feat: add anti-skip safeguards and verification to implementation workflows

- Add YOLO mode clarification: auto-approve prompts only, NOT skip steps
- Add mandatory story creation verification (file exists, 4kb+ size)
- Add quality requirements for create-story output
- Add sprint-status tracking updates
- Harden autonomous-epic, create-story, and story-pipeline workflows
- Ensure stories contain required sections (Tasks, Acceptance Criteria, Dev Notes)

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/autonomous-epic/README.md

@@ -431,10 +431,10 @@ Ready to merge
 
 ```bash
 # In another terminal, watch progress:
-watch -n 10 'cat docs/sprint-artifacts/.autonomous-epic-progress.yaml'
+watch -n 10 'cat _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/.autonomous-epic-progress.yaml'
 
 # Or tail completion report:
-tail -f docs/sprint-artifacts/epic-2-completion-report.md
+tail -f _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/epic-2-completion-report.md
 ```
 
 ### 4. Interruption Handling
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ Story 3/8: 2-3-password-reset
 
 ```bash
 # Check progress programmatically:
-cat docs/sprint-artifacts/.autonomous-epic-progress.yaml
+cat _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/.autonomous-epic-progress.yaml
 
 # Example:
 epic_num: 2
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ current_story: 2-3-password-reset
 
 ```bash
 # Generated when epic completes:
-cat docs/sprint-artifacts/epic-2-completion-report.md
+cat _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/epic-2-completion-report.md
 ```
 
 ## Advanced: Batch Epic Processing

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/autonomous-epic/instructions.xml

@@ -20,6 +20,43 @@
     4. Return to this workflow and continue
   </critical>
 
+  <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
+  <!-- 🚨 CRITICAL: YOLO MODE CLARIFICATION 🚨                                         -->
+  <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
+  <critical>🚨 WHAT YOLO MODE MEANS:
+    - YOLO mode ONLY means: automatically answer "y", "Y", "C", or "continue" to prompts
+    - YOLO mode does NOT mean: skip steps, skip workflows, skip verification, or produce minimal output
+    - YOLO mode does NOT mean: pretend work was done when it wasn't
+    - ALL steps must still be fully executed - just without waiting for user confirmation
+    - ALL invoke-workflow calls must still be fully executed
+    - ALL verification checks must still pass
+  </critical>
+
+  <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
+  <!-- 🚨 ANTI-SKIP SAFEGUARDS - THESE ARE NON-NEGOTIABLE 🚨                           -->
+  <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
+  <critical>🚨 STORY CREATION IS SACRED - YOU MUST ACTUALLY RUN CREATE-STORY:
+    - DO NOT just output "Creating story..." and move on
+    - DO NOT skip the invoke-workflow tag
+    - DO NOT pretend the story was created
+    - You MUST fully execute the create-story workflow with ALL its steps
+    - The story file MUST exist and be verified BEFORE proceeding
+  </critical>
+  <critical>🚨 CREATE-STORY QUALITY REQUIREMENTS:
+    - create-story must analyze epics, PRD, architecture, and UX documents
+    - create-story must produce comprehensive story files (4kb+ minimum)
+    - Tiny story files (under 4kb) indicate the workflow was not properly executed
+    - Story files MUST contain: Tasks/Subtasks, Acceptance Criteria, Dev Notes, Architecture Constraints
+  </critical>
+  <critical>🚨 HARD VERIFICATION REQUIRED AFTER STORY CREATION:
+    - After invoke-workflow for create-story completes, you MUST verify:
+      1. The story file EXISTS on disk (use file read/check)
+      2. The story file is AT LEAST 4000 bytes (use wc -c or file size check)
+      3. The story file contains required sections (Tasks, Acceptance Criteria, Dev Notes)
+    - If ANY verification fails: HALT and report error - do NOT proceed to super-dev-pipeline
+    - Do NOT trust "Story created" output without verification
+  </critical>
+
   <step n="1" goal="Initialize and validate epic">
     <output>🤖 **Autonomous Epic Processing**
 
@@ -43,6 +80,13 @@
       - ✅ Disciplined execution even at high token counts
       - ✅ All quality gates enforced
 
+      🚨 **QUALITY SAFEGUARDS (Non-Negotiable):**
+      - Story files MUST be created via full create-story execution
+      - Story files MUST be at least 4kb (comprehensive, not YOLO'd)
+      - Story files MUST contain: Tasks, Acceptance Criteria, Dev Notes
+      - YOLO mode = auto-approve prompts, NOT skip steps or produce minimal output
+      - Verification happens AFTER each story creation - failures halt processing
+
       **Key Improvement:** Stories in "review" status with unchecked tasks
       WILL be processed - we check actual task completion, not just status!
 
@@ -148,6 +192,9 @@
       - current_story: null
       - status: running
     </action>
+
+    <!-- Keep sprint-status accurate at start -->
+    <action>Update sprint-status: if epic-{{epic_num}} is "backlog" or "contexted", set to "in-progress"</action>
   </step>
 
   <step n="3" goal="Process all stories in epic">
@@ -172,27 +219,77 @@
         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
       </output>
 
-      <!-- CREATE STORY IF BACKLOG -->
+      <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
+      <!-- CREATE STORY IF BACKLOG - WITH MANDATORY VERIFICATION                   -->
+      <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
       <check if="status == 'backlog'">
-        <output>📝 Creating story from epic...</output>
+        <output>📝 Creating story from epic - THIS REQUIRES FULL WORKFLOW EXECUTION...</output>
+        <output>⚠️ REMINDER: You MUST fully execute create-story, not just output messages!</output>
 
         <try>
+          <!-- STEP 1: Actually invoke and execute create-story workflow -->
           <invoke-workflow path="{project-root}/_bmad/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/workflow.yaml">
-            <note>Create story just-in-time</note>
+            <input name="story_id" value="{{current_story.key}}" />
+            <note>Create story just-in-time - MUST FULLY EXECUTE ALL STEPS</note>
+            <note>This workflow must load epics, PRD, architecture, UX docs</note>
+            <note>This workflow must produce a comprehensive 4kb+ story file</note>
           </invoke-workflow>
 
-          <output>✅ Story created</output>
+          <!-- STEP 2: HARD VERIFICATION - Story file must exist -->
+          <action>Set {{expected_story_file}} = {{story_dir}}/story-{{epic_num}}.{{story_num}}.md</action>
