Added a "Reinforce Global Rules in Your IDE's Session File" section to
extend-bmad-for-your-org.md. BMad customizations only load when a
skill activates, but IDE session files (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, cursor
rules, copilot-instructions) load every turn — worth restating the
most critical rules there too so they survive ad-hoc chat outside a
BMad skill.
Includes a one-line example reinforcing the Recipe 1 Context7 rule,
plus a scope table that clarifies what each layer is for:
- IDE session file: universal, every session, keep succinct
- Agent customization: persona-specific, every dispatched workflow
- Workflow customization: one workflow run
Emphasizes brevity — noise in the session file crowds out signal.
Three independent improvements bundled because they share the same
surface (workflow/agent customization) and landed from the same design
discussion:
## Fallback sentence disambiguated (7 SKILL.md files)
The "if the script fails" fallback used to say `{project-root}/_bmad/
custom/{skill-name}.toml` for the team override and then just `{skill-
name}.user.toml` for the user override, leaving the user file's
location implicit. LLMs could reasonably guess skill root or project
root instead. Replaced with an unambiguous numbered list that spells
out the full path for every file in the merge chain.
## Product-brief: stage promotion + brief_template variable
- Promoted `## Stage 1: Understand Intent` from a nested step inside
"On Activation" to a top-level section. The previous "Step 7: Stage
1 — Understand Intent → Proceed to Stage 1 below" was mechanical
numbering pretending to be a step. Activation now ends cleanly at
Step 6; Stage 1 is a peer section.
- Added `brief_template` as a workflow-level scalar customization
defaulting to `resources/brief-template.md`. Stage 4 reads
`{workflow.brief_template}` instead of the hardcoded path, so orgs
can point at their own template under `{project-root}/...` without
forking the skill.
## New doc: docs/how-to/extend-bmad-for-your-org.md
Four worked recipes that together cover most enterprise scenarios:
1. Shape an agent across every workflow it dispatches (dev agent +
Context7 MCP + Linear search — the highest-leverage pattern)
2. Enforce org conventions inside a specific workflow (product-brief
+ compliance-field persistent_facts)
3. Publish completed outputs to external systems (product-brief +
Confluence + Jira via MCP, gated on user confirmation for Jira)
4. Swap in your own output template (product-brief + brief_template
variable swap)
Opens with the two-layer mental model (agent spans workflows,
workflow is local) so readers pick the right granularity before
reading any recipe. Closes with a "Combining Recipes" section
showing all four composed. Cross-linked from customize-bmad.md.
## Validation
- Resolver: workflow.brief_template returns the default cleanly.
- validate-file-refs.js: 254 files scanned, 146 refs checked
(+7 from this commit), 0 broken.
Brian Madison