BMAD v6-Alpha Skill

What is BMAD-CORE?

BMAD-CORE (Collaboration Optimized Reflection Engine) is a revolutionary framework that amplifies human potential through specialized AI agents. Unlike traditional AI tools that replace human thinking, BMAD-CORE guides through reflective workflows that bring out the best ideas in both human and AI.

Core Philosophy:

• Collaboration: Human-AI partnership where both contribute unique strengths

• Optimized: Refined processes for maximum effectiveness

• Reflection: Guided thinking that unlocks better solutions

• Engine: Powerful framework orchestrating specialized agents and workflows

BMAD v6-Alpha Architecture

Module System

BMAD organizes capabilities into four main modules:

1. Core Module (Always Installed)

Foundation powering all modules:

• BMad Master Agent - Universal orchestrator and task executor

• Party Mode - Multi-agent collaborative sessions

• Brainstorming Workflow - Core ideation capabilities

• Configuration System - User preferences and settings

Location: bmad/core/

2. BMM Module - BMad Method (Software Development)

Revolutionary agile software development with Scale Adaptive Workflow Engine™:

• 10 Specialized Agents: Analyst, PM, Architect, SM, Dev, Game Designer, Game Architect, Game Dev, UX Designer, TEA (Test Architect)

• Four-Phase Methodology: Analysis → Planning → Solutioning → Implementation

• Scale Levels 0-4: From single changes to enterprise projects

• Just-In-Time Design: Create specs one epic at a time

• Story State Machine: Automated story progression (BACKLOG → TODO → IN PROGRESS → DONE)

Location: bmad/bmm/ (if installed)

3. BMB Module - BMad Builder (Custom Development)

Tools for creating custom agents, workflows, and modules:

• Builder Agent - Guides creation of custom components

• 7 Builder Workflows: create-agent, create-workflow, create-module, audit-workflow, edit-workflow, module-brief, redoc

• Three Agent Types: Full module agents, hybrid agents, standalone agents

Location: bmad/bmb/ (if installed)

4. CIS Module - Creative Intelligence Suite

Innovation and creative problem-solving:

• 5 Specialized Agents: Brainstorming Coach (Carson), Design Thinking Coach (Maya), Problem Solver (Dr. Quinn), Innovation Strategist (Victor), Storyteller (Sophia)

• 150+ Creative Techniques: Across brainstorming, design thinking, problem-solving, innovation strategy, storytelling

• Energy-Aware Sessions: Adapts to user engagement

Location: bmad/cis/ (shared resources appear even if not explicitly selected)

5. BMD Module - BMad Development (Project Management)

Internal tools for BMAD development itself:

• CLI Chief - Command-line management

• Doc Keeper - Documentation management

• Release Chief - Release management

Location: bmd/ (development only)

Installation Structure

All modules install to a single unified bmad/ folder:

your-project/ └── bmad/ ├── core/ # Core framework (always present) ├── bmm/ # BMad Method (if selected) ├── bmb/ # BMad Builder (if selected) ├── cis/ # Creative Intelligence (shared resources) ├── _cfg/ # Your customizations │ ├── agents/ # Agent sidecar files │ └── manifest.yaml └── [module]/config.yaml # Per-module configuration

Working with BMAD Agents

Agent Activation Methods

Method 1: Claude Code Slash Commands (Recommended)

When BMAD is installed locally in .claude/commands/bmad/ , use these slash commands:

Core Module

/bmad:bmad:core:agents:bmad-master /bmad:bmad:core:workflows:brainstorming /bmad:bmad:core:workflows:party-mode

BMM Module Agents

/bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:analyst # Business Analyst - Phase 1 /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:pm # Product Manager - Phase 2 /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:architect # Architect - Phase 3 /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:sm # Scrum Master - Phase 4 /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:dev # Developer - Phase 4 /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:game-designer # Game projects /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:game-architect # Game architecture /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:game-dev # Game development /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:ux-designer # UX design /bmad:bmad:bmm:agents:tea # Test Architect

BMB Module

/bmad:bmad:bmb:agents:bmad-builder # Builder agent

BMB Workflows (Direct Access)

/bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:create-agent /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:create-workflow /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:create-module /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:audit-workflow /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:edit-workflow /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:module-brief /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:redoc /bmad:bmad:bmb:workflows:convert-legacy