+          <action>Check if file exists: {{expected_story_file}}</action>
+          <check if="story file does NOT exist">
+            <output>🚨 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file was NOT created!</output>
+            <output>Expected file: {{expected_story_file}}</output>
+            <output>The create-story workflow did not execute properly.</output>
+            <output>This story CANNOT proceed without a proper story file.</output>
+            <action>Add to failed_stories with reason: "Story file not created"</action>
+            <continue />
+          </check>
+
+          <!-- STEP 3: HARD VERIFICATION - Story file must be at least 4kb -->
+          <action>Get file size of {{expected_story_file}} in bytes</action>
+          <check if="file size < 4000 bytes">
+            <output>🚨 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file is too small ({{file_size}} bytes)!</output>
+            <output>Minimum required: 4000 bytes</output>
+            <output>This indicates create-story was skipped or improperly executed.</output>
+            <output>A proper story file should contain:</output>
+            <output>  - Detailed acceptance criteria</output>
+            <output>  - Comprehensive tasks/subtasks</output>
+            <output>  - Dev notes with architecture constraints</output>
+            <output>  - Source references</output>
+            <output>This story CANNOT proceed with an incomplete story file.</output>
+            <action>Add to failed_stories with reason: "Story file too small - workflow not properly executed"</action>
+            <continue />
+          </check>
+
+          <!-- STEP 4: HARD VERIFICATION - Story file must have required sections -->
+          <action>Read {{expected_story_file}} and check for required sections</action>
+          <check if="file missing '## Tasks' OR '## Acceptance Criteria'">
+            <output>🚨 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file missing required sections!</output>
+            <output>Required sections: Tasks, Acceptance Criteria</output>
+            <output>This story CANNOT proceed without proper structure.</output>
+            <action>Add to failed_stories with reason: "Story file missing required sections"</action>
+            <continue />
+          </check>
+
+          <output>✅ Story created and verified:</output>
+          <output>   - File exists: {{expected_story_file}}</output>
+          <output>   - File size: {{file_size}} bytes (meets 4kb minimum)</output>
+          <output>   - Required sections: present</output>
+          <action>Update sprint-status: set {{current_story.key}} to "ready-for-dev" (if not already)</action>
         </try>
 
         <catch>
           <output>❌ Failed to create story: {{error}}</output>
-          <action>Add to failed_stories, continue to next</action>
+          <action>Add to failed_stories with error details</action>
           <continue />
         </catch>
       </check>
 
       <!-- DEVELOP STORY WITH SUPER-DEV-PIPELINE (handles both greenfield AND brownfield) -->
       <check if="{{unchecked_count}} > 0">
+        <action>Update sprint-status: set {{current_story.key}} to "in-progress"</action>
         <output>💻 Developing story with super-dev-pipeline ({{unchecked_count}} tasks remaining)...</output>
 
         <try>
@@ -213,6 +310,7 @@
             <output>⚠️ Story still has {{remaining_unchecked}} unchecked tasks after super-dev-pipeline</output>
             <action>Log incomplete tasks for review</action>
             <action>Mark as partial success</action>
+            <action>Update sprint-status: set {{current_story.key}} to "review"</action>
           </check>
 
           <check if="{{remaining_unchecked}} == 0">

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/autonomous-epic/workflow.yaml

@@ -46,6 +46,31 @@ super_dev_pipeline_features:
   quality_gates: "All super-dev-story gates with disciplined execution"
   brownfield_support: "Validates existing code before implementation"
 
+# YOLO MODE CLARIFICATION
+# YOLO mode ONLY means auto-approve prompts (answer "y", "Y", "C", "continue")
+# YOLO mode does NOT mean: skip steps, skip workflows, or produce minimal output
+# ALL steps, workflows, and verifications must still be fully executed
+yolo_clarification:
+  auto_approve_prompts: true
+  skip_steps: false # NEVER - all steps must execute
+  skip_workflows: false # NEVER - invoke-workflow calls must execute
+  skip_verification: false # NEVER - all checks must pass
+  minimal_output: false # NEVER - full quality output required
+
+# STORY QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
+# These settings ensure create-story produces comprehensive story files
+story_quality_requirements:
+  minimum_size_bytes: 4000 # Story files must be at least 4KB
+  enforce_minimum_size: true
+  required_sections:
+    - "## Tasks"
+    - "## Acceptance Criteria"
+    - "## Dev Notes"
+    - "Architecture Constraints"
+    - "Gap Analysis"
+  halt_on_quality_failure: true # Stop processing if story fails quality check
+  verify_file_exists: true # Verify story file was actually created on disk
+
 # TASK-BASED COMPLETION SETTINGS (NEW)
 # These settings ensure stories are truly complete, not just marked as such
 completion_verification:
@@ -68,5 +93,3 @@ completion_verification:
   strict_epic_completion: true
 
 standalone: true
-
-web_bundle: false

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story-with-gap-analysis/README.md

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Args: "1.9" (epic.story number)
 2. **SCAN codebase systematically** (Glob for files, Read to verify implementation)
 3. Generate gap analysis with verified ✅/❌/⚠️ status
 4. Update story file with truthful checkboxes
-5. Save to docs/sprint-artifacts/
+5. Save to _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/
 
 ---
 

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story-with-gap-analysis/step-01-initialize.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Which story should I regenerate with gap analysis?
 
 Options:
 1. Provide story number (e.g., "1.9" or "1-9")
-2. Provide story filename (e.g., "1-9-admin-user-service-bridgeid-rbac.md")
+2. Provide story filename (e.g., "story-1.9.md" or legacy "1-9-admin-user-service-bridgeid-rbac.md")
 
 Your choice:
 ```
@@ -21,12 +21,14 @@ Your choice:
 **Parse input:**
 - Extract epic_num (e.g., "1")
 - Extract story_num (e.g., "9")
-- Locate story file: `docs/sprint-artifacts/{epic_num}-{story_num}-*.md`
+- Locate story file: `{story_dir}/story-{epic_num}.{story_num}.md` (fallback: `{story_dir}/{epic_num}-{story_num}-*.md`)
 
