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GSD-Style Guardrails - Phase 1 Implementation Implementation of enforcement-based workflow patterns to fix reliability issues

GSD-Style Guardrails - Phase 1 Implementation

Date: 2026-01-27 Status: ✅ Complete Version: 6.1.0-Beta.2

Summary

Implemented Phase 1 of GSD-style enforcement patterns to fix chronic reliability issues in BMAD workflows.

Problems Solved

  1. Story file not updated: 60% failure rate → targeting 100% success
  2. Work skipped: Agents claimed to do work but didn't
  3. Black box failures: No visibility into what went wrong
  4. Hope-based execution: Relied on agents following instructions

Solution Approach

Replace trust-based workflow with enforcement-based:

  • File-based verification (binary: exists or doesn't)
  • Mandatory preconditions (auto-fix missing prerequisites)
  • Verification gates (hard stops between phases)
  • Completion artifacts (agents create JSON, orchestrator uses it)

Changes Implemented

1. Auto-Fix Missing Prerequisites (Guardrail 1)

Files Modified:

  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/workflow.md
  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/batch-stories/workflow.md

What Changed:

  • Old: Block with error if story file or gap analysis missing
  • New: Auto-create missing prerequisites using Skill tool invocations

Benefits:

  • ✅ Self-healing workflows
  • ✅ User-friendly (no manual steps)
  • ✅ Follows "mind the gap, mend the gap" philosophy

Code Example:

# Before: Hard block
[ -f "$STORY_FILE" ] || { echo "ERROR: Story file not found"; exit 1; }

# After: Auto-fix
if [ ! -f "$STORY_FILE" ]; then
  echo "⚠️  Creating story file..."
  # Invoke /bmad_bmm_create-story skill
fi

2. File-Based Completion Verification (Guardrail 2)

Files Modified:

  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/agents/builder.md
  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/agents/inspector.md
  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/agents/reviewer.md
  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/agents/fixer.md

What Changed:

  • Agents now MUST create completion artifact: {{story_key}}-{{agent}}.json
  • Orchestrator verifies file exists (binary check)
  • Orchestrator parses JSON to get structured data
  • No complex output parsing needed

Benefits:

  • ✅ Binary verification (file exists = work done)
  • ✅ Structured data (easy to parse)
  • ✅ Auditable trail (JSON files version controlled)
  • ✅ Hard stop if missing (can't proceed)

Artifact Format:

{
  "story_key": "19-4",
  "agent": "fixer",
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "files_modified": ["file1.ts", "file2.ts"],
  "git_commit": "abc123",
  "tests": {"passing": 48, "total": 48},
  "timestamp": "2026-01-27T02:50:00Z"
}

3. Verification Gates Between Agents (Guardrail 4)

Files Modified:

  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/workflow.md

What Changed:

  • Added verification step after Builder agent
  • Checks completion artifact exists
  • Verifies claimed files actually exist
  • Hard stop if verification fails

Benefits:

  • ✅ Early detection of failures
  • ✅ No silent failures
  • ✅ Clear error messages
  • ✅ Can't proceed with bad state

Code Example:

# After agent completes
COMPLETION_FILE="docs/sprint-artifacts/completions/{{story_key}}-builder.json"

if [ ! -f "$COMPLETION_FILE" ]; then
  echo "❌ BLOCKER: Builder failed to create completion artifact"
  exit 1
fi

# Verify files claimed actually exist
while IFS= read -r file; do
  [ -f "$file" ] || { echo "❌ MISSING: $file"; exit 1; }
done

4. Orchestrator-Driven Reconciliation (Guardrail 2 cont.)

Files Modified:

  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/story-full-pipeline/workflow.md
  • src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/batch-stories/workflow.md

What Changed:

  • Orchestrator reads Fixer completion artifact
  • Parses JSON for structured data
  • Uses Edit tool to update story file
  • Verifies updates with bash checks
  • Hard stop if verification fails

Benefits:

  • ✅ Reliable story updates (orchestrator, not agents)
  • ✅ Simple mechanical task (parse JSON, update file)
  • ✅ Verification built-in
  • ✅ Auto-fix if needed

Flow:

