Move compile-time variable substitution out of the LLM and into a
deterministic Python step. SKILL.md becomes a two-line stdout-dispatch
shim that runs render.py and follows the instruction it prints. The
renderer reads BMad configuration from the central four-layer TOML
surface introduced in #2285 (_bmad/config.toml plus config.user.toml
and the two _bmad/custom/ overrides), with a fallback to the legacy
per-module _bmad/bmm/config.yaml for pre-#2285 installs.
Compile-time refs ({{.var}}) get substituted at render time. LLM-runtime
refs ({var}) pass through untouched.
Renderer (render.py)
- Python 3 stdlib only (tomllib, already bundled since 3.11). UTF-8 I/O.
Every invocation rebuilds from scratch — no hash, no cache.
- find_project_root walks up from cwd; HALT to stdout if no _bmad/
is found anywhere on the path.
- load_central_config deep-merges the four TOML layers in priority
order (base-team → base-user → custom-team → custom-user) so user
overrides in _bmad/custom/config.user.toml win over installer-
regenerated base values. flatten_central_config lifts scalar keys
from [core] and [modules.bmm] into the renderer's flat namespace;
module keys beat core on collision (matches the installer's own
core-key-stripping behavior).
- When _bmad/config.toml is absent, falls through to the legacy
flat-YAML parser for _bmad/bmm/config.yaml — the renderer keeps
working across the #2285 transition.
- {{.var}} substitution; unresolved refs emit empty string (Go
missingkey=zero semantics).
- Smart defaults for planning_artifacts / implementation_artifacts /
communication_language applied after config load. Derives
sprint_status / deferred_work_file from implementation_artifacts.
{{.main_config}} points at whichever surface was actually read.
- Renders every .md in the skill dir except SKILL.md to
{project-root}/_bmad/render/bmad-quick-dev/.
- On success, stderr summary plus a single stdout line:
"read and follow {workflow_md}". On failure, stdout HALT directive —
per the Anthropic skills spec, script stdout is the defined agent-
communication channel.
Skill entry (SKILL.md)
- Two-line shim: run python render.py, follow stdout. No template
tokens in SKILL.md itself.
Template conversions
- workflow.md, step-01..05, step-oneshot, sync-sprint-status: convert
every compile-time {var} reference to {{.var}}. Runtime refs
preserved.
- spec-template.md untouched (single-curly comment hint stays as
documentation).
Skill-prose cleanups bundled in
- Remove dead step-file frontmatter: empty-string variable declarations
(spec_file, story_key, diff_output, review_mode) in quick-dev step-01
and code-review step-01; empty --- --- blocks in step-03 and step-05;
the specLoopIteration counter init moved from step-04 frontmatter into
the step body where first-entry vs loopback semantics are explicit.
- Unify the language rule across all six quick-dev step files plus
workflow.md.
Tooling
- tools/validate-skills.js: add TPL-01 rule. Files whose name contains
"template" must not contain compile-time {{.var}} substitutions.
Template files seed durable, version-controlled artifacts that
execute on other machines; baking a value at render time would
freeze a machine-local path into every downstream artifact.
- tools/validate-file-refs.js: add render/ to INSTALL_ONLY_PATHS so
the validator recognizes the runtime-generated buffer.
- tools/skill-validator.md: document TPL-01; deterministic rule count
bumped from 14 to 15.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(quick-dev): sync sprint-status.yaml on epic-story implementation
When quick-dev infers the intent is an epic story, resolve the full
sprint-status key during step-01's previous-story-continuity sub-step,
then sync sprint-status.yaml at the two workflow boundaries code-review
already owns the trailing half of:
- step-03 start: flip the story to in-progress and lift the parent
epic out of backlog if needed.
- step-05 end: flip the story to review. Code-review keeps ownership
of review -> done.
Resolution uses exact numeric-segment equality on the {epic}-{story}
prefix (never string-prefix match), so 1-1 no longer collides with
1-10. Both sync blocks are idempotent so step-04 loopbacks do not
clobber human edits or bump last_updated without cause. Skips silently
when sprint-status.yaml is missing or the intent is not an epic story.
* feat(quick-dev): add sprint-status sync to one-shot route
Epic stories do get implemented via one-shot in practice. Add the same
in-progress / review sync pair that step-03 and step-05 already have,
with identical idempotency guards and skip-on-missing behavior.
* refactor(quick-dev): extract sprint-status sync into shared file
Replace inline sync blocks in step-03, step-05, and step-oneshot with
one-line callouts to sync-sprint-status.md. The shared file owns all
edge-case handling (idempotency, epic lift, missing file/key) and is
parameterized by {target_status}. Any future route picks it up with a
single Follow line.
* fix(quick-dev): resolve story_key on early-exit resume paths
Extract story-key resolution into a shared subsection referenced by
all early-exit paths and INSTRUCTIONS, ensuring sprint-status sync
works for resumed epic stories.
* refactor(quick-dev): tighten story-key resolution prompt
Remove mechanical details the LLM can infer; keep only the
collision-prevention constraint.
Alex Verkhovsky