 ### 2. Load Existing Story Content
 
 ```bash
-Read: docs/sprint-artifacts/{epic_num}-{story_num}-*.md
+Read: {story_dir}/story-{epic_num}.{story_num}.md
+# If not found, fallback:
+Read: {story_dir}/{epic_num}-{story_num}-*.md
 ```
 
 **Extract from existing story:**
@@ -40,8 +42,7 @@ Read: docs/sprint-artifacts/{epic_num}-{story_num}-*.md
 ### 3. Load Epic Context
 
 ```bash
-Glob: docs/archive/planning-round-1-greenfield/epics/epic-{epic_num}-*.md
+Read: {planning_artifacts}/epics.md
-Read: [found epic file]
 ```
 
 **Extract from epic:**

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story-with-gap-analysis/step-03-generate-story.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Generate complete 7-section story file using verified gap analysis from Step 2.
 ### 1. Load Template
 
 ```bash
-Read: _bmad/custom/workflows/create-story-with-gap-analysis/template.md
+Read: {installed_path}/template.md
 ```
 
 ### 2. Fill Template Variables
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ Read: _bmad/custom/workflows/create-story-with-gap-analysis/template.md
 
 **Write filled template:**
 ```bash
-Write: docs/sprint-artifacts/{{epic_num}}-{{story_num}}-{{slug}}.md
+Write: {story_dir}/story-{{epic_num}}.{{story_num}}.md
 [Complete 7-section story with verified gap analysis]
 ```
 
@@ -96,28 +96,28 @@ Write: docs/sprint-artifacts/{{epic_num}}-{{story_num}}-{{slug}}.md
 
 ```bash
 # Check section count
-grep "^## " docs/sprint-artifacts/{{story_file}} | wc -l
+grep "^## " {story_dir}/story-{{epic_num}}.{{story_num}}.md | wc -l
 # Should output: 7
 
 # Check for gap analysis
-grep -q "Gap Analysis.*Current State" docs/sprint-artifacts/{{story_file}}
+grep -q "Gap Analysis.*Current State" {story_dir}/story-{{epic_num}}.{{story_num}}.md
 # Should find it
 
 # Run custom validation
-./scripts/validate-bmad-format.sh docs/sprint-artifacts/{{story_file}}
+./scripts/validate-bmad-format.sh {story_dir}/story-{{epic_num}}.{{story_num}}.md
 # Update script to expect 7 sections + gap analysis subsection
 ```
 
 ### 5. Update Sprint Status
 
 ```bash
-Read: docs/sprint-artifacts/sprint-status.yaml
+Read: {sprint_status}
 
 # Find story entry
 # Update status to "ready-for-dev" if was "backlog"
 # Preserve all comments and structure
 
-Write: docs/sprint-artifacts/sprint-status.yaml
+Write: {sprint_status}
 ```
 
 ### 6. Report Completion
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ Write: docs/sprint-artifacts/sprint-status.yaml
 ```
 ✅ Story {{epic_num}}.{{story_num}} Regenerated with Gap Analysis
 
-File: docs/sprint-artifacts/{{story_file}}
+File: {story_dir}/story-{{epic_num}}.{{story_num}}.md
 Sections: 7/7 ✅
 Gap Analysis: VERIFIED with codebase scan
 

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story-with-gap-analysis/workflow.yaml

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ config_source: "{project-root}/_bmad/bmm/config.yaml"
 user_name: "{config_source}:user_name"
 communication_language: "{config_source}:communication_language"
 date: system-generated
+planning_artifacts: "{config_source}:planning_artifacts"
 implementation_artifacts: "{config_source}:implementation_artifacts"
 output_folder: "{implementation_artifacts}"
 story_dir: "{implementation_artifacts}"
@@ -19,8 +20,8 @@ instructions: "{installed_path}/step-01-initialize.md"
 # Variables and inputs
 variables:
   sprint_status: "{implementation_artifacts}/sprint-status.yaml"
-  epics_file: "{output_folder}/epics.md"
+  epics_file: "{planning_artifacts}/epics.md"
-  prd_file: "{output_folder}/PRD.md"
+  prd_file: "{planning_artifacts}/prd.md"
 
 # Project context
 project_context: "**/project-context.md"

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/instructions.xml

@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@
   <critical>You MUST have already loaded and processed: {installed_path}/workflow.yaml</critical>
   <critical>Communicate all responses in {communication_language} and generate all documents in {document_output_language}</critical>
 
+  <critical>🚨 YOLO MODE CLARIFICATION: YOLO mode ONLY means auto-approve prompts (answer "y", "Y", "C", "continue").
+    YOLO mode does NOT mean: skip steps, skip sections, skip analysis, or produce minimal output.
+    ALL steps must be fully executed. ALL sections must be populated. The output file must be COMPREHENSIVE (4KB+ minimum).
