- ui.js: import parseGitHubRepo; fixes ReferenceError in the
interactive channel picker's stable-tag pre-resolve path.
- community-manager: pinned modules now fetch+checkout the pin tag
on cache refresh instead of resetting to origin/HEAD (was silently
drifting to main on re-install).
- channel-plan: parseChannelOptions returns acceptBypass so --yes
auto-confirms the curator-bypass prompt; headless --next/--pin
installs of community modules no longer hang.
- community-manager: simplify recordedVersion (dead ternary branch).
- custom-module-manager: drop "or sha" from the @<ref> comment
(git clone --branch rejects raw SHAs); update-path fetches
origin <ref> so /tree/<branch>/ URLs work too.
- install-bmad.md: rename "Headless / CI installs" to "Headless CI
installs" so the stub's #headless-ci-installs anchor resolves.
- test/test-installer-channels.js: 83 unit tests for channel-plan
and channel-resolver pure modules; wired into npm test as
test:channels.
Builds on the channel-resolution foundation. The installer now lets users
flip a module between stable, next, and pinned after install — either
interactively via a "Review channel assignments?" gate, or by flag. Quick
and modify re-installs classify stable upgrades; under non-interactive
flows, patches and minors apply automatically but majors are refused with
a pointer to --pin.
Fallback behavior for GitHub rate-limit / network failures is now cache-
aware: re-installs reuse the recorded ref silently; fresh installs abort
with actionable guidance (set GITHUB_TOKEN or use --next/--pin). Bundled
modules (core, bmm) warn when targeted by --pin or --next so users aren't
left wondering why the flag had no effect.
Install summary labels no longer mangle "main" into "vmain"; next-channel
entries render as "main @ <short-sha>" instead. Bundled modules are now
correctly skipped from all channel prompts and tag-API lookups.
Docs consolidated into a single how-to. install-bmad.md now covers the
interactive flow, the channel model (stable/next/pinned plus the npm
dist-tag axis for core/bmm), the re-install upgrade prompts, the full
flag reference, copy-paste recipes, and troubleshooting. The old
non-interactive-installation.md is reduced to a redirect stub.
* 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.
* feat(skills): add TOML workflow customization to 17 bmm-skills
Flattens each skill's workflow.md into SKILL.md and adds a customize.toml
surface with a 6-step activation block (resolve_customization, prepend,
persistent_facts, config, greet, append). Core-skills and developer
execution skills (dev-story, code-review, sprint-planning, sprint-status,
quick-dev, checkpoint-preview) are intentionally excluded.
Customized: document-project, prfaq, domain/market/technical-research,
create-prd, create-ux-design, edit-prd, validate-prd,
check-implementation-readiness, create-architecture,
create-epics-and-stories, generate-project-context, correct-course,
create-story, qa-generate-e2e-tests, retrospective.
* fix(skills): address PR review findings on workflow customization
- bmad-create-story: drop stale {project_context} variable reference
from step 2 note; content is already loaded via persistent_facts
- research skills (market/domain/technical): derive research_topic_slug
before writing output filename to prevent path injection and invalid
filesystem characters
- bmad-correct-course: reconcile step 1 verify list and HALT with the
"Missing documents" rule — Architecture and UI/UX are optional, HALT
only fires when PRD or Epics are missing
- fix grammar in Micro-file Design bullets across 5 migrated skills
(self contained → self-contained, adhere too 1 file → adhere to one
file at a time)
- docs/how-to/customize-bmad.md: document workflow activation order
and frame the baseline fields as a stable initial pass with targeted
per-workflow customization points coming later
* 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.
* feat(skills): TOML-based agent customization with stdlib Python resolver
Re-applies PR #2282's three-layer customization model (skill defaults →
team → user) but swaps YAML for TOML and uv for stdlib tomllib. Users
no longer need uv, pip, or a virtualenv — plain python3 (3.11+) is
sufficient, since tomllib shipped in the standard library.
## Schema changes vs PR #2282
- Flat agent schema: fields live directly under [agent], no nested
metadata/persona sub-tables. Easier to author, less indentation.
- Non-configurable identity: name and title are declared in
customize.toml as source-of-truth metadata (for future skill-manifest
generation) but SKILL.md ignores overrides there — identity is
hardcoded to preserve brand recognition.
