Why Garry Tan’s Claude Code setup has gotten so much love, and hate

At the recent SXSW event, Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator, made headlines with his candid remarks about his intense engagement with artificial intelligence. During a discussion with fellow venture capitalist Bill Gurley, Tan humorously admitted to experiencing what he calls 'cyber psychosis,' claiming to function on just four hours of sleep each night due to his AI enthusiasm. Tan shared his transformative experience with AI agents, likening it to the extensive effort he once put into launching a startup that required $10 million in venture capital and a dedicated team. He reflected on the past when he relied on sleep aids like modafinil to keep up with the demanding startup culture. However, he now finds himself energized by his work with AI, stating that he no longer needs such substances to stay awake. In an exciting development, Tan unveiled his Claude Code (CC) setup on GitHub just two days prior to his interview, offering it to the public under an open-source license. This setup, dubbed 'gstack,' features six specially designed skills that allow AI to perform in various roles and tasks. His enthusiasm for these tools is palpable as he invites the community to try out his exact configurations. The gstack repository has quickly gained traction, amassing nearly 20,000 stars on GitHub and over 2,200 forks, indicating widespread interest and adaptation by developers. Tan also showcased how the skills within gstack can facilitate various tasks, from evaluating startup ideas to debugging code. Despite the positive reception, Tan’s announcement was met with mixed reactions. A tweet from Tan revealed a conversation with a CTO friend who claimed that gstack was capable of identifying a security flaw his team was unaware of, dubbing it 'god mode.' This sparked a wave of criticism online, with some suggesting that such claims were exaggerated and that if Tan weren’t a prominent figure, the attention on gstack would be minimal. Critics, including fellow developers and content creators, pointed out that the skills offered in gstack are essentially prompts that many in the community already have. Yet, experts like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini provided supportive feedback, highlighting the sophistication and practical utility of Tan's setup. In a follow-up post, Tan expressed his passion for coding with AI, emphasizing the creative synergy it brings. Although he did not respond to requests for comment, his fervor for AI and its potential continues to spark discussions within the tech community.