* feat(core-skills): add bmad-customize for authoring _bmad/custom overrides
A conversational guide skill that helps users author or update TOML overrides
in _bmad/custom/ for customizable BMad agents and workflows. Covers per-skill
agent and workflow surfaces; central config is out of scope for v1.
- SKILL.md: six-step flow (intent, discover, route, compose, team-vs-user,
show-confirm-write-verify) with baked-in agent-vs-workflow routing heuristic
and a template-swap subroutine
- scripts/list_customizable_skills.py: stdlib-only scanner that enumerates
customizable skills across standard IDE install paths, reports surface type
and override status, PEP 723, 10 unit tests
- Reuses _bmad/scripts/resolve_customization.py for post-write verification
- Registered in core-skills/module-help.csv with menu code BC
* refactor(bmad-customize): apply QA pass (top 3 recommendations)
Applies the three highest-payoff themes from the quality analysis:
- Labeling + completion contracts: rename ## Purpose to ## Overview,
add domain framing (what customization means in BMad, typical user
arrival shapes), add an explicit Completion block with testable
conditions for "skill run is done"
- Hostile-environment robustness: add On-Activation preflight that
classifies no-BMad / BMad-without-resolver / full-install states,
instruct Step 2 to surface scanner errors[] and scanned_roots on
empty results, add resolver-missing fallback to Step 6.4, add a
re-enter-Step-4 recovery loop when verify shows the override didn't
take effect
- Returning-user and iteration experience: add "Audit / iterate"
intent class in Step 1, lead discovery with already-overridden
skills for that intent, read existing overrides in Step 3 before
composing, frame Step 4 as additive-on-top rather than fresh
authoring, give Cross-cutting intent an explicit Step 3 branch
that walks agent-vs-workflow with the user
Resolves 12 of 18 observations from the quality report. Lint clean
(scan-path-standards and scan-scripts both 0 findings). Unit tests
still 10/10.
* refactor(bmad-customize): derive skills root from install location
Previously the scanner hardcoded a list of IDE skill directories
(.claude/skills, .cursor/skills, .cline/skills, .continue/skills) and
scanned them relative to the project root. That was wrong: skills can
be installed either project-local or user-global, the IDE determines
the convention, and the set of valid locations is open-ended.
The scanner now derives its primary skills root from __file__ — the
running skill's own install directory is the authoritative location
for finding siblings. --skills-root overrides the default; --extra-root
(repeatable) adds additional locations for the rare mixed-install case.
Changes:
- list_customizable_skills.py: remove SKILL_ROOTS constant, add
default_skills_root() derived from __file__, rename scan_project
to scan_skills(skills_roots, project_root), add --skills-root and
--extra-root flags, de-dupe skills when the same name appears in
multiple roots (first wins)
- SKILL.md: update Step 2 to describe the scanner's derive-from-install
behavior and when to use --extra-root; drop the hardcoded IDE path
list from Notes
- tests: refactor setUp to place skills under a generic skills root
(not .claude/skills), add 3 new tests for multiple-roots merge,
duplicate-name precedence, and missing-root error reporting
* docs(customization): point users at bmad-customize as the guided path
Surface the new bmad-customize skill across the three customization
docs so users know they don't need to hand-author TOML to benefit
from the surface:
- customize-bmad.md: prominent tip at the top introducing the skill
as the guided authoring helper; updated the "Need to see what's
customizable?" troubleshooting tip to recommend the skill first
- expand-bmad-for-your-org.md: tip under prereqs noting every recipe
can be applied via the skill, with the recipes remaining the
reference for what to override
- named-agents.md: short paragraph in the customization section and a
link entry under the references list
Hand-authoring still works the same way; the skill is additive.
Central-config overrides are flagged as the current exception.
* docs(bmad-customize): steer users at bmad-builder instead of 'forking'
* fix(bmad-customize): reword description to pass file-ref validator
* refactor(bmad-customize): tighten description and expand module-help entry
- SKILL.md description: drop the catch-all 'or asks how to change the
behavior of a specific BMad skill' trigger clause that would fire in
casual discussion; keep the four explicit phrase triggers.
- module-help.csv: rewrite the description so bmad-help has real
routing material — names the concrete capabilities (persistent
facts, template swaps, activation hooks, menus), the scope routing,
and the value prop (no TOML hand-authoring). Matches the 'Use
when...' pattern other Core entries use.