- role redefined: now describes what the skill does for the user
within its module phase, not a restatement of the title.
- persistent_facts replaces the activation-time file-context load AND
the old memories concept. Entries can be literal sentences or
file: prefixed paths/globs; avoids collision with the upcoming
runtime memory sidecar.
- activation_steps_prepend / activation_steps_append harmonized across
agents and workflows (replaces agent-specific critical_actions).
- [workflow] namespace mirrors [agent] for workflow customization.
Same four structural rules, same field vocabulary.
## Resolver (src/scripts/resolve_customization.py)
Four purely structural merge rules, zero field-name hardcoding:
- Scalars: override wins
- Tables: deep merge
- Arrays of tables where every item has `code` or `id`: merge by
that key (matching keys replace, new keys append)
- Any other array: append
No removal mechanism — overrides cannot delete base items. Fork the
skill or override by code with a no-op value to suppress defaults.
## Agents ported (6)
All six BMad agents now ship customize.toml + rewritten SKILL.md:
analyst (Mary), tech-writer (Paige), pm (John), ux-designer (Sally),
architect (Winston), dev (Amelia). Each uses the same 8-step
activation template: resolve → execute prepend → adopt persona →
load persistent facts → load config → greet (with {agent.icon}) →
execute append → dispatch or present menu.
Step 8 supports fast-path invocation: "hey Mary, let's brainstorm"
dispatches the matching menu item directly after greeting, skipping
the menu render when intent is clear. Chat, clarifying questions,
and bmad-help remain available when nothing on the menu fits.
## Installer + tooling
- _bmad/scripts/ provisioned on install (copies src/scripts/)
- _bmad/custom/ seeded with .gitignore for *.user.toml on fresh install
- Non-module-dir filter extended to skip _memory, memory, docs,
scripts, and custom when scanning for modules
- Dead _config/agents/ directory no longer created
- metadata.capabilities removed from agent-manifest.csv and schema
- eslint config extended to cover src/scripts/**
- validate-file-refs.js knows about custom/ as install-only
## Deferred for follow-up
- bmad-product-brief workflow port (the pilot that demonstrates
[workflow] + on_complete)
- Translated docs (cs/fr/vi-vn/zh-cn) — regenerate from English
* feat(skills): port bmad-product-brief to TOML workflow customization
Completes the customization surface rollout by giving the product-brief
workflow the same override model as the six BMad agents, under the
[workflow] namespace instead of [agent].
## customize.toml
Mirrors the agent shape under [workflow] with:
- activation_steps_prepend / activation_steps_append (harmonized across
agents and workflows — same field names, same append semantics)
- persistent_facts with the file: convention, seeded with
file:{project-root}/**/project-context.md
- on_complete scalar (renamed from PR #2282's skill_end for clarity —
reads cleaner as "what runs when the workflow completes")
## SKILL.md
7-step workflow activation:
1. Resolve workflow block
2. Execute prepend steps
3. Load persistent facts (file: or literal)
4. Load config
5. Greet if not already
6. Execute append steps
7. Stage 1 — Understand Intent
python3 + stdlib tomllib invocation; no uv required.
## Prompt file changes
- Path normalization: ../agents/ → agents/, ../resources/ → resources/,
bare foo.md → prompts/foo.md. All references now resolve from the
skill root (matches the convention documented in SKILL.md).
- Paths: meta-line added to each of the 4 prompt files that reference
other files, reinforcing "bare paths resolve from skill root" so the
LLM doesn't lose the convention when operating two hops into a
prompt chain.
- finalize.md terminal stage now calls the resolver for
workflow.on_complete — non-empty values run as the final step.
## Validation
- Resolver output verified: 4 workflow fields returned cleanly.
- validate-file-refs.js: 254 files scanned, 139 refs checked, 0 broken.
- test:refs: passing.
* docs(skills): enterprise customization recipes + workflow template variable
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.
* docs(skills): encourage CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md reinforcement of critical rules
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.
* docs(skills): add Named Agents explanation doc
New docs/explanation/named-agents.md walking through the three-legged
stool (skills + named agents + customization) with the "Hey Mary,
let's brainstorm" activation flow as the narrative thread.
