Attribution: Sourced from bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD by BMAD Code Org.

Dev Story Workflow

Goal: Execute story implementation following a context filled story spec file.

Your Role: Developer implementing the story.

• Communicate all responses in {communication_language} and language MUST be tailored to {user_skill_level}
• Generate all documents in {document_output_language}
• Only modify the story file in these areas: Tasks/Subtasks checkboxes, Dev Agent Record (Debug Log, Completion Notes), File List, Change Log, and Status
• Execute ALL steps in exact order; do NOT skip steps
• Absolutely DO NOT stop because of "milestones", "significant progress", or "session boundaries". Continue in a single execution until the story is COMPLETE (all ACs satisfied and all tasks/subtasks checked) UNLESS a HALT condition is triggered or the USER gives other instruction.
• Do NOT schedule a "next session" or request review pauses unless a HALT condition applies. Only Step 9 decides completion.
• User skill level ({user_skill_level}) affects conversation style ONLY, not code updates.

Conventions

• Bare paths (e.g. steps/step-01-init.md) resolve from the skill root.
• {skill-root} resolves to this skill's installed directory (where customize.toml lives).
• {project-root}-prefixed paths resolve from the project working directory.
• {skill-name} resolves to the skill directory's basename.

On Activation

Step 1: Resolve the Workflow Block

Run: python3 {project-root}/_bmad/scripts/resolve_customization.py --skill {skill-root} --key workflow

If the script fails, resolve the workflow block yourself by reading these three files in base → team → user order and applying the same structural merge rules as the resolver:

1. {skill-root}/customize.toml — defaults
2. {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.toml — team overrides
3. {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.user.toml — personal overrides

Any missing file is skipped. Scalars override, tables deep-merge, arrays of tables keyed by code or id replace matching entries and append new entries, and all other arrays append.

Step 2: Execute Prepend Steps

Execute each entry in {workflow.activation_steps_prepend} in order before proceeding.

Step 3: Load Persistent Facts

Treat every entry in {workflow.persistent_facts} as foundational context you carry for the rest of the workflow run. Entries prefixed file: are paths or globs under {project-root} — load the referenced contents as facts. All other entries are facts verbatim.

Step 4: Load Config

Load config from {project-root}/_bmad/bmm/config.yaml and resolve:

• project_name, user_name
• communication_language, document_output_language
• user_skill_level
• implementation_artifacts
• date as system-generated current datetime

Step 5: Greet the User

Greet {user_name}, speaking in {communication_language}.

Step 6: Execute Append Steps

Execute each entry in {workflow.activation_steps_append} in order.

Activation is complete. Begin the workflow below.

Paths

• story_file = `` (explicit story path; auto-discovered if empty)
• sprint_status = {implementation_artifacts}/sprint-status.yaml

Execution

<workflow> <critical>Communicate all responses in {communication_language} and language MUST be tailored to {user_skill_level}</critical> <critical>Generate all documents in {document_output_language}</critical> <critical>Only modify the story file in these areas: Tasks/Subtasks checkboxes, Dev Agent Record (Debug Log, Completion Notes), File List, Change Log, and Status</critical> <critical>Execute ALL steps in exact order; do NOT skip steps</critical> <critical>Absolutely DO NOT stop because of "milestones", "significant progress", or "session boundaries". Continue in a single execution until the story is COMPLETE (all ACs satisfied and all tasks/subtasks checked) UNLESS a HALT condition is triggered or the USER gives other instruction.</critical> <critical>Do NOT schedule a "next session" or request review pauses unless a HALT condition applies. Only Step 9 decides completion.</critical> <critical>User skill level ({user_skill_level}) affects conversation style ONLY, not code updates.</critical>

<step n="1" goal="Find next ready story and load it" tag="sprint-status"> <check if="{{story_path}} is provided"> <action>Use {{story_path}} directly</action> <action>Read COMPLETE story file</action> <action>Extract story_key from filename or metadata</action> <goto anchor="task_check" /> </check>

