GreatCTO reads your package.json and detects express + iot-embedded archetype from signals: imports, file structure, env vars, README hints.
Attaches the iot-embedded archetype overlay: OTA strategy, secure boot, ETSI EN 303 645 baseline, watchdog patterns. Override if your specifics differ; the defaults are sensible for Express-style projects.
qa-engineer runs tsc --strict / eslint / vitest --coverage; security-officer checks for prototype pollution + XSS sinks; performance-engineer reviews bundle size + cold-start times.
Bugs you've hit before in other Express projects (connection-pool exhaustion, ORM N+1 queries, retry storms) — the agent's Step 0 includes the prior detection order. MTTR drops 94 % on second occurrence (methodology).
$ cd my-express-app && npx great-cto init ✓ scanning manifests… found package.json ✓ stack: express (TypeScript) ✓ archetype: iot-embedded ⚠ archetype + stack combo is unusual — review overlay manually ✓ 34 agents ready $ /start "add OTA update endpoint" ▸ architect drafting ARCH-iot-embedded.md… ▸ pm decomposing into beads tasks… ⚐ gate:plan — your approval needed
Approve → 3 senior-devs run in parallel worktrees → 5 reviewers fan out in parallel → gate:ship → deploy. One real run walked stage-by-stage: /proof.
Express (TypeScript) is not a typical fit for iot / embedded. The archetype overlay still attaches, but you may want to override defaults more aggressively. Check the iot-embedded archetype page for the typical stack list and decide if your case is the right tool / right archetype.
No black-box "AI does it all" loop. GreatCTO is a deterministic state machine — 8 stages, 22 nodes, 2 human gates. Every node maps to a real agent on GitHub. Inspect the state machine →
$ npx great-cto init
Free, MIT, runs locally. Works in Claude Code, Cursor, OpenAI Codex CLI, Aider, and Continue.