Covers:
- Why named agents vs menu-driven or prompt-driven alternatives
- The 8-step activation flow and what each step contributes
- How customization scales the model beyond a single developer
- Cross-links to the how-to docs for implementation details
Sits alongside brainstorming.md, quick-dev.md, party-mode.md in the
explanation folder — feature narratives for users who want to
understand why BMad is designed the way it is, not just how to use it.
* docs(skills): clarify that keyed-merge requires a single identifier key per array
Review feedback (PR #2284) flagged that the merge-rules wording was
ambiguous: "every item has a `code` or `id` field" could reasonably
be read as "each item individually has at least one of the two",
allowing arrays to mix `code` and `id` across items.
The resolver has always required all items share the *same* identifier
key (all `code`, or all `id`). Mixed arrays fall through to append —
intentional, because mixing identifier keys within one array is a
schema smell and any guess about which key should merge creates a
worse trap than the append-fallback.
Clarified in three places:
- Merge-rules table in customize-bmad.md: "every item shares the
**same** identifier field"
- `code`/`id` convention paragraph: "pick **one** convention ... and
stick with it across the whole array"
- Resolver docstring and `_detect_keyed_merge_field` docstring:
explicit note that mixed arrays fall through with rationale
No behavior change.
* docs(skills): address CodeRabbit review — fallback rules, OS claim, headless greeting
Three fixes from PR #2284 review feedback:
## 1. Fallback merge wording (7 SKILL.md files)
Every SKILL.md told the LLM to merge the three customization files
"in priority order (later wins)" when the resolver fails. That reads
as shallow last-write-wins — but the resolver does structural merge
(scalars override, tables deep-merge, code/id-keyed arrays merge by
key, other arrays append). Following the old wording manually would
have silently stripped base `principles`, `persistent_facts`, and
`menu` items whenever a team override was present.
Expanded the fallback sentence to restate the four structural rules
explicitly, matching the resolver's behavior.
Applied to all 6 agents + bmad-product-brief workflow.
## 2. Python 3.11 / OS shipping claim (customize-bmad.md)
The docs claimed "macOS 13+, Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora 37+
all ship 3.11 or newer." Inaccurate — Ubuntu 22.04 defaults `python3`
to 3.10.6 (3.11 is a separate package), and macOS doesn't really
ship Python by default anymore.
Replaced with honest guidance: check `python3 --version` and note
that macOS without Homebrew and Ubuntu 22.04 default to 3.10 or
earlier.
## 3. Autonomous mode greeting gate (bmad-product-brief)
Product-brief's activation-mode detection documents autonomous mode
as "produce complete brief without interaction" — but Step 5 greeted
unconditionally, adding conversational output before the headless
artifact. Gated the greeting on `{mode}` != `autonomous`.
## Dismissed (replied on thread)
- `.gitignore` migration from *.user.yaml to *.user.toml: YAML
installer code was in reverted #2282, never released. No users
affected. Same rationale as Augment's earlier thread.
Validated: 254 files, 146 refs, 0 broken. test:refs 7/7,
test:install 242/242.
* docs: rename Extend to Expand throughout customization docs
Three-layer customization (skill defaults → team → user) for BMad agents
and any skill that opts in. Users edit `_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.yaml`
(team, committed) or `{skill-name}.user.yaml` (personal, gitignored);
customizations survive updates.
Resolver is a Python script using PEP 723 inline metadata, invoked via
`uv run` so deps auto-install into a cached isolated env on first call.
This aligns with Anthropic's Agent Skills spec and BMB conventions, and
keeps the dependency declared (scannable by pip-audit/Dependabot) rather
than vendored.
## Design choices
- **Agent identity is hardcoded** in SKILL.md (name, title, Overview prose)
so skills can be invoked reliably by role *or* default name. Brand
recognition is preserved; customization shapes behavior, not identity.
- **Luminary-anchored personas** (e.g. "Channels Martin Fowler's
pragmatism and Werner Vogels's cloud-scale realism") deliver ~55%
token savings per agent while preserving distinctive voice beats.
- **Universal per-field merge rules** with v6.1-compatible agent
semantics: metadata shallow-merge, persona replace, critical_actions
and memories append, menu merge-by-code, all else deep-merge.
