* refactor(catalog): rename after/before columns to preceded-by/followed-by
The bare prepositions `after` and `before` had no subject anchor, leaving
the dependency direction ambiguous: "X has Y in its `after` column" reads
plausibly as either "Y comes after X" or "X comes after Y". An LLM
catalog consumer just got the direction wrong because of this.
`preceded-by` / `followed-by` are passive-voice participles whose grammar
locks the subject (the skill in this row) and forces a single reading:
"X is preceded by Y" can only mean Y comes first.
Rename applied to:
- module-help.csv headers (bmm-skills, core-skills)
- bmad-help SKILL.md schema doc + descriptions
- installer.js mergeModuleHelpCatalogs header string
- plugin-resolver.js _buildSynthesizedHelpCsv header string
- bmad-manifest.json keys (bmad-product-brief, bmad-prfaq)
- distillate-format-reference.md example manifest
The separate `required` column continues to carry hard-gate semantics;
the renamed columns are pure soft sequencing hints, as already documented
in bmad-help.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* style(installer): wrap long header strings per prettier
* feat(installer): warn on non-canonical module-help.csv headers
mergeModuleHelpCatalogs now compares each per-module file's header
against the canonical schema and emits a one-shot prompts.log.warn per
module on drift, naming both the expected and actual header. Data
continues to load positionally so external modules built against the
old after/before schema still install cleanly — the warning is the
maintainer signal to rename their columns.
Centralize the canonical header in modules/module-help-schema.js so the
merger and the synthesizer (PluginResolver._buildSynthesizedHelpCsv)
read the same source of truth; future column renames are one edit.
Verified by installing all four bmad-org external modules
(bmb, cis, gds, tea) — every one ships the legacy after/before header
today and now fires an advisory warning while still merging cleanly
into _bmad/_config/bmad-help.csv with the canonical column names.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* 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.
* 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.
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.
* 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.
Alex Verkhovsky
Brian