bmad-planner

Generate requirements, architecture, and epics documents via interactive Q&A.

Updated Oct 22, 2025
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/stharrold/german --skill bmad-planner
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: bmad-planner
Source: https://github.com/stharrold/german/tree/main/.claude/skills/bmad-planner
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/stharrold/german --skill bmad-planner

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes scripts (resource) and templates (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

This Skill addresses the challenge of creating comprehensive, consistent, and well-structured planning documents (requirements, architecture, epics) before development begins. It eliminates manual document creation, ensures alignment, and saves significant time and AI tokens by providing a structured Q&A process.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Three-Persona Interactive Q&A: Guides you through requirements gathering (Analyst), architecture design (Architect), and epic breakdown (PM) with targeted questions, ensuring all critical aspects are covered.
  • Automated Document Generation: Creates requirements.md, architecture.md, and epics.md from rich templates, pre-populating them with your interactive responses.
  • Workflow Integration: Seamlessly integrates with the overall development workflow, providing essential context for subsequent specification and implementation phases, saving up to 92% in AI token usage compared to manual planning.
  • Use Case: Before starting a new feature, run this tool to interactively define the problem, target users, technical stack, API design, and break down the work into prioritized epics, all committed directly to your contrib branch.

Quick Start

Example: Create planning documents for a new feature

(Run from your main repository on a contrib branch)

python .claude/skills/bmad-planner/scripts/create_planning.py
my-feature stharrold

Frequently Asked Questions about bmad-planner

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I generate planning documents automatically before development starts?

Planning document generation automates creation of requirements, architecture, and epics files through an interactive three-persona Q&A process. The Skill guides you through Analyst, Architect, and PM perspectives, then commits structured artifacts to your contrib branch, eliminating manual document creation and saving up to 92% in AI token usage.

What's the best way to break down features into epics during the planning phase?

Epic breakdown happens through the PM persona's interactive questions in the planning workflow. The Skill generates prioritized epics directly into an `epics.md` file based on your responses, ensuring work is decomposed consistently before implementation begins.

Can I use this for product requirements and technical architecture planning?

Yes. The three-persona approach covers requirements gathering (Analyst), architecture design (Architect), and epic prioritization (PM) in a single workflow. It produces requirements.md, architecture.md, and epics.md simultaneously, addressing both product and technical dimensions.

How does interactive planning reduce work compared to writing documents manually?

Interactive Q&A structures your thinking through targeted questions from three perspectives, then auto-generates template-driven documents populated with your responses. This eliminates context-switching and redundant rewrites, cutting token usage significantly while ensuring alignment across requirements, architecture, and epics.

What directory structure does this create for planning artifacts?

The Skill creates a compliant directory layout under `planning/<slug>` in your contrib branch, organizing requirements.md, architecture.md, and epics.md in a consistent structure. This standardized layout integrates seamlessly with downstream specification and implementation phases.

Can I preview planning output before committing to the repository?

Yes. The Skill includes a `--no-commit` flag for testing, allowing you to generate and review all planning documents before they're committed to your contrib branch, giving you control over validation before repository integration.