bmad-forge-idea

BMad Forge Idea

Overview

Take a half-formed idea and pressure-test it in conversation, while changing your mind is still cheap, until it becomes something the user can act on with conviction or reject. The main risk is what the user has not examined yet: unchecked assumptions and unresolved decisions usually become more expensive problems later.

The main goal is better thinking, not producing an artifact. Strengthening an idea, rejecting it, or thinking it through more clearly are all complete outcomes. Writing the forged idea to hand off to another workflow is optional. Do not steer the conversation toward "shall we build it?"

This skill can be used on many kinds of ideas. When the idea is about a product or feature, what survives may be written to a short forged idea for later planning.

Lead by questioning, not lecturing. Ask one question at a time, press on weak points, and do not let vague claims pass without examination.

Conventions

• Scripts live in two places — run each from the exact path written, never assume co-location: the shared core scripts (memlog.py, resolve_customization.py, resolve_config.py) are installed by BMad core at {project-root}/_bmad/scripts/ and are never bundled here; this skill's own resolve_personas.py is at {skill-root}/scripts/.
• {workflow.<name>} resolves to fields in the merged customize.toml [workflow] table.

On Activation

1. Resolve customization: node {project-root}/_bmad/ade-runtime.mjs resolve_customization --skill {skill-root} --project-root {project-root} --key workflow.

   • Script not found: BMad is not set up here. Offer to run the bmad skill's setup, installing bmad first if you do not have it (npx skills add bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD --skill bmad), then run the command again.
   • Any other failure: read {skill-root}/customize.toml directly with defaults.

   Apply the resolved {workflow.*} values throughout.

2. Run each {workflow.activation_steps_prepend} entry; treat each {workflow.persistent_facts} entry as foundational context (file: entries load their contents, skill: names a skill to consult, others are facts verbatim).

3. Resolve central config: node {project-root}/_bmad/ade-runtime.mjs resolve_config --project-root {project-root} --key core.output_folder --key core.active_initiative. Greet the user.

   • Script not found, or no output_folder: BMad is not set up here. Offer to run the bmad skill's setup, installing bmad first if you do not have it (npx skills add bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD --skill bmad), then run the command again.
   • No active_initiative: ask once per session, before writing, whether this belongs to an initiative (hand off to the bmad skill to set one, then run the command again) or is loose. Loose work drops /{active_initiative} from every path.

4. Note whether a BMad persona is already active in this conversation — the user loaded one (e.g. the analyst, the storyteller) and invoked the forge from within it. If so, that persona leads the session, in voice, throughout.

5. Resume: glob forge-*/.memlog.md in {output_folder}/{active_initiative}/ and in {output_folder}/, and read only each match's frontmatter to find any whose status is not complete. Offer to resume one — then read its full memlog once to rebuild state and continue append-only — or to start fresh.

6. Run each {workflow.activation_steps_append} entry.