Bmad Builder

---
name: bmad-builder
description: |
  Meta-skill for scaffolding and validating custom PLANNING/ORCHESTRATION skills within the BMAD Planning & Orchestrator plugin. Produces the full skill directory: SKILL.md, scripts, and templates — all pre-targeted at this plugin's path conventions. Includes a scope-violation checker so newly created skills never drift into dev/lint/build/coverage territory. Use when the user says "create a skill", "scaffold a skill", "build a new planning skill", "add a skill to the orchestrator", "extend BMAD planning", "custom orchestration skill", "validate this skill", "check this skill for scope violations", "new skill for the planner", or "bmad-builder". Supports three intents: Create (new skill skeleton), Validate (check an existing SKILL.md), Scaffold (directory structure only). This skill plans and scaffolds only — it NEVER writes application code, runs tests, lints, or builds.
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, TodoWrite
---

# BMAD Builder

**Function:** Scaffold and validate custom planning/orchestration skills for the BMAD Planning & Orchestrator plugin. Produces compliant SKILL.md files, shell scripts, and templates — pre-wired to this plugin's path conventions — and runs scope-violation checks to keep new skills inside the PLAN/ORCHESTRATE boundary.

## Scope (PLAN, never build)

This skill produces planning artifacts and skill skeleton files. It does NOT write application code, run tests, lint, check coverage, or execute builds. If a skill being designed is tempted to "implement", "fix the code", "run the suite", or "review the diff" — that is a scope violation. Plan and hand off instead.

## Three intents

Always clarify which intent applies before starting.

### Create — new planning skill from scratch

1. Gather requirements (use TodoWrite to track):
   - Skill name (lowercase-hyphen, prefixed `bmad-`; e.g. `bmad-example`)
   - What planning/orchestration problem it solves
   - Trigger phrases users will say
   - Allowed tools (subset of: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch, TodoWrite)
   - Which BMAD track(s) it applies to (Quick Flow / BMad Method / Enterprise)
   - Upstream BMAD counterpart (e.g. `bmad-risk-assessment`)

2. Run the scaffold script to create the directory:
   ```bash
   bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-builder/scripts/scaffold-skill.sh <skill-name>
   ```
   This creates `skills/<skill-name>/` with `scripts/` and `templates/` subdirectories and a starter SKILL.md.

3. Fill the SKILL.md using the skill template:
   - Reference: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-builder/templates/skill.template.md`
   - Keep body under 5K tokens; push long reference detail to a sibling `REFERENCE.md` in the new skill's own folder
   - Use `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` for all paths to bundled scripts/templates
   - Artifacts go to `bmad-output/` (honor user-configured folder)
   - End with the mandatory attribution footer (see template)

4. Validate the new skill:
   ```bash
   bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-builder/scripts/validate-skill.sh \
     ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
   ```
   Fix all errors; review all warnings before declaring done.

### Validate — check an existing SKILL.md

Run the validator directly against any SKILL.md path:
```bash
bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-builder/scripts/validate-skill.sh <path-to-SKILL.md>
```

The validator checks:
- `name` field present and lowercase-hyphen
- `description` field present with trigger phrases
- `allowed-tools` field present (warns if missing)
- No dev/lint/build/coverage scope violations in `allowed-tools` or body
- File size within the ~5K token target (~20KB)
- Attribution footer present

### Scaffold — directory structure only

Use when you want an empty directory skeleton without generating content:
```bash
bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-builder/scripts/scaffold-skill.sh <skill-name>
```
Then fill SKILL.md manually using the template as a guide.

## Scope law for new skills

Every skill created by this builder MUST comply with the Scope Law:

- The plugin PLANS and ORCHESTRATES. It NEVER writes application code, runs tests, lints, checks coverage, builds, or reviews implemented code.
- The last artifact any skill may produce is a ready-for-dev story file or a handoff manifest. Implementation is handed to EXTERNAL dev tools/plugins.
- Acceptance Criteria, Testing STRATEGY, and Dev Notes are planning — allowed. Executing tests or writing implementation code is out of scope.

The `validate-skill.sh` script enforces this automatically by flagging forbidden terms.

## BMAD fidelity reminders

When designing skills, track the BMAD Method conventions:

| Convention | Rule |
|------------|------|
| Scale Tracks | Quick Flow / BMad Method / Enterprise — user confirms interactively |
| Story size | ~2-8h, one dev-day max; split if larger |
| Delivery tracking | Stories remaining / completion rate — NO Fibonacci points, velocity, or burndown |
| Story name | `{epic}.{story}.{slug}.story.md` |
| Story status | backlog → ready-for-dev → in-progress → review → done |
| Decision log | Decisions thread through `decision-log.md` |
| Project constitution | `project-context.md` loaded across skills |
| Three intents | Create / Update / Validate where applicable |

## Available scripts

| Script | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| `scripts/scaffold-skill.sh <name>` | Creates `skills/<name>/` with subdirs and starter SKILL.md |
| `scripts/validate-skill.sh <SKILL.md>` | Validates frontmatter, scope, size, and attribution footer |

Invoke with the `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` prefix shown above. The orchestrator marks scripts executable; you may also run them via `bash`.

## Templates

| Template | Use for |
|----------|---------|
| `templates/skill.template.md` | Skeleton for a new planning/orchestration SKILL.md |
| `templates/document.template.md` | Generic planning document (PRD section, brief, spec section, etc.) |

## Subagent strategy

For creating a full skill package in parallel:

| Agent | Task | Output |
|-------|------|--------|
| Agent 1 | Draft SKILL.md body from gathered requirements | `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` |
| Agent 2 | Write domain scripts (validators, checklists) | `skills/<name>/scripts/` |
| Agent 3 | Write domain templates | `skills/<name>/templates/` |
| Agent 4 | Write REFERENCE.md if body exceeds 5K tokens | `skills/<name>/REFERENCE.md` |

Coordination: gather requirements first (sequential), write spec to `bmad-output/skill-spec.md`, then fan out. Main context validates all outputs with `validate-skill.sh` and assembles the final package.

## Notes for LLMs

- Use TodoWrite to track which components have been created.
- Never create a skill that contains test runners, linters, coverage tools, build commands, or diff/code-review steps — validate-skill.sh will flag these.
- Always end SKILL.md with the attribution footer block (the template includes it verbatim).
- Keep SKILL.md under 5K tokens; use REFERENCE.md for lengthy patterns.
- Use `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` for all internal paths — never hardcode `~/.claude` or absolute machine paths.
- Output artifacts (non-skill files) go under `bmad-output/` by default.

> ---
> Part of the **BMAD Planning & Orchestrator** plugin — a Claude Code harness for the **BMAD Method** by the **BMAD Code Organization** (https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD). Implements the spirit of `bmad-bmb-builder`. All methodology credit belongs to the BMAD Code Organization.