diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/code-review/instructions.xml b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/code-review/instructions.xml
index e5649559d..37b3eb63f 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/code-review/instructions.xml
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/code-review/instructions.xml
@@ -195,12 +195,14 @@
 
       <check if="{{new_status}} == 'done'">
         <action>Update development_status[{{story_key}}] = "done"</action>
+        <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action>
         <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure</action>
         <output>✅ Sprint status synced: {{story_key}} → done</output>
       </check>
 
       <check if="{{new_status}} == 'in-progress'">
         <action>Update development_status[{{story_key}}] = "in-progress"</action>
+        <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action>
         <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure</action>
         <output>🔄 Sprint status synced: {{story_key}} → in-progress</output>
       </check>
diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/instructions.xml b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/instructions.xml
index f9433371f..8e53cdd8e 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/instructions.xml
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/instructions.xml
@@ -321,6 +321,7 @@
       <action>Find development_status key matching {{story_key}}</action>
       <action>Verify current status is "backlog" (expected previous state)</action>
       <action>Update development_status[{{story_key}}] = "ready-for-dev"</action>
+      <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action>
       <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure including STATUS DEFINITIONS</action>
     </check>
 
diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/dev-story/instructions.xml b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/dev-story/instructions.xml
index 3c4989f39..c39c35f2e 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/dev-story/instructions.xml
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/dev-story/instructions.xml
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@
 
       <check if="current status == 'ready-for-dev' OR review_continuation == true">
         <action>Update the story in the sprint status report to = "in-progress"</action>
+        <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action>
         <output>🚀 Starting work on story {{story_key}}
           Status updated: ready-for-dev → in-progress
         </output>
@@ -348,6 +349,7 @@
       <action>Find development_status key matching {{story_key}}</action>
       <action>Verify current status is "in-progress" (expected previous state)</action>
       <action>Update development_status[{{story_key}}] = "review"</action>
+      <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action>
       <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure including STATUS DEFINITIONS</action>
       <output>✅ Story status updated to "review" in sprint-status.yaml</output>
     </check>
diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/retrospective/instructions.md b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/retrospective/instructions.md
index 018ef6ee3..d2bf7e390 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/retrospective/instructions.md
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/retrospective/instructions.md
@@ -1336,6 +1336,7 @@ Bob (Scrum Master): "See you all when prep work is done. Meeting adjourned!"
 <action>Find development_status key "epic-{{epic_number}}-retrospective"</action>
 <action>Verify current status (typically "optional" or "pending")</action>
 <action>Update development_status["epic-{{epic_number}}-retrospective"] = "done"</action>
+<action>Update last_updated field to current date</action>
 <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure including STATUS DEFINITIONS</action>
 
 <check if="update successful">
diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/instructions.md b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/instructions.md
index 316d2fec3..04492088b 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/instructions.md
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/instructions.md
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ development_status:
 
 ```yaml
 # generated: {date}
+# last_updated: {date}
 # project: {project_name}
 # project_key: {project_key}
 # tracking_system: {tracking_system}
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ development_status:
 # - Dev moves story to 'review', then runs code-review (fresh context, different LLM recommended)
 
 generated: { date }
+last_updated: { date }
 project: { project_name }
 project_key: { project_key }
 tracking_system: { tracking_system }
diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/sprint-status-template.yaml b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/sprint-status-template.yaml
index 80d404310..6725b206c 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/sprint-status-template.yaml
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/sprint-status-template.yaml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 # EXAMPLE STRUCTURE (your actual epics/stories will replace these):
 
 generated: 05-06-2-2025 21:30
+last_updated: 05-06-2-2025 21:30
 project: My Awesome Project
 project_key: NOKEY
 tracking_system: file-system
diff --git a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-status/instructions.md b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-status/instructions.md
index 4182e1f25..b37bff9a5 100644
--- a/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-status/instructions.md
+++ b/src/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-status/instructions.md
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ Run `/bmad:bmm:workflows:sprint-planning` to generate it, then rerun sprint-stat
 
 <step n="2" goal="Read and parse sprint-status.yaml">
   <action>Read the FULL file: {sprint_status_file}</action>
-  <action>Parse fields: generated, project, project_key, tracking_system, story_location</action>
+  <action>Parse fields: generated, last_updated, project, project_key, tracking_system, story_location</action>
   <action>Parse development_status map. Classify keys:</action>
   - Epics: keys starting with "epic-" (and not ending with "-retrospective")
   - Retrospectives: keys ending with "-retrospective"
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Enter corrections (e.g., "1=in-progress, 2=backlog") or "skip" to continue witho
 - IF any story has status "review": suggest `/bmad:bmm:workflows:code-review`
 - IF any story has status "in-progress" AND no stories have status "ready-for-dev": recommend staying focused on active story
 - IF all epics have status "backlog" AND no stories have status "ready-for-dev": prompt `/bmad:bmm:workflows:create-story`
-- IF `generated` timestamp is more than 7 days old: warn "sprint-status.yaml may be stale"
+- IF `last_updated` timestamp is more than 7 days old (or `last_updated` is missing, fall back to `generated`): warn "sprint-status.yaml may be stale"
 - IF any story key doesn't match an epic pattern (e.g., story "5-1-..." but no "epic-5"): warn "orphaned story detected"
 - IF any epic has status in-progress but has no associated stories: warn "in-progress epic has no stories"
   </step>
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ If the command targets a story, set `story_key={{next_story_id}}` when prompted.
 
 <action>Read and parse {sprint_status_file}</action>
 
-<action>Validate required metadata fields exist: generated, project, project_key, tracking_system, story_location</action>
+<action>Validate required metadata fields exist: generated, project, project_key, tracking_system, story_location (last_updated is optional for backward compatibility)</action>
 <check if="any required field missing">
 <template-output>is_valid = false</template-output>
 <template-output>error = "Missing required field(s): {{missing_fields}}"</template-output>