BMD Module (Development/Management)

/bmad:bmad:bmd:agents:cli-chief /bmad:bmad:bmd:agents:doc-keeper /bmad:bmad:bmd:agents:release-chief

Local Installation Location: /Users/mikhail/.claude/commands/bmad/

Method 2: Direct File Loading

• Drag and drop agent file from .claude/commands/bmad/

• Use @ mention with agent file path

• Navigate to agent file in your IDE's file browser

Method 3: BMad Master Orchestrator Load BMad Master first, then use menu to access specific agents or workflows.

Agent Structure

All BMAD agents follow a consistent YAML structure:

agent: metadata: id: bmad/[module]/agents/[name].md name: AgentName title: Agent Title icon: 🎯 module: [bmm|bmb|cis|core]

persona: role: Primary Role + Secondary Expertise identity: Background and experience description communication_style: How the agent communicates principles: - Guiding principle 1 - Guiding principle 2

menu: - trigger: command-name workflow: "{project-root}/bmad/[module]/workflows/[workflow]/workflow.yaml" description: What this command does

Common Agent Commands

Every agent has these built-in commands:

• *help

• Show agent's menu

• *exit

• Exit agent with confirmation

Module-specific commands use asterisk prefix:

• Analyst: *workflow-status , *brainstorm-project , *research , *product-brief

• PM: *workflow-status , *prd , *tech-spec , *gdd (games)

• Architect: *architecture , *tech-spec

• SM: *create-story , *story-ready , *story-context , *story-done , *retrospective

• Dev: *dev-story , *review-story , *story-done

BMM: The Four-Phase Software Development Methodology

Universal Entry Point: workflow-status

ALWAYS START HERE! Before beginning any workflow:

Load Analyst or PM agent, then:

*workflow-status

What it does:

• ✅ Checks for existing workflow status file

• ✅ Displays current phase, progress, and next action

• ✅ Guides new projects to appropriate workflows

• ✅ Routes brownfield projects to documentation first

• ✅ Provides clear recommendations for next steps

Phase 1: Analysis (Optional)

Purpose: Project discovery and requirements gathering

Agents: Analyst, Game Designer

Workflows:

• brainstorm-project

• Software solution exploration

• brainstorm-game

• Game concept ideation (5 methodologies)

• research

• Multi-mode research (market/technical/deep)

• product-brief

• Strategic product planning

• game-brief

• Structured game design foundation

When to use: New projects needing concept development

Phase 2: Planning (Required)

Purpose: Scale-adaptive planning with appropriate documentation

Agents: PM, Game Designer

Scale Levels:

Level Scope Stories Outputs Next Phase

0 Single atomic change 1 tech-spec.md + story Implementation

1 Simple feature 2-10 tech-spec.md + epic + stories Implementation

2 Focused project 5-15 (1-2 epics) PRD.md + epics.md Tech-spec → Implementation

3 Complex project 12-40 (2-5 epics) PRD.md + epics.md Solutioning → Implementation

4 Enterprise scale 40+ (5+ epics) PRD.md + epics.md Solutioning → Implementation

Software Projects:

• Level 0-1: *tech-spec (Architect) → Implementation

• Level 2: *prd (PM) → *tech-spec → Implementation

• Level 3-4: *prd (PM) → Solutioning → Implementation

Game Projects:

• All Levels: *gdd (Game Designer) → Optional narrative → Solutioning or Implementation

Key Outputs:

• bmm-workflow-status.md

• Versioned workflow state with story backlog

• PRD.md

• Product Requirements (L2-4)

• epics.md

• Epic breakdown (L2-4)

• tech-spec.md

• Technical specification (L0-2)

• story-*.md

• User story files

Phase 3: Solutioning (Levels 3-4 Only)

Purpose: Architecture and technical design for complex projects

Agents: Architect, Game Architect

Workflows:

• architecture

• Create overall architecture.md with ADRs

• tech-spec

• Create epic-specific tech specs (JIT - Just-In-Time)

Just-In-Time Approach:

FOR each epic in sequence: WHEN ready to implement epic: Architect: Run *tech-spec for THIS epic only → Creates tech-spec-epic-N.md IMPLEMENT epic completely THEN move to next epic

Critical: Tech specs created ONE AT A TIME, not all upfront. This prevents over-engineering and incorporates learning.