* fix(module-help): quote bmad-customize description field that contains commas
* fix(bmad-customize): address PR #2289 review findings
- SKILL.md preflight: load root config from _bmad/config.toml and
config.user.toml (not .yaml) — the installer emits TOML; the YAML
references would have made the skill silently miss real user config
- SKILL.md resolver fallback (Step 6.4): read all three merge layers
when present (base / team / user) and describe the merge in
base → team → user order; the prior wording could describe the wrong
effective merge when the user wrote .user.toml on top of an existing
team .toml
- SKILL.md: replace bare 'docs/how-to/customize-bmad.md' references
(3 locations) with the public docs URL so users installing the skill
aren't pointed at a path they don't have locally
- list_customizable_skills.py: catch UnicodeDecodeError in
read_frontmatter_description so a non-UTF-8 SKILL.md can't abort
the whole scan
- list_customizable_skills.py: clarify exit-code contract in the
module docstring — errors[] is non-fatal by design, exit 2 is
reserved for invocation errors
- customize-bmad.md: tighten the tip to scope bmad-customize to the
per-skill surface; central-config is out of scope v1
- expand-bmad-for-your-org.md: same scoping — Recipes 1-4 can be
applied by the skill; Recipe 5 (central config) stays hand-authored
* fix(bmad-customize): markdownlint MD034 and validate-file-refs
- Wrap the three docs.bmad-method.org references as
[text](url) markdown links instead of bare URLs (MD034)
- Drop the {project-root}/ prefix on line 41's config.toml
references. validate-file-refs strips the template prefix and
tries to resolve 'config.toml' as 'src/config.toml'; sibling
skills (party-mode, retrospective, advanced-elicitation) all
reference '_bmad/config.toml' bare and pass CI — match that
pattern. The '(root level under {project-root}, installer-owned)'
parenthetical preserves the disambiguation.
* refactor(bmad-customize): cut token-wasting prose from SKILL.md
Down from 175 lines to 110. Removed:
- 'What customization means in BMad' architecture backgrounder — the
LLM reads the live customize.toml in Step 3; doesn't need the lore
- 'Desired Outcomes' section — retrospective narration of what the
6 steps already instruct
- 'Role' section — fluff; the flow itself defines the role
- 'Notes' section — sparse-override rule already in Step 4, IDE-path
note is commentary, docs link duplicates the out-of-scope section
- 'The scanner derives its skills directory from...' and 'returns JSON
with...' — commentary the LLM doesn't need; it runs the script and
sees the output
- 'that file IS the schema' and similar editorial asides throughout
- Explanatory clauses like 'silently drifts on every release' and
'trust the user's domain knowledge'
Kept everything that's load-bearing: preflight conditionals, intent
classification, routing heuristic, merge semantics, template-swap
subroutine, team-vs-user defaults, verify fallback and recovery loop,
completion conditions, out-of-scope list.
* refactor: remove bmad-skill-manifest yaml; introduce four-layer central config.toml
- Agent essence moves from per-skill bmad-skill-manifest.yaml files
into each module.yaml's `agents:` block (code, name, title, icon,
description). Per-agent customize.toml remains the deep-behavior
source of truth.
- Installer emits four TOML files:
_bmad/config.toml team install answers + agent roster
_bmad/config.user.toml user install answers
_bmad/custom/config.toml team overrides stub
_bmad/custom/config.user.toml personal overrides stub
Prompts declare scope: user to route answers to config.user.toml.
- resolve_config.py merges four layers: base-team -> base-user ->
custom-team -> custom-user.
- Three consumer skills (party-mode, advanced-elicitation,
retrospective) switched from agent-manifest.csv to the resolver.
- installer.js mergeModuleHelpCatalogs now takes the in-memory
agent list from ManifestGenerator -- no CSV roundtrip.
- Deleted: 6 bmad-skill-manifest.yaml files, agent-manifest.csv
emission, collectAgents/getAgentsFromDirRecursive,
paths.agentManifest().
* fix(installer): strip core-key pollution from [modules.*]; soften config headers
- writeCentralConfig now always strips core-module keys from every
[modules.<code>] bucket, even when the module's schema is not
available in src/ (external / marketplace modules like cis, bmb).
Core values belong in [core] only; workflows read them directly.
- When the module's own schema IS available (built-in modules),
also drop any key it does not declare as a prompt — same
spread-pollution filter as before, now layered on top.
- Section-aware headers on both _bmad/config.toml and
_bmad/config.user.toml: [core] / [modules.*] values are
editable (installer reads them as defaults on next install);
[agents.*] is regenerated from module.yaml and will be wiped —
overrides for agents go in _bmad/custom/config*.toml instead.
* docs: cover central config.toml + Diataxis prose pass across three files
Document the new four-file central configuration surface (_bmad/config.toml,
config.user.toml, and custom/ overrides) alongside the existing per-skill
customize.toml. Make editing rules, scope partitioning, and when-to-use-which
guidance explicit.
- customize-bmad.md: new "Central Configuration" section with editing rules,
three worked examples (rebrand, fictional agent, module settings override),
and a "when to use which surface" table. Converted five h4 headers to
bold paragraph intros per style guide.