<!-- Sprint-based story discovery --> <check if="{{sprint_status}} file exists"> <critical>MUST read COMPLETE sprint-status.yaml file from start to end to preserve order</critical> <action>Load the FULL file: {{sprint_status}}</action> <action>Read ALL lines from beginning to end - do not skip any content</action> <action>Parse the development_status section completely to understand story order</action>

<action>Find the FIRST story (by reading in order from top to bottom) where:

• Key matches pattern: number-number-name (e.g., "1-2-user-auth")
• NOT an epic key (epic-X) or retrospective (epic-X-retrospective)
• Status value equals "ready-for-dev"

</action>

<check if="no ready-for-dev or in-progress story found"> <output>📋 No ready-for-dev stories found in sprint-status.yaml

Current Sprint Status: {{sprint_status_summary}}

What would you like to do?

1. Run create-story to create next story from epics with comprehensive context
2. Run *validate-create-story to improve existing stories before development (recommended quality check)
3. Specify a particular story file to develop (provide full path)
4. Check {{sprint_status}} file to see current sprint status

💡 Tip: Stories in ready-for-dev may not have been validated. Consider running validate-create-story first for a quality check. </output> <ask>Choose option [1], [2], [3], or [4], or specify story file path:</ask>

<check if="user chooses '1'"> <action>HALT - Run create-story to create next story</action> </check>

<check if="user chooses '2'"> <action>HALT - Run validate-create-story to improve existing stories</action> </check>

<check if="user chooses '3'"> <ask>Provide the story file path to develop:</ask> <action>Store user-provided story path as {{story_path}}</action> <goto anchor="task_check" /> </check>

<check if="user chooses '4'"> <output>Loading {{sprint_status}} for detailed status review...</output> <action>Display detailed sprint status analysis</action> <action>HALT - User can review sprint status and provide story path</action> </check>

<check if="user provides story file path"> <action>Store user-provided story path as {{story_path}}</action> <goto anchor="task_check" /> </check> </check> </check>

<!-- Non-sprint story discovery --> <check if="{{sprint_status}} file does NOT exist"> <action>Search {implementation_artifacts} for stories directly</action> <action>Find stories with "ready-for-dev" status in files</action> <action>Look for story files matching pattern: --*.md</action> <action>Read each candidate story file to check Status section</action>

<check if="no ready-for-dev stories found in story files"> <output>📋 No ready-for-dev stories found

Available Options:

1. Run create-story to create next story from epics with comprehensive context
2. Run *validate-create-story to improve existing stories
3. Specify which story to develop

</output> <ask>What would you like to do? Choose option [1], [2], or [3]:</ask>

<check if="user chooses '1'"> <action>HALT - Run create-story to create next story</action> </check>

<check if="user chooses '2'"> <action>HALT - Run validate-create-story to improve existing stories</action> </check>

<check if="user chooses '3'"> <ask>It's unclear what story you want developed. Please provide the full path to the story file:</ask> <action>Store user-provided story path as {{story_path}}</action> <action>Continue with provided story file</action> </check> </check>

<check if="ready-for-dev story found in files"> <action>Use discovered story file and extract story_key</action> </check> </check>

<action>Store the found story_key (e.g., "1-2-user-authentication") for later status updates</action> <action>Find matching story file in {implementation_artifacts} using story_key pattern: {{story_key}}.md</action> <action>Read COMPLETE story file from discovered path</action>

<anchor id="task_check" />

<action>Parse sections: Story, Acceptance Criteria, Tasks/Subtasks, Dev Notes, Dev Agent Record, File List, Change Log, Status</action>

<action>Load comprehensive context from story file's Dev Notes section</action> <action>Extract developer guidance from Dev Notes: architecture requirements, previous learnings, technical specifications</action> <action>Use enhanced story context to inform implementation decisions and approaches</action>

<action>Identify first incomplete task (unchecked [ ]) in Tasks/Subtasks</action>

<action if="no incomplete tasks"> <goto step="9">Completion sequence</goto> </action> <action if="story file inaccessible">HALT: "Cannot develop story without access to story file"</action> <action if="incomplete task or subtask requirements ambiguous">ASK user to clarify or HALT</action> </step>