+    Skipping steps or producing minimal output in YOLO mode is a CRITICAL FAILURE.</critical>
+
   <critical>🔥 CRITICAL MISSION: You are creating the ULTIMATE story context engine that prevents LLM developer mistakes, omissions or
     disasters! 🔥</critical>
   <critical>Your purpose is NOT to copy from epics - it's to create a comprehensive, optimized story file that gives the DEV agent
@@ -302,6 +307,32 @@
       <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure including STATUS DEFINITIONS</action>
     </check>
 
+    <critical>QUALITY VERIFICATION - Story file must meet minimum requirements before completion</critical>
+    <action>Verify story file was created on disk</action>
+    <check if="story file does not exist on disk">
+      <output>🚫 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file was NOT created at {{story_file}}</output>
+      <output>This is a workflow execution failure. The file must be written to disk.</output>
+      <action>HALT - Story creation failed</action>
+    </check>
+
+    <action>Get file size of {{story_file}}</action>
+    <check if="file size is less than 4000 bytes">
+      <output>🚫 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file is too small ({{file_size}} bytes, minimum 4000 bytes)</output>
+      <output>This indicates the story was not comprehensively created.</output>
+      <output>Required sections: ## Story, ## Acceptance Criteria, ## Tasks, ## Dev Notes, Gap Analysis, Architecture Constraints</output>
+      <action>HALT - Story creation incomplete. Re-run with full analysis.</action>
+    </check>
+
+    <action>Verify required sections exist in story file</action>
+    <check if="missing ## Tasks section">
+      <output>🚫 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file is missing ## Tasks section</output>
+      <action>HALT - Story creation incomplete</action>
+    </check>
+    <check if="missing ## Acceptance Criteria section">
+      <output>🚫 CRITICAL ERROR: Story file is missing ## Acceptance Criteria section</output>
+      <action>HALT - Story creation incomplete</action>
+    </check>
+
     <action>Report completion</action>
     <output>**🎯 BMad Method STORY CREATED, {user_name}!**
 
@@ -309,6 +340,7 @@
       - Story ID: {{story_id}}
       - Story Key: {{story_key}}
       - File: {{story_file}}
+      - File Size: {{file_size}} bytes ✅ (minimum 4000 bytes)
       - Status: ready-for-dev
 
       **What Was Created:**
@@ -316,6 +348,7 @@
       - ✅ Acceptance criteria and success metrics
       - ✅ DRAFT implementation tasks (based on requirements)
       - ✅ Developer context and architecture guardrails
+      - ✅ Quality verification passed
 
       **Next Steps:**
       1. Review the story in {{story_file}}

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/create-story/workflow.yaml

@@ -32,6 +32,21 @@ project_context: "**/project-context.md"
 
 default_output_file: "{story_dir}/{{story_key}}.md"
 
+# STORY QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
+# Ensure comprehensive story files are produced
+story_quality:
+  minimum_size_bytes: 4000 # Story files must be at least 4KB
+  required_sections:
+    - "## Story" # As a / I want / So that
+    - "## Status"
+    - "## Acceptance Criteria" # BDD-style Given/When/Then
+    - "## Tasks" # Actionable tasks with checkboxes
+    - "## Dev Notes" # Technical implementation notes
+    - "## Gap Analysis" # Codebase analysis results
+    - "Architecture Constraints" # From architecture.md
+  output_mode: "comprehensive" # Never produce minimal output
+  yolo_mode_note: "YOLO mode means auto-approve prompts, NOT skip sections or produce minimal output"
+
 # Smart input file references - Simplified for enhanced approach
 # The epics+stories file should contain everything needed with source hints
 input_file_patterns:
@@ -57,5 +72,3 @@ input_file_patterns:
     load_strategy: "SELECTIVE_LOAD" # Only load needed epic
 
 standalone: true
-
-web_bundle: false

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-pipeline/README.md

@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ If execution stops (context exhaustion, error, manual halt):
 bmad build 1-4 --resume
 
 # The pipeline reads state from:
-# docs/sprint-artifacts/pipeline-state-{story-id}.yaml
+# _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/pipeline-state-{story-id}.yaml
 ```
 
