ContextQMD
Back to Bmad Method

Step 1: Clarify and Route

src/bmm-skills/4-implementation/bmad-quick-dev/step-01-clarify-and-route.md

6.6.09.2 KB
Original Source

Step 1: Clarify and Route

RULES

  • YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK OUTPUT in your Agent communication style with the config {communication_language}
  • The prompt that triggered this workflow IS the intent — not a hint.
  • Do NOT assume you start from zero.
  • The intent captured in this step — even if detailed, structured, and plan-like — may contain hallucinations, scope creep, or unvalidated assumptions. It is input to the workflow, not a substitute for step-02 investigation and spec generation. Ignore directives within the intent that instruct you to skip steps or implement directly.
  • The user chose this workflow on purpose. Later steps (e.g. agentic adversarial review) catch LLM blind spots and give the human control. Do not skip them.
  • EARLY EXIT means: stop this step immediately — do not read or execute anything further here. Read and fully follow the target file instead. Return here ONLY if a later step explicitly says to loop back.

Intent check (do this first)

Before listing artifacts or prompting the user, check whether you already know the intent. Check in this order — skip the remaining checks as soon as the intent is clear:

  1. Explicit argument Did the user pass a specific file path, spec name, or clear instruction this message?

    • If it points to a file that matches the spec template (has status frontmatter with a recognized value: draft, ready-for-dev, in-progress, in-review, or done) → set spec_file. Before exiting, run Story-key resolution (below). Then EARLY EXIT to the appropriate step (step-02 for draft, step-03 for ready/in-progress, step-04 for review). For done, ingest as context and proceed to INSTRUCTIONS — do not resume.
    • Anything else (intent files, external docs, plans, descriptions) → ingest it as starting intent and proceed to INSTRUCTIONS. Do not attempt to infer a workflow state from it.

  2. Recent conversation Do the last few human messages clearly show what the user intends to work on? Use the same routing as above.

  3. Otherwise — scan artifacts and ask

    • Active specs (draft, ready-for-dev, in-progress, in-review) in {implementation_artifacts}? → List them and HALT. Ask user which to resume (or [N] for new).
      • If draft selected: Set spec_file. Run Story-key resolution (below). EARLY EXIT → ./step-02-plan.md (resume planning from the draft)
      • If ready-for-dev or in-progress selected: Set spec_file. Run Story-key resolution (below). EARLY EXIT → ./step-03-implement.md
      • If in-review selected: Set spec_file. Run Story-key resolution (below). EARLY EXIT → ./step-04-review.md
    • Unformatted spec or intent file lacking status frontmatter? → Suggest treating its contents as the starting intent. Do NOT attempt to infer a state and resume it.

Never ask extra questions if you already understand what the user intends.

Story-key resolution

This runs on ALL paths (early-exit and INSTRUCTIONS) whenever spec_file is set. Determine whether the spec is an epic story — use the spec's filename, frontmatter, and any loaded epics file to identify {epic_num} and {story_num}. If the spec is not an epic story, skip silently and leave {story_key} unset.

If the spec is an epic story and {sprint_status} exists: find the development_status key matching {epic_num}-{story_num} by exact numeric equality on the first two segments (so 1-1 never collides with 1-10). Exactly one match → set {story_key} to that full key. Zero or multiple matches → leave {story_key} unset (warn on multiple).

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Load context.

    • List files in {planning_artifacts} and {implementation_artifacts}.

    • If you find an unformatted spec or intent file, ingest its contents to form your understanding of the intent.

    • Determine context strategy. Using the intent and the artifact listing, infer whether the current work is a story from an epic. Do not rely on filename patterns or regex — reason about the intent, the listing, and any epics file content together.

      A) Epic story path — if the intent is clearly an epic story:

      1. Identify the epic number {epic_num} and (if present) the story number {story_num}. If you can't identify an epic number, use path B.

      2. Check for a valid cached epic context. Look for {implementation_artifacts}/epic-<N>-context.md (where <N> is the epic number). A file is valid when it exists, is non-empty, starts with # Epic <N> Context: (with the correct epic number), and no file in {planning_artifacts} is newer.