<step n="2" goal="Load project context and story information"> <critical>Load all available context to inform implementation</critical>

<action>Load {project_context} for coding standards and project-wide patterns (if exists)</action> <action>Parse sections: Story, Acceptance Criteria, Tasks/Subtasks, Dev Notes, Dev Agent Record, File List, Change Log, Status</action> <action>Load comprehensive context from story file's Dev Notes section</action> <action>Extract developer guidance from Dev Notes: architecture requirements, previous learnings, technical specifications</action> <action>Use enhanced story context to inform implementation decisions and approaches</action> <output>✅ Context Loaded Story and project context available for implementation </output> </step>

<step n="3" goal="Detect review continuation and extract review context"> <critical>Determine if this is a fresh start or continuation after code review</critical>

<action>Check if "Senior Developer Review (AI)" section exists in the story file</action> <action>Check if "Review Follow-ups (AI)" subsection exists under Tasks/Subtasks</action>

<check if="Senior Developer Review section exists"> <action>Set review_continuation = true</action> <action>Extract from "Senior Developer Review (AI)" section:

• Review outcome (Approve/Changes Requested/Blocked)
• Review date
• Total action items with checkboxes (count checked vs unchecked)
• Severity breakdown (High/Med/Low counts)

</action> <action>Count unchecked [ ] review follow-up tasks in "Review Follow-ups (AI)" subsection</action> <action>Store list of unchecked review items as {{pending_review_items}}</action>

<output>⏯️ Resuming Story After Code Review ({{review_date}})

Review Outcome: {{review_outcome}} Action Items: {{unchecked_review_count}} remaining to address Priorities: {{high_count}} High, {{med_count}} Medium, {{low_count}} Low

Strategy: Will prioritize review follow-up tasks (marked [AI-Review]) before continuing with regular tasks. </output> </check>

<check if="Senior Developer Review section does NOT exist"> <action>Set review_continuation = false</action> <action>Set {{pending_review_items}} = empty</action>

<output>🚀 Starting Fresh Implementation

Story: {{story_key}} Story Status: {{current_status}} First incomplete task: {{first_task_description}} </output> </check> </step>

<step n="4" goal="Mark story in-progress" tag="sprint-status"> <check if="{{sprint_status}} file exists"> <action>Load the FULL file: {{sprint_status}}</action> <action>Read all development_status entries to find {{story_key}}</action> <action>Get current status value for development_status[{{story_key}}]</action>

<check if="current status == 'ready-for-dev' OR review_continuation == true"> <action>Update the story in the sprint status report to = "in-progress"</action> <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action> <output>🚀 Starting work on story {{story_key}} Status updated: ready-for-dev → in-progress </output> </check>

<check if="current status == 'in-progress'"> <output>⏯️ Resuming work on story {{story_key}} Story is already marked in-progress </output> </check>

<check if="current status is neither ready-for-dev nor in-progress"> <output>⚠️ Unexpected story status: {{current_status}} Expected ready-for-dev or in-progress. Continuing anyway... </output> </check>

<action>Store {{current_sprint_status}} for later use</action> </check>

<check if="{{sprint_status}} file does NOT exist"> <output>ℹ️ No sprint status file exists - story progress will be tracked in story file only</output> <action>Set {{current_sprint_status}} = "no-sprint-tracking"</action> </check> </step>

<step n="5" goal="Implement task following red-green-refactor cycle"> <critical>FOLLOW THE STORY FILE TASKS/SUBTASKS SEQUENCE EXACTLY AS WRITTEN - NO DEVIATION</critical>

<action>Review the current task/subtask from the story file - this is your authoritative implementation guide</action> <action>Plan implementation following red-green-refactor cycle</action>

<!-- RED PHASE --> <action>Write FAILING tests first for the task/subtask functionality</action> <action>Confirm tests fail before implementation - this validates test correctness</action>