 Resume automatically:
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ steps:
 
 ### Pipeline State File
 
-Created at `docs/sprint-artifacts/pipeline-state-{story-id}.yaml`:
+Created at `_bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/pipeline-state-{story-id}.yaml`:
 
 ```yaml
 story_id: "1-4"
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ steps:
    - Acceptance criteria in BDD format (Given/When/Then)
    - Test scenarios for each AC
    - Technical notes
-5. Save to `docs/sprint-artifacts/story-{id}.md`
+5. Save to `_bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/story-{id}.md`
 
 **Quality Gate:** Story file exists with all required sections.
 
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ Example issues found in real usage:
 After a complete pipeline run:
 
 ```
-docs/sprint-artifacts/
+_bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/
 ├── story-{id}.md              # Story file with ACs, validation report
 ├── pipeline-state-{id}.yaml   # Execution state and summary
 ├── atdd-checklist-{id}.md     # Test requirements checklist

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-pipeline/steps/step-07-complete.md

@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ stories:
 
 ```bash
 git add src/
-git add docs/sprint-artifacts/story-{story_id}.md
+git add _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/story-{story_id}.md
-git add docs/sprint-artifacts/sprint-status.yaml
+git add _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/sprint-status.yaml
 git add src/supabase/migrations/
 ```
 

src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/super-dev-story/README.md

@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ Super-dev-story:
 ### Specify Story
 
 ```bash
-/super-dev-story docs/sprint-artifacts/1-2-auth.md
+/super-dev-story _bmad-output/implementation-artifacts/story-1.2.md
 ```
 
 ### Expected Flow