start-bmad-ralph

Story-driven development workflows with CTO oversight are executed by orchestrating generation, preflight checks, and execution across three CTO Guard checkpoints. The process requires a valid input markdown file and enforces primary quality gates with fail-closed handling for compliance.

A CTO Guard checkpoint is a validation gate within repo governance that enforces compliance before story generation, after generation, and after execution. It uses fail-closed handling to halt the workflow when context conditions or quality standards are not met.

To generate a backlog from a markdown plan, provide a valid input markdown file to the story generation workflow. The system validates the plan during a preflight check, generates stories, and builds the backlog while enforcing primary quality gates.

This story generation workflow requires no external dependencies, but it strictly requires a valid input markdown file to function. It operates as a standalone script within Claude Code, relying solely on internal CTO Guard validation and repo governance rules.

When context gets tight during story execution, the workflow triggers same-story handoff to maintain continuity. This mechanism, combined with fail-closed handling, ensures the primary quality gate is preserved without losing CTO oversight or repo governance compliance.

Preflight checks in BMAD autopilot workflows validate the input markdown plan before story generation begins. They enforce repo governance and compliance conditions, ensuring the primary quality gate is met and fail-closed handling is active if conditions are not satisfied.