- **Workflow customization** shares the same surface — `bmad-product-brief`
pilots `activation_steps_prepend`, `activation_steps_append`, and
`skill_end` hooks that any workflow-style skill can adopt.
## Infrastructure
- `_bmad/scripts/` houses shared Python scripts (resolver + future).
- `_bmad/custom/` is provisioned empty with a seeded `.gitignore` for
`*.user.yaml` on fresh installs.
- Installer filters ensure `scripts/`, `custom/`, and sidecar-generated
`memory/` directories are never treated as modules.
- Dead v6.1 code cleaned up: `_config/agents/` no longer created,
`metadata.capabilities` removed from schema and CSV manifest.
* feat(installer): add plugin resolution strategies for custom URL installs
When installing from a custom GitHub URL, the installer now analyzes
marketplace.json plugin structures to determine how to locate module
registration files (module.yaml, module-help.csv). Five strategies
are tried in cascade:
1. Root module files at the common parent of listed skills
2. A -setup skill with registration files in its assets/
3. Single standalone skill with registration files in assets/
4. Multiple standalone skills, each with their own registration files
5. Fallback: synthesize registration from marketplace.json metadata
and SKILL.md frontmatter
Also changes the custom URL flow from confirm-all to multiselect,
letting users pick which plugins to install. Already-installed modules
are pre-checked for update; new modules are unchecked for opt-in.
New file: tools/installer/modules/plugin-resolver.js
Modified: custom-module-manager.js, official-modules.js, ui.js
* fix(installer): address PR review findings for plugin resolver
- Guard against path traversal in plugin-resolver.js: skill paths from
unverified marketplace.json are now constrained to the repo root using
path.resolve() + startsWith check
- Skip npm install during browsing phase: cloneRepo() accepts
skipInstall option, used in ui.js before user confirms selection,
preventing arbitrary lifecycle script execution from untrusted repos
- Add createModuleDirectories() call to installFromResolution() so
modules with declarative directory config are fully set up
- Fix ESLint: use replaceAll instead of replace with global regex
* fix(installer): pass version and repoUrl to manifest for custom plugins
installFromResolution was passing empty strings for version and repoUrl,
which the manifest stores as null. Now threads the repo URL from ui.js
through resolvePlugin into each ResolvedModule, and passes the plugin
version and URL to the manifest correctly.
* fix(installer): manifest-generator overwrites custom module version/repoUrl
ManifestGenerator rebuilds the entire manifest via getModuleVersionInfo
for every module. For custom modules, this returned null for version and
repoUrl because it only checked _readMarketplaceVersion (which searches
for marketplace.json on disk) and hardcoded repoUrl to null. Now checks
the resolution cache first to get the correct version and repo URL.
* fix(installer): resolve custom modules from disk cache on quick update
When the resolution cache is empty (fresh CLI process, e.g. quick
update), findModuleSourceByCode only matched plugin.name against the
module code. This failed for modules like "sam" and "dw" where the
code comes from module.yaml inside a setup/standalone skill, not from
the plugin name in marketplace.json.
Now runs the PluginResolver on cached repos when the direct name match
fails, finding the correct module source and re-populating the cache
for the install pipeline.
* feat(installer): universal source support for custom modules
Replace GitHub-only custom module installation with support for any Git
host (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted) and local file paths.
- Add parseSource() universal input parser (local paths, SSH, HTTPS with
deep path/subdir extraction for GitHub, GitLab, Gitea)
- Add resolveSource() coordinator: parse -> clone if URL -> detect
discovery vs direct mode (marketplace.json present or not)
- Clone-first approach eliminates host-specific raw URL fetching
- 3-level cache structure (host/owner/repo) with .bmad-source.json
metadata for URL reconstruction
- Local paths install directly without caching; localPath persisted in
manifest for quick-update source lookup
- Direct mode scans target directory for SKILL.md when no marketplace.json
- Fix version display bug where walk-up found parent repo marketplace.json
and reported wrong version for custom modules
* fix(installer): harden readMarketplaceJsonFromDisk and hoist require
- Add try/catch to readMarketplaceJsonFromDisk so malformed JSON returns
null instead of throwing an unhandled parse error
- Hoist CustomModuleManager require outside the per-module loop in
_installOfficialModules
* fix(installer): restore validateGitHubUrl strictness and fix prettier
- Restore original GitHub-only regex in deprecated validateGitHubUrl
wrapper so existing tests pass (rejects non-GitHub URLs, trailing
slashes)
- Run prettier to fix formatting in custom-module-manager.js
* feat(installer): add --custom-source CLI flag for non-interactive installs
Allows installing custom modules from Git URLs or local paths directly
from the command line without interactive prompts:
npx bmad-method install --custom-source /path/to/module
npx bmad-method install --custom-source https://gitlab.com/org/repo
npx bmad-method install --custom-source /path/one,https://host/org/repo
Works alongside --modules and --yes flags. All discovered modules from
each source are auto-selected.
