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Automation Mode

You are running unattended inside a bmad-auto orchestrator session. No human is watching this conversation; a deterministic program spawned you, will verify your artifacts on disk, and will kill this session after your final turn. These rules override conversational behavior everywhere in this workflow.

Identity & I/O contract

$BMAD_AUTO_RUN_DIR and $BMAD_AUTO_TASK_ID are set in your environment.
Your result file is $BMAD_AUTO_RUN_DIR/tasks/$BMAD_AUTO_TASK_ID/result.json. Writing it is the LAST action of a successful run (step-auto-finalize does this).
Your escalation file is $BMAD_AUTO_RUN_DIR/tasks/$BMAD_AUTO_TASK_ID/escalation.json. Write it when you hit a blocker no rule below resolves, then write the result file with the escalation included and END YOUR TURN. Schema:
```
{
  "escalations": [
    {
      "type": "<short-kebab-kind>",
      "severity": "CRITICAL|PREFERENCE",
      "detail": "<one or two sentences>"
    }
  ]
}
```
- CRITICAL = work cannot proceed safely (missing config, broken repo state, contradictory frozen intent). The orchestrator pauses the whole run for a human.
- PREFERENCE = you made a judgment call a human might want to revisit. The orchestrator logs it and continues — prefer this when work CAN proceed.

Behavior rules

Never HALT for input. Never ask the user anything. Every HALT/ask/menu point in the step files resolves via the decision table below. There is no user — an unanswered question stalls the run until a timeout kills you.
No greeting, no conversational framing. Skip the activation greeting. Keep narration to one line per step; spend tokens on the work.
The invocation argument IS the intent. The skill was invoked with a sprint-status story key (e.g. 3-2-digest-delivery). Set {story_key} to it verbatim, derive {epic_num}/{story_num} from its leading numeric segments, and treat the intent as: implement that story from the epic. Skip the rest of the intent-check cascade. Follow step-01's Epic story path (epic context cache, previous-story continuity) as written.
- Feedback mode: if the invocation also carries --feedback <path>, this is a repair session — a previous session's work failed the orchestrator's deterministic verification. Read the feedback file FIRST; it contains the failing command and its output. The working tree still holds the previous attempt's changes and the spec for {story_key} already exists: do not regenerate it and do not change its status if it is already done. Your entire goal is to make the described verification pass without violating the spec's <frozen-after-approval> intent. Skip step-01/step-02; work directly, then read fully and follow ./step-auto-finalize.md (skip its status/sprint updates when the spec status is already done — repair only, then write result.json and end your turn). If the tree was reset and the spec is gone, follow the normal path with the feedback as added context.
- Bundle mode: if the invocation is --dw-bundle <path> instead of a story key, this is a deferred-work sweep bundle. Read the bundle file FIRST: it carries bundle_name, the dw_ids, the intent, any human decision, and the verbatim ledger entries. Set {story_key} = dw-<bundle_name>; there is no epic and no sprint-status entry — skip the epic-context cache and previous-story continuity. The spec file is {implementation_artifacts}/spec-dw-<bundle_name>.md. Implement ALL listed dw_ids as the one cohesive goal the intent describes — never split in bundle mode; if an item cannot be done safely, escalate CRITICAL (type: bundle-item-blocked). Bundle mode composes with feedback mode (--dw-bundle <path> --feedback <path> is a repair session for the bundle).
Review depends on $BMAD_AUTO_SKIP_REVIEW. Never one-shot.
- Unset (default): review runs as a separate orchestrated session with fresh context — you do not run it.
- Set (= 1): the orchestrator runs no separate review session. YOU run step-04-review's internal triple-review unattended (sub-agents are pre-authorized; resolve its HALTs via the decision table below), then finalize.
Step routing after step-03-implement (step-03's NEXT handles this):
- $BMAD_AUTO_SKIP_REVIEW set → run ./step-04-review.md (internal triple-review), then ./step-auto-finalize.md (which sets status done).
- $BMAD_AUTO_SKIP_REVIEW unset → skip step-04-review and go straight to ./step-auto-finalize.md (status in-review; orchestrator reviews).
- Never run step-05-present in either case — the orchestrator commits.
Never open an editor, never commit, never push, never offer follow-ups.

Scope override

The base SKILL.md SCOPE STANDARD, step-02 instruction 6, and spec-template.md state a 900–1600 token spec target (interactive default). In automation mode that target is 1,500–4,000 tokens: wherever a base file names 900, 1300, or 1600, read the floor as 1,500 and the ceiling as 4,000. Rationale: modern 200k–1M-token-context models tolerate much larger specs, so the ceiling guards spec discipline (one goal, sharp ACs), not context overflow — a bloated spec dilutes the acceptance criteria a reviewer must audit against. Neither bound is a gate, but [K] keep is unavailable in automation: on a true multi-goal overflow choose [S] Split per the decision table.

Decision table (replaces HALTs)

Step file HALT	Automation decision
step-01 active-specs menu	If a spec for `{story_key}` already exists: status `draft` → resume into step-02; `ready-for-dev`/`in-progress` → resume into step-03. Ignore unrelated specs.
step-01 prior `in-review` spec "ask whether to load"	Load it.
step-01 dirty tree / branch mismatch	Escalate `CRITICAL` (`type: dirty-worktree`) — the orchestrator guarantees a clean tree, so this signals external interference.
step-01 multi-goal check	Choose [S] Split: implement the first goal, append the rest to the deferred-work file per `./deferred-work-format.md`.
step-01/02 unclear intent after investigation	Escalate `CRITICAL` (`type: intent-gap`). Do not fantasize requirements.
step-02 token budget exceeded	Choose [S] Split (defer secondary scope per `./deferred-work-format.md`).
step-02 CHECKPOINT 1	Perform the self-review against the READY FOR DEVELOPMENT standard, fix what it surfaces, then auto-approve: set status `ready-for-dev`, lock the frozen block, continue to step-03.
step-03 missing/empty spec precondition	Escalate `CRITICAL` (`type: missing-spec`).
step-04 no sub-agents → "generate prompt files & HALT"	Only reachable when `$BMAD_AUTO_SKIP_REVIEW` is set. Sub-agents are pre-authorized — run the three reviewers inline; never generate prompt files or HALT.
step-04 `intent_gap` finding (loop back to human)	Revert the code changes, then escalate `CRITICAL` (`type: intent-gap`). Do not infer intent.
step-04 `bad_spec` finding	Resolve automatically per the step: amend the non-frozen spec sections, log the change, and re-derive via step-03. No human, no escalation.
step-04 `specLoopIteration` > 5	Escalate `CRITICAL` (`type: review-loop-exceeded`).
Any other HALT or menu	Take the most conservative option that keeps work moving; if none is safe, escalate `CRITICAL`.

Sub-agent note

Sub-agent usage is pre-authorized for the whole run — never ask. When sub-agents are unavailable, do the work inline; never generate prompt files for a human to run.

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