BMAD-METHOD/docs/how-to/non-interactive-installation.md

title	description	sidebar
Non-Interactive Installation	Install BMad using command-line flags for CI/CD pipelines and automated deployments	order 2

Use command-line flags to install BMad non-interactively. This is useful for:

When to Use This

• Automated deployments and CI/CD pipelines
• Scripted installations
• Batch installations across multiple projects
• Quick installations with known configurations

:::note[Prerequisites] Requires Node.js v20+ and npx (included with npm). :::

Available Flags

Installation Options

Flag	Description	Example
--directory <path>	Installation directory	--directory ~/projects/myapp
--modules <modules>	Comma-separated module IDs	--modules bmm,bmb
--tools <tools>	Comma-separated tool/IDE IDs (use none to skip)	--tools codex,cursor or --tools none
--custom-content <paths>	Comma-separated paths to custom modules	--custom-content ~/my-module,~/another-module
--action <type>	Action for existing installations: install (default), update, quick-update, or compile-agents	--action quick-update

Core Configuration

Flag	Description	Default
--user-name <name>	Name for agents to use	System username
--communication-language <lang>	Agent communication language	English
--document-output-language <lang>	Document output language	English
--output-folder <path>	Output folder path	_bmad-output

Other Options

Flag	Description
-y, --yes	Accept all defaults and skip prompts
-d, --debug	Enable debug output for manifest generation

Module IDs

Available module IDs for the --modules flag:

• bmm — BMad Method Master
• bmb — BMad Builder

Check the BMad registry for available external modules.

Tool/IDE IDs

Available tool IDs for the --tools flag:

Preferred: claude-code, cursor

Run npx bmad-method install interactively once to see the full current list of supported tools, or check the platform codes configuration.

For codex, BMAD installs slash-command prompt files into .codex/prompts and syncs them to ~/.codex/prompts. Use them in Codex CLI as /prompts:bmad-help, /prompts:bmad-master, etc.

Installation Modes

Mode	Description	Example
Fully non-interactive	Provide all flags to skip all prompts	npx bmad-method install --directory . --modules bmm --tools codex --yes
Semi-interactive	Provide some flags; BMad prompts for the rest	npx bmad-method install --directory . --modules bmm
Defaults only	Accept all defaults with -y	npx bmad-method install --yes
Without tools	Skip tool/IDE configuration	npx bmad-method install --modules bmm --tools none

Examples

CI/CD Pipeline Installation

#!/bin/bash
# install-bmad.sh

npx bmad-method install \
  --directory "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}" \
  --modules bmm \
  --tools codex \
  --user-name "CI Bot" \
  --communication-language English \
  --document-output-language English \
  --output-folder _bmad-output \
  --yes

Update Existing Installation

npx bmad-method install \
  --directory ~/projects/myapp \
  --action update \
  --modules bmm,bmb,custom-module

Quick Update (Preserve Settings)

npx bmad-method install \
  --directory ~/projects/myapp \
  --action quick-update

Installation with Custom Content

npx bmad-method install \
  --directory ~/projects/myapp \
  --modules bmm \
  --custom-content ~/my-custom-module,~/another-module \
  --tools codex

What You Get

• A fully configured _bmad/ directory in your project
• Compiled agents and workflows for your selected modules and tools
• A _bmad-output/ folder for generated artifacts

Validation and Error Handling

BMad validates all provided flags:

• Directory — Must be a valid path with write permissions
• Modules — Warns about invalid module IDs (but won't fail)
• Tools — Warns about invalid tool IDs (but won't fail)
• Custom Content — Each path must contain a valid module.yaml file
• Action — Must be one of: install, update, quick-update, compile-agents

Invalid values will either:

1. Show an error and exit (for critical options like directory)
2. Show a warning and skip (for optional items like custom content)
3. Fall back to interactive prompts (for missing required values)

:::tip[Best Practices]

• Use absolute paths for --directory to avoid ambiguity
• Test flags locally before using in CI/CD pipelines
• Combine with -y for truly unattended installations
• Use --debug if you encounter issues during installation :::

Troubleshooting

Installation fails with "Invalid directory"

• The directory path must exist (or its parent must exist)
• You need write permissions
• The path must be absolute or correctly relative to the current directory

Module not found

• Verify the module ID is correct
• External modules must be available in the registry

Custom content path invalid

Ensure each custom content path:

• Points to a directory
• Contains a module.yaml file in the root
• Has a code field in the module.yaml

:::note[Still stuck?] Run with --debug for detailed output, try interactive mode to isolate the issue, or report at https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD/issues. :::