* docs: add custom and community module installation guide
New how-to page covering community module browsing, custom sources (any
Git host, local paths), discovery vs direct mode, local development
workflow, and the --custom-source CLI flag. Clarifies that
.claude-plugin/ is a cross-tool convention, not Claude-specific.
Also updates non-interactive installation docs with the new flag and
examples, bumps sidebar ordering, and fixes --custom-source to install
only core + custom modules when --modules is not specified.
* refactor(installer): remove custom content installation feature
Remove the entire local filesystem custom content feature from the
installer to make way for marketplace-based plugin installation.
Deleted: custom-handler.js, custom-module-cache.js, custom-modules.js
Removed: --custom-content CLI flag, interactive custom content prompts,
custom module caching, manifest tracking, missing-source resolution,
and related test suites. Updated docs across all translations.
* fix: address review findings from Augment
Fix admonition syntax (remove accidental space in :::note) across 4
translated docs files, and update stale JSDoc on listAvailable().
Restructure from two glued-together documents into a single
escalation flow (bmad-help → source → community). Remove
references to deprecated _bmad folder and closed Discord channels.
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* 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>
* 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>
* fix(docs): correct Hasselhoff spelling, add locale-aware 404 redirect
Fix "Hasslehoff" → "Hasselhoff" typo in customize-bmad.md across all
three locales (en, zh-cn, fr).
Add client-side locale detection to 404.astro so GitHub Pages serves
the correct localized 404 page instead of always showing English.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(build): exclude translated locales from llms-full.txt
llms-full.txt was including zh-cn and fr docs, tripling the content
with duplicate information in different languages. Restrict to English
only — translations add no value for LLM context consumption.
Reduces output from ~393K to ~114K chars (~29k tokens).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* refactor(i18n): extract locale config to shared module
Move locale definitions from astro.config.mjs into a shared
website/src/lib/locales.mjs consumed by astro config, build-docs,
and 404.astro. Adding a new locale is now a single-file change.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* refactor(installer): remove dead agent compilation pipeline
Delete 9 files (~2,600 lines) that compiled .agent.yaml to .md.
No .agent.yaml files exist in the source tree — agents now ship
as pre-built SKILL.md. Clean up all references in installer,
module manager, custom handler, base IDE, UI, and tests.
* refactor(custom-handler): remove dead install/copy/find methods
CustomHandler.install(), copyDirectory(), and findFilesRecursively()
are never called — custom modules are installed via moduleManager.install()
since Dec 2025. Also removes unused FileOps import and constructor.
Verified with before/after clean-installer comparison (codex + custom
modules with custom.yaml): output is identical.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(installer): remove dead compilation refs from docs and module manager
Address review findings from PR #2080 triage:
- Remove compile-agents from CLI action docs (en, fr, zh-cn)
- Remove dead vendorCrossModuleWorkflows() and .agent.yaml skip logic
- Clean stale compilation-era comments in manifest-generator
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Remove DEV agent references and simplify to Quick Dev as the single
entry point. Show free-form intent examples, add deferred work section,
clarify that Quick Dev commits for you.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Quick Flow was an umbrella for quick-spec + quick-dev. Quick Spec is
gone and the new preview was promoted to bmad-quick-dev, so the explainer
should be about quick-dev directly. Replaces quick-flow.md with the
original quick-dev-new-preview.md content (renamed), including the
diagram reference. zh-cn uses the original hand-written Chinese
translation. Also removes stale Quick Spec references from agents.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <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.