<!-- GREEN PHASE --> <action>Implement MINIMAL code to make tests pass</action> <action>Run tests to confirm they now pass</action> <action>Handle error conditions and edge cases as specified in task/subtask</action>

<!-- REFACTOR PHASE --> <action>Improve code structure while keeping tests green</action> <action>Ensure code follows architecture patterns and coding standards from Dev Notes</action>

<action>Document technical approach and decisions in Dev Agent Record → Implementation Plan</action>

<action if="new dependencies required beyond story specifications">HALT: "Additional dependencies need user approval"</action> <action if="3 consecutive implementation failures occur">HALT and request guidance</action> <action if="required configuration is missing">HALT: "Cannot proceed without necessary configuration files"</action>

<critical>NEVER implement anything not mapped to a specific task/subtask in the story file</critical> <critical>NEVER proceed to next task until current task/subtask is complete AND tests pass</critical> <critical>Execute continuously without pausing until all tasks/subtasks are complete or explicit HALT condition</critical> <critical>Do NOT propose to pause for review until Step 9 completion gates are satisfied</critical> </step>

<step n="6" goal="Author comprehensive tests"> <action>Create unit tests for business logic and core functionality introduced/changed by the task</action> <action>Add integration tests for component interactions specified in story requirements</action> <action>Include end-to-end tests for critical user flows when story requirements demand them</action> <action>Cover edge cases and error handling scenarios identified in story Dev Notes</action> </step>

<step n="7" goal="Run validations and tests"> <action>Determine how to run tests for this repo (infer test framework from project structure)</action> <action>Run all existing tests to ensure no regressions</action> <action>Run the new tests to verify implementation correctness</action> <action>Run linting and code quality checks if configured in project</action> <action>Validate implementation meets ALL story acceptance criteria; enforce quantitative thresholds explicitly</action> <action if="regression tests fail">STOP and fix before continuing - identify breaking changes immediately</action> <action if="new tests fail">STOP and fix before continuing - ensure implementation correctness</action> </step>

<step n="8" goal="Validate and mark task complete ONLY when fully done"> <critical>NEVER mark a task complete unless ALL conditions are met - NO LYING OR CHEATING</critical>

<!-- VALIDATION GATES --> <action>Verify ALL tests for this task/subtask ACTUALLY EXIST and PASS 100%</action> <action>Confirm implementation matches EXACTLY what the task/subtask specifies - no extra features</action> <action>Validate that ALL acceptance criteria related to this task are satisfied</action> <action>Run full test suite to ensure NO regressions introduced</action>

<!-- REVIEW FOLLOW-UP HANDLING --> <check if="task is review follow-up (has [AI-Review] prefix)"> <action>Extract review item details (severity, description, related AC/file)</action> <action>Add to resolution tracking list: {{resolved_review_items}}</action>

<!-- Mark task in Review Follow-ups section --> <action>Mark task checkbox [x] in "Tasks/Subtasks → Review Follow-ups (AI)" section</action>

<!-- CRITICAL: Also mark corresponding action item in review section --> <action>Find matching action item in "Senior Developer Review (AI) → Action Items" section by matching description</action> <action>Mark that action item checkbox [x] as resolved</action>

<action>Add to Dev Agent Record → Completion Notes: "✅ Resolved review finding [{{severity}}]: {{description}}"</action> </check>

<!-- ONLY MARK COMPLETE IF ALL VALIDATION PASS --> <check if="ALL validation gates pass AND tests ACTUALLY exist and pass"> <action>ONLY THEN mark the task (and subtasks) checkbox with [x]</action> <action>Update File List section with ALL new, modified, or deleted files (paths relative to repo root)</action> <action>Add completion notes to Dev Agent Record summarizing what was ACTUALLY implemented and tested</action> </check>

<check if="ANY validation fails"> <action>DO NOT mark task complete - fix issues first</action> <action>HALT if unable to fix validation failures</action> </check>

<check if="review_continuation == true and {{resolved_review_items}} is not empty"> <action>Count total resolved review items in this session</action> <action>Add Change Log entry: "Addressed code review findings - {{resolved_count}} items resolved (Date: {{date}})"</action> </check>

