, or have Grok Bot spawn a Cloud Agent to do this as a PR.
«Prompt: Spawn a Cursor cloud agent on OWNER/REPO, base branch main. Goal: vendor Lauren Tan / @poteto pstack skills into this repo so Cloud Agents can use /poteto-mode without relying on the account plugin. Done means: 1) .cursor/skills/ contains the full tree from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills 2) .cursor/agents/ contains pstack/agents if that folder exists upstream 3) .cursor/PSTACK_UPSTREAM.md records source URL, MIT license, and the upstream commit SHA 4) .gitignore does not ignore .cursor/skills or .cursor/rules 5) .cursor/rules/pstack.mdc tells agents: for non-trivial work, read .cursor/skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md first 6) open a focused PR, do not merge, do not rewrite unrelated files. How: sparse-clone cursor/plugins, checkout only pstack/skills and pstack/agents; rsync into .cursor/skills and .cursor/agents; do NOT overwrite any existing .cursor/skills/verify-* folder; do NOT copy ~/.cursor or secrets; keep the diff to .cursor/** plus .gitignore if you had to fix it. After the PR exists, reply with the PR URL and confirm .cursor/skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md, .cursor/skills/create-verification-skill/SKILL.md, and .cursor/skills/swarm/SKILL.md exist.»
Manual version if you do it locally:
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git /tmp/cursor-plugins
cd /tmp/cursor-plugins && git sparse-checkout set pstack/skills pstack/agents
cd /path/to/your/repo
mkdir -p .cursor/skills .cursor/agents
rsync -a /tmp/cursor-plugins/pstack/skills/ .cursor/skills/
rsync -a /tmp/cursor-plugins/pstack/agents/ .cursor/agents/
Copy the whole skills/ tree. /poteto-mode routes to how, why, architect, arena, swarm, tdd, principles. One file is not pstack.
Do not gitignore all of .cursor/. Keep .cursor/skills/ and .cursor/rules/ tracked.
/setup-pstack writes ~/.cursor/rules/pstack-models.mdc. That home file does not ride to the VM. If you care about model roles in the cloud, copy the rule into .cursor/rules/ in the repo.
- Give each runnable app a verify skill
«Prompt: Spawn a cloud agent on OWNER/REPO. Read .cursor/skills/create-verification-skill/SKILL.md. This is a monorepo. Create one verify skill per runnable app, not one repo-wide skill. Put each at apps/
Shared libraries do not need a verify skill unless they have a runnable demo.
Without this, “verify” is the model saying it looks fine.
- Prompt the Bot as a coordinator
Do not ask Grok Bot to implement on its own computer. Ask it to spawn a Cloud Agent.
«Prompt: Spawn a Cursor cloud agent on OWNER/REPO. Use /poteto-mode (or read .cursor/skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md). Build:
@poteto’s version of the same idea: spawn a cloud agent to use /poteto-mode, then drive the app and show proof. The Bot stays free to supervise. The worker gets its own VM and the full Cursor model pool.
Give a goal + a check. You do not need to name a playbook. “Repro first” and “verify both” are enough for /poteto-mode to route.
Save pstack for work that needs rigor. Prefixing every typo fix burns tokens for no reason.
- Continuous roadmap (optional)
If you have docs/roadmap/, the Bot can drain it until you say stop. Still one PR per slice.
«Prompt: You are the standing coordinator. Keep going until I say stop. Do not write product code on your computer. Spawn Cursor cloud agents on OWNER/REPO. Source of truth: docs/roadmap/. Apps ship as a bundle. Shared contracts before per-app features. Use /poteto-mode (or read .cursor/skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md) on every coding agent. Use each app’s verify-* skill when the change is user-visible. Loop: 1) pick the next unblocked slice (dependency order, bundle-first, smallest checkable unit) 2) spawn one cloud agent with a locked brief: roadmap heading, package paths, done-check, open a PR 3) review PR URL + evidence, then start the next slice without waiting for me 4) after 2 hard blocks on the same item, skip it and continue 5) at most 2–3 cloud agents when slices do not share files 6) never invent work that is not in docs/roadmap. You may spawn agents, open PRs, and push branches. You may not merge to main, publish, spend money, or change secrets. On “stop”: finish the current PR if it is minutes from done, then spawn nothing new.»
Safer default above: open PRs, you merge.
If you really want merge-while-away — Autopilot-full, as @poteto defined it (independent items to merged, second verifier, no owner merges on its own verdict) — swap the permissions lines for this:
«Prompt: Permissions: Autopilot-full. You may spawn cloud agents, push branches, open PRs, and merge to main. You may not publish releases, spend money, rotate/change secrets, or edit production config. No owner agent merges on its own verdict. Before merge: spawn a fresh verifier to run tests + the matching verify-* skill. Merge only on a clean verdict. If verify fails or the slice is coupled to an open PR, do not merge; stack or wait. On “stop”: do not merge anything still running; spawn nothing new.»
Coupled monorepo contracts belong on Autopilot-stack until verify skills are honest.
- Overnight
A duration is not a finish condition. “Work 4 hours” produces motion.
«Prompt: /poteto-mode I’m going offline. Spawn a cloud agent. Done means:
Morning: /show-me-your-work. Audit decisions, not the whole transcript.
Pitfalls
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Plugin on the laptop ≠ skill on the VM.
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Grok Bot coding on the shared Bot computer pollutes context and does not isolate the repo.
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Extra Bots share one computer. Isolation for code is Cloud Agents, not a second Bot.
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Slash menu missing /poteto-mode: say “read .cursor/skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md.”
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Merging without a second verifier is not Autopilot-full. It is hope.
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Two words (“Autopilot-full”) are not a spec unless pstack is actually loaded.
Minimum that works today: GitHub connected, pstack skills committed under .cursor/skills/, one verify skill per runnable app, Bot only spawns Cloud Agents with a goal and a check.
Published on grokbot.sh. Cite the public log, not a prompt pack.