* prototype preview of new version of product brief skill
* chore: re-enable bmad-builder external module
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* config loading with existing location
* refactor: rename bmad-bmm-product-brief-preview to bmad-product-brief-preview
Drop the redundant bmm prefix from the product brief preview skill folder
to align with the standard naming convention.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* docs: add core tools reference and apply Diataxis style fixes
Add comprehensive reference doc for all 11 built-in core tools (tasks
and workflows) that ship with every BMad installation — bmad-help,
brainstorming, party-mode, distillator, advanced-elicitation, both
review tools, both editorial tools, shard-doc, and index-docs. Each
entry follows the Configuration Reference structure with purpose,
use cases, how it works, inputs, and outputs.
Style fixes across existing docs:
- reference/commands.md: convert #### headers to bold text, replace
sparse task table with link to new core-tools reference
- how-to/get-answers-about-bmad.md: remove horizontal rule between
sections (Diataxis violation)
- how-to/project-context.md: consolidate 4 consecutive tip admonitions
into single admonition with bullet list, add AGENTS.md reference
Also includes:
- Add bmad-distillator task to core module with compression agents,
format reference, splitting strategy, and analysis scripts
- Add Distillator entry to module-help.csv
- Rename supports-autonomous to supports-headless in product-brief
manifest
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* core items to skills folder
* fix calls to invoke party mode
* fix calls to invoke party mode and AE as skills
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* docs: drop slash-command syntax from skill references (editorial)
Skill names like bmad-help are now shown without a / prefix since
invocation syntax varies across platforms. First-encounter locations
(README, getting-started, get-answers, installer message, bmad-help
display rules) get editorial framing so new users understand these
are skill names to invoke by name.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* docs: mechanical removal of slash prefix from all remaining skill references
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Align documentation with the skills-based architecture migration by
replacing references to "commands", "slash commands", and legacy command
names with the new "skills" terminology and skill names.
Windsurf is no longer a preferred IDE. Only Claude Code and Cursor
are now recommended. Windsurf remains a supported platform (installer
still works, templates stay, reference tables stay).
- Set preferred: false in both platform-codes.yaml files
- Move windsurf entry to "Other IDEs" section in tools/platform-codes.yaml
- Fix codex.js hardcoding preferred: true in constructor
- Remove stale "3 preferred tools" count from ui.js JSDoc
- Update docs to list only Claude Code and Cursor as recommended
- Update docs/index.md popular tools to Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI
BMad-Help is one of V6's flagship features but was undersold in docs.
This update positions it properly as the intelligent guide that:
- Inspects project state and detects what's completed
- Understands natural language queries
- Varies options based on installed modules
- Auto-invokes after every workflow
- Recommends first required tasks
Changes:
- Add dedicated "Meet BMad-Help" section to getting-started
- Expand commands.md with full BMad-Help subsection and examples
- Reposition get-answers-about-bmad.md to start with BMad-Help
- Enhance install-bmad.md and established-projects.md with query examples
- Add index.md tip box promoting /bmad-help as quickest way to dive in
* fix(docs): comprehensive documentation site review fixes
Rehype plugins:
- Rewrite rehype-markdown-links for correct relative .md resolution
- Handle raw HTML base paths and bare .md links in rehype-base-paths
- Guard protocol-relative URLs (//...) in all link processors
- Use file.path instead of file.history[0] for vfile compatibility
- Fail build when content directory cannot be detected
- Export helpers for testability; add 107 unit tests
Build & CI:
- Revert cancel-in-progress to false to avoid mid-deploy cancellation
- Remove redundant link-validation CI step (build validates internally)
- Remove unnecessary fetch-depth:0 from docs deploy workflow
- Refuse docs build on Windows (platform guard)
- Remove dead build scripts and stale references
Tooling:
- Add DOCS_ROOT boundary check in validate-doc-links.js
- Handle directory paths and prefix stripping in link validator
- Remove dead regex and add // guard in fix-doc-links.js
Accessibility & CSS:
- Darken caution/danger aside title colors for WCAG AA 4.5:1 contrast
- Fix 100vw scrollbar overflow (banner width:100%, html overflow-x:clip)
