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 ✓ 83 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.
This is the shape of what senior-dev drafts for "OTA update endpoint" — auth first, schema validation, and the audit line the iot-embedded reviewer requires before gate:ship opens.
// src/routes/iot-embedded.ts — drafted by senior-dev, reviewed by 5 agents
import { Router } from 'express';
import { requireAuth } from '../middleware/auth'; // security-officer: auth first
import { auditLog } from '../lib/audit'; // gate:iot-embedded: every decision logged
export const router = Router();
router.post('/iot-embedded', requireAuth, async (req, res) => {
const parsed = schema.parse(req.body); // qa-engineer: zod schema enforced
const result = await handle(parsed, req.user);
await auditLog({ who: req.user.id, what: 'OTA update endpoint', confidence: result.confidence });
res.json(result);
});iot-embedded overlay.Device firmware with secure boot and OTA strategy.
Sensor fleets under ETSI EN 303 645.
RTOS apps (Zephyr / ESP-IDF / embassy) with watchdog patterns.
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. Built as a Claude Code plugin — install with one command.
Eight stages, two human gates, four memory layers. Why this exact shape, and what I tried that didn't work.
One run, one feature, from prompt to merged PR. Time, cost, and gate-by-gate breakdown — no marketing math.
Regex vs LLM-based archetype detection, the false-positive count, and why I keep rejecting the obvious fix.
The bottleneck in agentic SDLC isn't model quality — it's process governance. Here's the state machine that closes the gap.