Phase 4: Implementation (Iterative)

Purpose: Transform requirements into working software

Agents: SM (Scrum Master), Dev (Developer)

The Story State Machine:

BACKLOG → TODO → IN PROGRESS → DONE

State Definitions:

• BACKLOG: Ordered list of stories awaiting drafting (populated at phase transition)

• TODO: Single story needing drafting or awaiting approval

• IN PROGRESS: Single story approved for development

• DONE: Completed stories with dates and points

Implementation Loop:

1. SM: *create-story (drafts story from TODO) → Story file created with Status="Draft"

2. USER REVIEWS STORY

3. SM: *story-ready (approves story) → TODO → IN PROGRESS → BACKLOG → TODO (next story) → Story Status = "Ready"

4. SM: *story-context (optional but recommended) → Generates expertise injection XML

5. DEV: *dev-story (implements story) → Reads IN PROGRESS section → Implements with context guidance

6. USER REVIEWS IMPLEMENTATION

7. DEV: *story-done (marks complete) → IN PROGRESS → DONE → TODO → IN PROGRESS (if exists) → BACKLOG → TODO (if exists) → Story Status = "Done"

8. REPEAT until all stories complete

9. SM: *retrospective (after epic complete) → Captures learnings for next epic

Key Workflows:

• create-story

• SM drafts story from TODO

• story-ready

• SM approves story for dev (after user review)

• story-context

• SM generates contextual expertise

• dev-story

• DEV implements story

• story-done

• DEV marks story complete (after user confirms DoD)

• review-story

• Quality validation (optional)

• correct-course

• Handle issues/changes

• retrospective

• Capture epic learnings

Critical Rule: Agents NEVER search for "next story" - they ALWAYS read from status file.

Working with Workflows

Workflow Execution

Workflows are executed through agent menus:

• Load agent (Analyst, PM, Architect, SM, Dev, etc.)

• Agent shows menu with available commands

• Enter command (e.g., *prd , *create-story )

• Agent loads and executes workflow.yaml

• Workflow guides through structured steps

Workflow Structure

All workflows are YAML-based with consistent structure:

workflow: metadata: id: workflow-unique-id name: Workflow Name version: 1.0.0

config: output_folder: "{output_folder}"

steps: - name: Step Name prompt: | Detailed instructions for this step

Key Workflow Patterns

Validation Workflows: Use validate-workflow handler

• trigger: validate-tech-spec validate-workflow: "{project-root}/bmad/bmm/workflows/2-plan-workflows/tech-spec/workflow.yaml" checklist: "{project-root}/bmad/bmm/workflows/2-plan-workflows/tech-spec/checklist.md" document: "{output_folder}/tech-spec.md"

Data-Driven Workflows: Use data parameter

• trigger: command-name workflow: "{project-root}/bmad/[module]/workflows/[name]/workflow.yaml" data: "{output_folder}/context.md"

BMB: Building Custom Components

Creating Custom Agents

Load BMad Builder agent, then use:

• *create-agent

• Design and implement custom agents

• *create-workflow

• Build new workflow definitions

• *create-module

• Design custom modules

Agent Types

1. Full Module Agents: Complete agents embedded in modules

• Location: src/modules/[module]/agents/

• Example: PM, Analyst, Architect

2. Hybrid Agents: Shared across modules

• Location: Shared agent directories

• Example: Brainstorming agents used by multiple modules

3. Standalone Agents: Tiny, specialized agents

• Location: Independent of modules

• Example: Single-purpose utility agents

Builder Workflows

• audit-workflow

• Review and validate workflows

• edit-workflow

• Modify existing workflows

• module-brief

• Document module specifications

• redoc

• Regenerate documentation

• convert-legacy

• Migrate legacy formats

CIS: Creative Intelligence

CIS Agents and Workflows

5 Specialized Agents with unique personas:

• Carson - Brainstorming Coach (energetic facilitator)

• Maya - Design Thinking Maestro (jazz-like improviser)

• Dr. Quinn - Problem Solver (detective-scientist)