- Add :focus-visible ring to banner link for keyboard navigation
- Remove dead CSS declaration and add missing code block lang
Documentation content:
- Convert /docs/ absolute links to relative paths and fix llms.txt URLs
- Correct command file paths and naming in commands reference
- Update stale shard-doc command to current /bmad-shard-doc format
- Fix incomplete sentence in install-bmad.md
- Add Quick Flow next steps and fix 404 link path
- Expand thin content pages with substantive detail
- Add sidebar ordering frontmatter to all content pages
- Remove BMGD docs (moved to dedicated repo)
- Remove unused assets and misleading diagram caption
- Add non-iframe fallback link to workflow map diagram
- Remove dead noscript block from workflow-map
- Standardize BMAD to BMad, fix spelling/grammar, normalize headings
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(docs): add non-interactive installation to sidebar, rewrite and reorder how-to guides
- Move non-interactive-installation.md into how-to/ directory so it appears
in the sidebar navigation (was orphaned at docs root)
- Rewrite the page based on editorial review: consolidate redundant sections,
add missing how-to structure (prerequisites, "What You Get"), condense
installation modes from 5 subsections to a table, cut speculative examples
- Reorder how-to sidebar: Install (1), Non-Interactive (2), Upgrade to v6 (3),
then the rest following user journey order
- Fix README link to point to docs site instead of repo-internal markdown path
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(docs): address documentation review findings
Fix broken directory tree, grammar errors, inconsistent naming,
missing admonition/headings, enable lastUpdated timestamps in CI,
and remove footer CSS that misapplied to the content footer.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(docs): move bleeding-edge install command out of Verify Installation
The alternative npx command for installing from main was misplaced
inside the "Verify Installation" section. Move it to a tip admonition
under Step 1 where users look for install options.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The downloads page offered bmad-sources.zip and bmad-prompts.zip, both
redundant: GitHub provides source archives for every tag natively, and
npx bmad-method install is the supported path for compiled prompts.
Remove the downloads page, all bundle generation code, the archiver
dependency, and nav links. The llms.txt and llms-full.txt files (the
genuinely useful artifacts) continue to be generated as before.
* docs: rename brownfield to established projects
Flatten how-to/brownfield/ subdirectory and replace jargon term
"brownfield" with more accessible "established projects" throughout.
- brownfield/index.md → established-projects.md
- brownfield/quick-fix-in-brownfield.md → quick-fixes.md
- brownfield-faq.md → established-projects-faq.md
- Update all internal links and references
* docs: remove redundant phrase from quick-fixes description
* docs: restore natural language in established-projects body
- Remove duplicate "for" in README example command
- Fix "this is" to "thing is" in README
- Remove extra "at" in "star project icon at near" in README
- Fix "MEthod" to "Method" in customize-bmad.md
* docs: radical reduction of documentation scope for v6 beta
Archive and basement unreviewed content to ship a focused, minimal doc set.
Changes:
- Archive stale how-to workflow guides (will rewrite for v6)
- Archive outdated explanation and reference content
- Move unreviewed content to basement for later review
- Reorganize TEA docs into dedicated /tea/ section
- Add workflow-map visual reference page
- Simplify getting-started tutorial and sidebar navigation
- Add explanation pages: brainstorming, adversarial-review, party-mode,
quick-flow, advanced-elicitation
- Fix base URL handling for subdirectory deployments (GitHub Pages forks)
The goal is a minimal, accurate doc set for beta rather than
comprehensive but potentially misleading content.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* refactor: restructure BMM and agents documentation by consolidating and flattening index files.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Updated 2 additional files to use the correct /dist/ path:
- docs/how-to/workflows/run-automate.md: Standalone mode example
- docs/reference/tea/configuration.md: Playwright BASE_URL example
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Add "Why does BMad use so many tokens?" FAQ explaining design tradeoff
(decision quality over code velocity)
- Fix stale anchor #adversarial-review-general → #adversarial-review
- Remove link to archived customize-workflows.md
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Brian Madison
Alex Verkhovsky
Akhilesh Tyagi
Emmanuel Atsé
Brian Madison
The Chef
Murat K Ozcan
jheyworth
forcetrainer