BMAD Orchestrator

Purpose: Core orchestrator for the BMAD Method (Breakthrough Method for Agile AI-Driven Development), managing workflows, tracking status, and routing users through structured development phases.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• User requests /workflow-init or /init

• Initialize BMAD in a project

• User requests /workflow-status or /status

• Check progress and get recommendations

• User mentions "BMAD setup" or "start BMAD workflow"

• Project needs structured development methodology

• Coordination between multiple development phases is required

Core Responsibilities

• Project Initialization - Set up BMAD directory structure and configuration

• Status Tracking - Monitor progress across 4 development phases

• Workflow Routing - Direct users to appropriate next steps based on project state

• Progress Management - Maintain workflow status and completion tracking

BMAD Method Overview

4 Development Phases

• Analysis (Optional) - Research, brainstorming, product brief

• Planning (Required) - PRD or Tech Spec based on project complexity

• Solutioning (Conditional) - Architecture design for medium+ projects

• Implementation (Required) - Sprint planning, stories, development

Project Levels

• Level 0: Single atomic change (1 story) - Quick fixes, small tweaks

• Level 1: Small feature (1-10 stories) - Single feature additions

• Level 2: Medium feature set (5-15 stories) - Multiple related features

• Level 3: Complex integration (12-40 stories) - System integrations

• Level 4: Enterprise expansion (40+ stories) - Large-scale projects

Planning Requirements by Level:

• Level 0-1: Tech Spec required, PRD optional/recommended

• Level 2+: PRD required, Tech Spec optional

• Level 2+: Architecture required

Available Commands

/workflow-init or /init

Initialize BMAD structure in the current project.

Steps:

Create directory structure:

bmad/ ├── config.yaml └── agent-overrides/

docs/ ├── bmm-workflow-status.yaml └── stories/

.claude/commands/bmad/ (if not exists)

Collect project information:

• Project name

• Project type (web-app, mobile-app, api, game, library, other)

• Project level (0-4)

Create project config using config.template.yaml

Create workflow status file with conditional requirements based on level:

• Use workflow-status template

• Set PRD: required if level >= 2, else recommended

• Set Tech-spec: required if level <= 1, else optional

• Set Architecture: required if level >= 2, else optional

Display initialization summary and recommend next workflow

Offer to start recommended workflow

Example interaction:

User: /workflow-init

Orchestrator: I'll initialize BMAD for your project. [Collects info, creates files...]

✓ BMAD Method initialized!

Project: MyApp Type: web-app Level: 2 (Medium feature set)

Configuration: bmad/config.yaml Status tracking: docs/bmm-workflow-status.yaml

Recommended next step: Create Product Brief with /product-brief This will help define your product vision and requirements.

Would you like to start with /product-brief?

/workflow-status or /status

Check project status and get recommendations for next steps.

Steps:

• Load project config (bmad/config.yaml)

• Load workflow status (docs/bmm-workflow-status.yaml)

• Determine current phase and next recommended workflow

• Display status with visual indicators

• Offer to execute recommended workflow

Status Indicators:

• ✓ = Completed (shows file path)

• ⚠ = Required but not started

• → = Current phase

• = Optional/not required

Example interaction:

User: /status

Orchestrator: Checking your project status...

Project: MyApp (Web Application, Level 2)

✓ Phase 1: Analysis ✓ product-brief (docs/product-brief-myapp-2025-01-11.md)

→ Phase 2: Planning [CURRENT] ⚠ prd (required - NOT STARTED)

• tech-spec (optional)

Phase 3: Solutioning

• architecture (required)

Phase 4: Implementation

• sprint-planning (required)

Recommended next step: Create PRD with /prd command

Would you like to run /prd to create your PRD?

If project not initialized:

• Inform user BMAD not detected

• Offer to run /workflow-init

Workflow Routing Logic

After determining project status, route users to specialized workflows:

• Analysis workflows: /product-brief , /brainstorm , /research

• Planning workflows: /prd , /tech-spec

• UX workflows: /create-ux-design

• Architecture workflows: /architecture

• Sprint workflows: /sprint-planning , /create-story

• Development workflows: /dev-story , /code-review

Recommendation logic:

• If no product-brief and project new → Recommend: /product-brief

• If product-brief complete, no PRD/tech-spec:

• Level 0-1 → Recommend: /tech-spec

• Level 2+ → Recommend: /prd

• If PRD/tech-spec complete, no architecture, level 2+ → Recommend: /architecture

• If planning complete → Recommend: /sprint-planning

• If sprint active → Recommend: /create-story or /dev-story

See REFERENCE.md for detailed routing logic.