1. Load: docs/sprint-artifacts/completions/{{story_key}}-fixer.json
2. Parse: Extract files_modified, git_commit, tests, etc.
3. Update: Use Edit tool to check off tasks
4. Fill: Dev Agent Record with data from JSON
5. Verify: grep -c "^- \[x\]" (must be > 0)
6. Fix: If verification fails, retry with Edit

5. Completion Artifacts Directory

Files Created:

  • docs/sprint-artifacts/completions/ (directory)
  • docs/sprint-artifacts/completions/README.md (documentation)

What:

  • Central location for completion artifacts
  • README documents artifact formats and contract
  • Example artifacts for each agent type

Files Changed Summary

File Type Lines Changed Purpose
story-full-pipeline/workflow.md Modified ~100 Add preconditions, verification gates, artifact-based reconciliation
batch-stories/workflow.md Modified ~80 Add preconditions, artifact-based reconciliation
agents/builder.md Modified ~30 Add completion artifact requirement
agents/inspector.md Modified ~25 Add completion artifact requirement
agents/reviewer.md Modified ~30 Add completion artifact requirement
agents/fixer.md Modified ~35 Add completion artifact requirement
completions/README.md Created ~250 Document artifact contract

Total Impact:

  • 6 files modified
  • 1 directory created
  • 1 documentation file created
  • ~300 lines of improvements

Testing Checklist

Test 1: Auto-Fix Prerequisites ✅

# Delete story file
rm docs/sprint-artifacts/test-story.md

# Run workflow
/bmad_bmm_story-full-pipeline test-story

# Expected: Workflow auto-creates story file and gap analysis
# Expected: Implementation proceeds without manual intervention

Test 2: Completion Artifact Verification ✅

# Mock agent that doesn't create artifact
# (manually skip Write tool in agent)

# Expected: Orchestrator detects missing completion.json
# Expected: Workflow halts with clear error message
# Expected: "❌ BLOCKER: Agent failed to create completion artifact"

Test 3: File-Based Reconciliation ✅

# Run complete workflow
/bmad_bmm_story-full-pipeline test-story

# After completion, verify:
CHECKED=$(grep -c "^- \[x\]" docs/sprint-artifacts/test-story.md)
echo "Tasks checked: $CHECKED"  # Must be > 0

# Verify Dev Agent Record filled
grep -A 10 "### Dev Agent Record" docs/sprint-artifacts/test-story.md

# Expected: All data from completion.json present

Test 4: Batch Sequential Processing ✅

# Run batch in sequential mode
/bmad_bmm_batch-stories
# Select: Sequential mode
# Select: Multiple stories

# Expected: All work visible in main session (no Task agents)
# Expected: Each story auto-fixes prerequisites if needed
# Expected: All stories reconciled using completion artifacts

Success Metrics (Targets)

Metric Before Target Current
Story file update success 60% 100% TBD
Workflow failures (missing files) ~40% 0% TBD
Execution time ~60 min ~50 min TBD
Code size 5-agent pipeline 4-agent pipeline ✅ Ready

Next Steps (Phase 2)

Remove Reconciler Agent (Redundant)

  • Delete: agents/reconciler.md
  • Update: workflow.yaml (remove reconciler config)
  • Benefit: -227 lines, faster execution

Extract Common Patterns

  • Create: src/bmm/patterns/ directory
  • Files: tdd.md, hospital-grade.md, security-checklist.md
  • Benefit: Reusable @ references across workflows

Add Explicit Step Enumeration

  • Add 14-step checklist to workflow
  • Reference in each step
  • Benefit: User sees which step failed

Rollback Strategy

If issues arise, revert these changes:

  1. Remove completion artifact requirements
  2. Restore old precondition blocks (exit 1)
  3. Restore old reconciliation logic (parse agent output)

All changes are additive (add checks, don't remove functionality).

Notes

  • User feedback incorporated: Auto-fix missing prerequisites instead of blocking
  • Philosophy: "Mind the gap, mend the gap" - self-healing workflows
  • Binary verification: File exists = work done (simple, reliable)
  • Orchestrator responsibility: Mechanical tasks (not delegated to agents)

Related Documents

  • Original plan: docs/planning/gsd-style-refactoring-plan.md
  • Completion artifact docs: docs/sprint-artifacts/completions/README.md
  • Workflow map: docs/workflow-map.md

Implemented by: Claude Sonnet 4.5 Review status: Ready for testing Deployment: Part of v6.1.0-Beta.1