• Victor - Innovation Strategist (strategic precision)

• Sophia - Storyteller (whimsical narrator)

5 Interactive Workflows:

• brainstorming

• 36 creative techniques across 7 categories

• design-thinking

• 5-phase human-centered design

• problem-solving

• Root cause analysis and solution generation

• innovation-strategy

• Business model innovation

• storytelling

• 25 story frameworks

Using CIS

CIS workflows can be:

• Invoked directly via CIS agents

• Embedded in other modules (BMM uses brainstorming)

• Used standalone for creative sessions

Best Practices

DO's

✅ Always start with *workflow-status

• Universal entry point ✅ Respect the scale levels - Don't over-document small projects ✅ Use Just-In-Time design - Create tech specs one epic at a time ✅ Follow the story state machine - Never skip state transitions ✅ Run retrospectives - After each epic for continuous learning ✅ Generate story-context - Provides targeted expertise ✅ Validate before advancing - User reviews stories and implementations ✅ Document brownfield first - Never plan without understanding existing code

DON'Ts

❌ Don't skip workflow-status check - It guides your entire journey ❌ Don't create all tech specs upfront - Use JIT approach ❌ Don't batch story creation - One at a time through state machine ❌ Don't manually track stories - Let state machine manage progression ❌ Don't plan brownfield without docs - Run analysis first ❌ Don't over-document Level 0-1 - Simple projects need minimal docs ❌ Don't skip Phase 3 for Level 3-4 - Architecture is critical

Configuration and Customization

Module Configuration

Each module has config.yaml with:

project_name: "Your Project" output_folder: "./docs/bmad" user_name: "Your Name" communication_language: "English" technical_level: "intermediate" # BMM specific

Location: bmad/[module]/config.yaml

Agent Customization (Sidecar Files)

Customize any agent via sidecar files in bmad/_cfg/agents/ :

bmad/_cfg/agents/core-bmad-master.customize.yaml

customizations: persona: name: "CustomName" communication_style: "Your preferred style"

menu: - trigger: custom-command workflow: "{project-root}/path/to/custom/workflow.yaml" description: "Custom functionality"

Update-Safe: Customizations persist through BMAD updates

Multi-Language Support

Agents communicate in configured language:

• Set in module config.yaml : communication_language: "Spanish"

• Agents automatically adapt communication

• Documentation output can use different language

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"Workflow status file not found"

→ Run *workflow-status first to initialize

"Story not in expected state"

→ Check bmm-workflow-status.md

• verify story is in correct section

"Can't find next story"

→ Agents don't search - they read from status file sections

"Brownfield planning fails"

→ Run documentation workflow first (coming soon: brownfield-analysis)

"Over-documented small project"

→ Check scale level - Level 0-1 should skip PRD and architecture

"Tech specs created all at once"

→ Use JIT approach - one epic at a time during implementation

Quick Reference

Essential Commands by Agent

Analyst:

• *workflow-status

• Check status

• *brainstorm-project

• Ideation

• *research

• Market/technical research

• *product-brief

• Product strategy

PM:

• *workflow-status

• Check status

• *prd

• Create PRD (L2-4)

• *tech-spec

• Create tech spec (L0-2)

• *gdd

• Game design document

Architect:

• *architecture

• Overall architecture (L3-4)

• *tech-spec

• Epic-specific specs (JIT)

SM:

• *create-story

• Draft story

• *story-ready

• Approve story

• *story-context

• Generate expertise

• *retrospective

• Capture learnings

Dev:

• *dev-story

• Implement story

• *review-story

• Quality check

• *story-done

• Mark complete

BMad Builder:

• *create-agent

• Build custom agent

• *create-workflow

• Build workflow

• *create-module

• Build module

File Locations

Config: bmad/[module]/config.yaml

Agents: bmad/[module]/agents/

Workflows: bmad/[module]/workflows/

Tasks: bmad/core/tasks/

Customizations: bmad/_cfg/agents/

Status Tracking: {output_folder}/bmm-workflow-status.md

Support Resources

• 💬 Discord Community

• 🐛 Issue Tracker

• 🎥 YouTube Tutorials

• 📚 Full Documentation

Framework: BMAD-CORE v6-alpha | Version: Alpha | Branch: v6-alpha