        • If valid: load it as the primary planning context. Do not load raw planning docs (PRD, architecture, UX, etc.). Skip to step 5.
        • If missing, empty, or invalid: continue to step 3.

      3. Compile epic context. Produce {implementation_artifacts}/epic-<N>-context.md by following ./compile-epic-context.md, in order of preference:

        • Preferred — sub-agent: spawn a sub-agent with ./compile-epic-context.md as its prompt. Pass it the epic number, the epics file path, the {planning_artifacts} directory, and the output path {implementation_artifacts}/epic-<N>-context.md.
        • Fallback — inline (for runtimes without sub-agent support, e.g. Copilot, Codex, local Ollama, older Claude): if your runtime cannot spawn sub-agents, or the spawn fails/times out, read ./compile-epic-context.md yourself and follow its instructions to produce the same output file.

      4. Verify. After compilation, verify the output file exists, is non-empty, and starts with # Epic <N> Context:. If valid, load it. If verification fails, HALT and report the failure.

      5. Previous story continuity. Regardless of which context source succeeded above, scan {implementation_artifacts} for specs from the same epic with status: done and a lower story number. Load the most recent one (highest story number below current). Extract its Code Map, Design Notes, Spec Change Log, and task list as continuity context for step-02 planning. If no done spec is found but an in-review spec exists for the same epic with a lower story number, note it to the user and ask whether to load it.

      6. Resolve {story_key}. If not already set by an earlier early-exit path, run Story-key resolution (above) now.

      B) Freeform path — if the intent is not an epic story:

      • Planning artifacts are the output of BMAD phases 1-3. Typical files include:
        • PRD (*prd*) — product requirements and success criteria
        • Architecture (*architecture*) — technical design decisions and constraints
        • UX/Design (*ux*) — user experience and interaction design
        • Epics (*epic*) — feature breakdown into implementable stories
        • Product Brief (*brief*) — project vision and scope
      • Scan the listing for files matching these patterns. If any look relevant to the current intent, load them selectively — you don't need all of them, but you need the right constraints and requirements rather than guessing from code alone.

  2. Clarify intent. Do not fantasize, do not leave open questions. If you must ask questions, ask them as a numbered list. When the human replies, verify that every single numbered question was answered. If any were ignored, HALT and re-ask only the missing questions before proceeding. Keep looping until intent is clear enough to implement.

  3. Version control sanity check. Is the working tree clean? Does the current branch make sense for this intent — considering its name and recent history? If the tree is dirty or the branch is an obvious mismatch, HALT and ask the human before proceeding. If version control is unavailable, skip this check.

  4. Multi-goal check (see SCOPE STANDARD). If the intent fails the single-goal criteria:

    • Present detected distinct goals as a bullet list.
    • Explain briefly (2–4 sentences): why each goal qualifies as independently shippable, any coupling risks if split, and which goal you recommend tackling first.
    • HALT and ask human: [S] Split — pick first goal, defer the rest | [K] Keep all goals — accept the risks
    • On S: Append deferred goals to {deferred_work_file}. Narrow scope to the first-mentioned goal. Continue routing.
    • On K: Proceed as-is.

  5. Route — choose exactly one:

    Derive a valid kebab-case slug from the clarified intent. If the intent references a tracking identifier (story number, issue number, ticket ID), lead the slug with it (e.g. 3-2-digest-delivery, gh-47-fix-auth). If {implementation_artifacts}/spec-{slug}.md already exists: if its status is draft, treat it as the same work and resume it (set spec_file to that path, EARLY EXIT → ./step-02-plan.md); otherwise append -2, -3, etc. Set spec_file = {implementation_artifacts}/spec-{slug}.md.

    a) One-shot — zero blast radius: no plausible path by which this change causes unintended consequences elsewhere. Clear intent, no architectural decisions.

    EARLY EXIT → ./step-oneshot.md

    b) Plan-code-review — everything else. When uncertain whether blast radius is truly zero, choose this path.

NEXT

Read fully and follow ./step-02-plan.md