- expand-bmad-for-your-org.md: two-layer mental model extended to three;
new Recipe 5 with three variants (rebrand, custom crew, pinned team
settings); reinforcement table extended.
- named-agents.md: noted the dual customization surface — per-skill shapes
behavior, central config shapes roster identity.
Diataxis prose pass applied across all three files: banned vocabulary
check, em-dash cap, hypophora / metanoia / amplificatio / stakes-inflation
cleanup, rhythm and burstiness fixes. Structural conformance verified;
markdownlint and prettier clean.
* test+docs: add central config unit tests; fix stale recipe count
- test: two new suites (35 + 36) covering writeCentralConfig and
ensureCustomConfigStubs. Verifies scope partitioning (user_name
lands only in config.user.toml), core-key pollution stripping
from [modules.*], unknown-schema fallthrough (external modules
survive without schema), agent roster baked into config.toml
[agents.*] only, stub-preservation on re-install. 44 new
assertions.
- docs: fixed four stale "four recipes" references to say "five"
after Recipe 5 (Customize the Agent Roster) was added. Touches
frontmatter, opening paragraph, Combining Recipes paragraph,
and the named-agents cross-link blurb.
* fix: address PR review feedback on central config
- resolve_config.py argparse: three-layer → four-layer description
- SKILL/workflow/explanation docs: document all four layers including
_bmad/config.user.toml (was missing from merge-stack descriptions)
- customize-bmad.md + installer headers: drop the false "direct edits to
config.toml persist" claim; installer reads from per-module config.yaml,
not central TOML, so direct edits get clobbered. Route users to
_bmad/custom/config.toml for durable overrides
- writeCentralConfig: warn loudly when a module.yaml can't be parsed
(previously silent — user-scoped keys could mis-file into team config)
- writeCentralConfig: preserve [agents.*] blocks for modules that didn't
contribute fresh agents this run (e.g. quickUpdate skipping modules
whose source is unavailable) so the roster doesn't silently shrink
- add extractAgentBlocks helper + Test Suite 37 covering preservation
Addresses comments from augmentcode and coderabbitai on PR #2285.
Core and BMM modules live in this repo (src/core-skills, src/bmm-skills)
but the installer UI sourced them from the remote registry. When the
registry was unreachable (VPN, proxy, firewall), the fallback YAML only
had the 4 external modules, so core and bmm disappeared from the install
list entirely.
Now _selectOfficialModules and getDefaultModules always read built-in
modules from the local source via OfficialModules.listAvailable(), then
append external modules from the registry. Network failures only affect
external modules.
Closes#2239
* feat(bmad-help): add _meta rows and llms.txt support for general questions
Register llms.txt URLs in module-help.csv via _meta rows so bmad-help
can fetch module documentation when users ask questions that don't map
to a specific skill.
* refactor(bmad-help): streamline llms.txt docs into existing skill sections
* chore: remove SM agent (Bob) and migrate capabilities to Developer agent
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(docs): correct agent naming and grammar from review triage
Standardize Developer agent references to bmad-agent-dev (matching
installed skill directory name) and fix possessive apostrophe in
implementation-readiness workflow.
* fix(skills): replace dev team references with Developer agent
No longer a multi-agent development team — just one Developer agent.
Remove residual Scrum Master search patterns from retrospective.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* clear up contradiction and config mispath
* fix(party-mode): clarify solo mode behavior and improve response presentation rules
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Replace the multi-file workflow architecture (workflow.md + 3 step files)
with a self-contained SKILL.md that spawns each agent as an independent
subagent via the Agent tool. This produces genuinely diverse perspectives
instead of one LLM roleplaying multiple characters. Adds --model and
--solo flags for flexibility.
* refactor: remove bmad-init skill and standardize config loading across all skills
Remove the bmad-init core skill entirely — all agents and workflow skills now
load config directly from their module's config.yaml instead of delegating to
bmad-init as an intermediary. This eliminates the Python script dependency and
simplifies the activation path for every skill.
Changes across all skill types:
- Agents (9 skills): Replace "Load config via bmad-init skill" block with
direct config loading from `{project-root}/_bmad/bmm/config.yaml`, resolving
user_name, communication_language, document_output_language,
planning_artifacts, and project_knowledge
- Workflow skills (12 skills): Standardize INITIALIZATION/Configuration Loading
sections to a consistent Activation format matching the agent pattern
- bmad-prfaq: Align activation to standard config pattern, convert scripted
dialogue to outcome-focused instructions (no direct quotes)
- bmad-product-brief: Remove External Skills section referencing bmad-init
- bmad-party-mode: Standardize initialization to Activation format
- bmad-advanced-elicitation: Inline agent_party path instead of config var
- bmad-distillator: Remove unused argument-hint frontmatter
- Delete legacy create-prd/ directory (superseded by bmad-create-prd)
- Delete bmad-init skill entirely: SKILL.md, bmad_init.py, core-module.yaml,
and test suite
* fix: remove remaining bmad-init references from marketplace.json and distillate examples
Clean up missed references: remove bmad-init from marketplace.json skills
list, replace bmad-init examples in distillate-format-reference.md with
bmad-help/bmad-setup to keep examples valid without referencing a removed skill.