Configuration Files

Project Config (bmad/config.yaml)

project_name: "MyApp" project_type: "web-app" # web-app, mobile-app, api, game, library, other project_level: 2 # 0-4 output_folder: "docs" communication_language: "English"

Workflow Status (docs/bmm-workflow-status.yaml)

Tracks completion of each workflow with status values:

• "optional"

• Can be skipped

• "recommended"

• Strongly suggested

• "required"

• Must be completed

• "{file-path}"

• Completed (shows output file)

• "skipped"

• Explicitly skipped

See templates/config.template.yaml for full template.

Helper Scripts

Execute via Bash tool:

init-project.sh - Automated project initialization

bash scripts/init-project.sh --name "MyApp" --type web-app --level 2

check-status.sh - Display current workflow status

bash scripts/check-status.sh

validate-config.sh - Validate YAML configuration

bash scripts/validate-config.sh bmad/config.yaml

See scripts documentation for details.

Error Handling

Config missing:

• Suggest /workflow-init

• Explain BMAD not initialized

Invalid YAML:

• Show error location

• Offer to fix or reinitialize

Template missing:

• Use inline fallback

• Log warning

• Continue operation

Status file inconsistent:

• Validate against project level

• Offer to regenerate

Integration with Other Skills

This orchestrator coordinates with specialized BMAD skills:

• business-analyst

• Analysis phase workflows

• product-manager

• Planning phase workflows

• system-architect

• Architecture design

• scrum-master

• Sprint and story management

• developer

• Development workflows

When routing to these skills, pass context:

• Current project config

• Workflow status

• Project level

• Output folder location

Token Optimization

• Use script automation for repetitive tasks

• Reference REFERENCE.md for detailed logic

• Load files only when needed

• Keep status displays concise

• Delegate detailed work to specialized skills

Subagent Strategy

This skill leverages parallel subagents to maximize context utilization (each agent has up to 1M tokens on Claude Sonnet 4.6 / Opus 4.6).

Workflow Status Check Workflow

Pattern: Fan-Out Research Agents: 3-4 parallel agents

Agent Task Output

Agent 1 Check project config and validate structure bmad/outputs/config-status.md

Agent 2 Analyze workflow status file and phase completion bmad/outputs/workflow-status.md

Agent 3 Scan docs directory for completed artifacts bmad/outputs/artifacts-status.md

Agent 4 Generate recommendations based on project level bmad/outputs/recommendations.md

Coordination:

• Launch all agents with shared project context

• Each agent writes status findings to designated output

• Main context synthesizes results into unified status report

• Display visual status indicators and next steps

Project Initialization Workflow

Pattern: Parallel Section Generation Agents: 3 parallel agents

Agent Task Output

Agent 1 Create directory structure and validate paths bmad/outputs/directory-setup.md

Agent 2 Generate project config from template bmad/config.yaml

Agent 3 Generate workflow status file with level-based requirements docs/bmm-workflow-status.yaml

Coordination:

• Gather project information from user (sequential)

• Launch parallel agents to create structures and configs

• Main context validates all outputs and displays summary

Example Subagent Prompt

Task: Analyze workflow status and determine current phase Context: Read bmad/config.yaml and docs/bmm-workflow-status.yaml Objective: Identify completed workflows, current phase, and required next steps Output: Write analysis to bmad/outputs/workflow-status.md

Deliverables:

1. List of completed workflows with file paths
2. Current phase determination
3. Required vs optional next workflows
4. Blocking issues or missing dependencies

Constraints:

• Use project level to determine requirements
• Flag any inconsistencies in status file

Notes for Claude

• This is the entry point for BMAD workflows

• Always check if project is initialized before operations

• Maintain phase-based progression (don't skip required phases)

• Use TodoWrite for multi-step initialization

• Keep responses focused and actionable

• Hand off to specialized skills for detailed workflows

• Update workflow status after completing workflows

Quick Reference

• Detailed routing logic: REFERENCE.md

• Workflow phases: resources/workflow-phases.md

• Config template: templates/config.template.yaml

• Init script: scripts/init-project.sh

• Status script: scripts/check-status.sh