* fix: update broken file references in bmad-edit-prd after create-prd deletion
Point prdPurpose refs from deleted create-prd/data/ to bmad-create-prd/data/
and validationWorkflow ref from create-prd/steps-v/ to bmad-validate-prd/steps-v/.
* refactor(installer): restructure installer with clean separation of concerns
Move tools/cli/ to tools/installer/ with major structural cleanup:
- InstallPaths async factory for path resolution and directory creation
- Config value object (frozen) replaces mutable config bag
- ExistingInstall value object replaces stateful Detector class
- OfficialModules + CustomModules + ExternalModuleManager replace monolithic ModuleManager
- install() is prompt-free; all user interaction in ui.js
- Update state returned explicitly instead of mutating customConfig
- Delete dead code: dependency-resolver, _base-ide, IdeConfigManager,
platform-codes helpers, npx wrapper, xml-utils
- Flatten directory structure: custom/handler → custom-handler,
tools/cli/ → tools/installer/, lib/ directories removed
- Update all path references in package.json, tests, CI, and docs
* fix(installer): guard ExistingInstall.version and surface module.yaml errors
Guard ExistingInstall.version access with .installed check in
uninstall.js, ui.js, and installer.js to prevent throwing on
empty/partial _bmad dirs. Surface invalid module.yaml parse errors
as warnings instead of silently returning empty results.
* fix(bmad-init): correctly resolve output_folder paths outside project root
When output_folder was set to an absolute path (e.g. /Users/me/outputs),
the {project-root}/{value} result template stored it as
{project-root}//absolute/path. resolve_project_root_placeholder then did
a naive string replace, producing /project//absolute/path — a broken path
that workflows could not resolve.
For relative paths outside the root (e.g. ../../sibling), the same naive
replace left un-normalized paths like /project/../../sibling in the
resolved config, which some tools mishandled.
Fix resolve_project_root_placeholder to strip the {project-root} token,
detect whether the remainder is absolute (returning it directly) or
relative (joining with project root and normalizing via os.path.normpath).
Fix apply_result_template to skip the template entirely when raw_value is
already an absolute path, and to normalize the result for relative-but-
outside paths. This covers the bmad-init SKILL write path, which bakes
the resolved path directly into config.yaml.
Add 7 tests covering all three path cases (absolute, relative-with-
traversal, normal in-project) for both functions.
* Address review comments
---------
Co-authored-by: Akhilesh Tyagi <akhilesh.t@nextiva.com>
Co-authored-by: Brian <bmadcode@gmail.com>
Switch skill discovery gate from requiring bmad-skill-manifest.yaml with
type: skill to detecting any directory with a valid SKILL.md (frontmatter
name + description, name matches directory name). Delete 34 stub manifests
that carried no data beyond type: skill. Agent manifests (9) are retained
for persona metadata consumed by agent-manifest.csv.
Inline workflow.md content directly into SKILL.md for: editorial-review-prose,
editorial-review-structure, help, index-docs, review-adversarial-general,
review-edge-case-hunter, and shard-doc. Deletes the now-redundant workflow.md
files. No behavioral change — same pattern as advanced-elicitation in PR #2076.
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Merge workflow.md content directly into SKILL.md and delete the
now-redundant workflow file. The frontmatter `agent_party` variable
moves into SKILL.md; all relative file references (`./methods.csv`)
remain valid.
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* refactor: consolidate agents into phase-based skill directories
Remove separate agent/workflow/skill directories (src/bmm/agents,
src/bmm/workflows, src/core/skills, src/utility/agent-components) and
reorganize all content into phase-based structures under src/bmm-skills
(1-analysis, 2-plan-workflows, 3-solutioning, 4-implementation) and
src/core-skills. Eliminates the agent/skill distinction by treating
agents as skills within their workflow phase.
* fix: update broken file references to use new bmm-skills paths
* docs: update all references for unified bmad-quick-dev workflow
Remove all references to the old separate bmad-quick-spec and
bmad-quick-dev-new-preview workflows. The new bmad-quick-dev is a
unified workflow that handles intent clarification, planning,
implementation, review, and presentation in a single run.
Updated files across English docs, Chinese translations, source
skill manifests, website diagram, and build tooling.