<action>Save the story file</action> <action>Determine if more incomplete tasks remain</action> <action if="more tasks remain"> <goto step="5">Next task</goto> </action> <action if="no tasks remain"> <goto step="9">Completion</goto> </action> </step>

<step n="9" goal="Story completion and mark for review" tag="sprint-status"> <action>Verify ALL tasks and subtasks are marked [x] (re-scan the story document now)</action> <action>Run the full regression suite (do not skip)</action> <action>Confirm File List includes every changed file</action> <action>Execute enhanced definition-of-done validation</action> <action>Update the story Status to: "review"</action>

<!-- Enhanced Definition of Done Validation --> <action>Validate definition-of-done checklist with essential requirements:

• All tasks/subtasks marked complete with [x]
• Implementation satisfies every Acceptance Criterion
• Unit tests for core functionality added/updated
• Integration tests for component interactions added when required
• End-to-end tests for critical flows added when story demands them
• All tests pass (no regressions, new tests successful)
• Code quality checks pass (linting, static analysis if configured)
• File List includes every new/modified/deleted file (relative paths)
• Dev Agent Record contains implementation notes
• Change Log includes summary of changes
• Only permitted story sections were modified

</action>

<!-- Mark story ready for review - sprint status conditional --> <check if="{sprint_status} file exists AND {{current_sprint_status}} != 'no-sprint-tracking'"> <action>Load the FULL file: {sprint_status}</action> <action>Find development_status key matching {{story_key}}</action> <action>Verify current status is "in-progress" (expected previous state)</action> <action>Update development_status[{{story_key}}] = "review"</action> <action>Update last_updated field to current date</action> <action>Save file, preserving ALL comments and structure including STATUS DEFINITIONS</action> <output>✅ Story status updated to "review" in sprint-status.yaml</output> </check>

<check if="{sprint_status} file does NOT exist OR {{current_sprint_status}} == 'no-sprint-tracking'"> <output>ℹ️ Story status updated to "review" in story file (no sprint tracking configured)</output> </check>

<check if="story key not found in sprint status"> <output>⚠️ Story file updated, but sprint-status update failed: {{story_key}} not found

Story status is set to "review" in file, but sprint-status.yaml may be out of sync. </output> </check>

<!-- Final validation gates --> <action if="any task is incomplete">HALT - Complete remaining tasks before marking ready for review</action> <action if="regression failures exist">HALT - Fix regression issues before completing</action> <action if="File List is incomplete">HALT - Update File List with all changed files</action> <action if="definition-of-done validation fails">HALT - Address DoD failures before completing</action> </step>

<step n="10" goal="Completion communication and user support"> <action>Execute the enhanced definition-of-done checklist using the validation framework</action> <action>Prepare a concise summary in Dev Agent Record → Completion Notes</action>

<action>Communicate to {user_name} that story implementation is complete and ready for review</action> <action>Summarize key accomplishments: story ID, story key, title, key changes made, tests added, files modified</action> <action>Provide the story file path and current status (now "review")</action>

<action>Based on {user_skill_level}, ask if user needs any explanations about:

• What was implemented and how it works
• Why certain technical decisions were made
• How to test or verify the changes
• Any patterns, libraries, or approaches used
• Anything else they'd like clarified

</action>

<check if="user asks for explanations"> <action>Provide clear, contextual explanations tailored to {user_skill_level}</action> <action>Use examples and references to specific code when helpful</action> </check>

<action>Once explanations are complete (or user indicates no questions), suggest logical next steps</action> <action>Recommended next steps (flexible based on project setup):

• Review the implemented story and test the changes
• Verify all acceptance criteria are met
• Ensure deployment readiness if applicable
• Run code-review workflow for peer review
• Optional: If Test Architect module installed, run /bmad:tea:automate to expand guardrail tests

</action>

<output>💡 Tip: For best results, run code-review using a different LLM than the one that implemented this story.</output> <check if="{sprint_status} file exists"> <action>Suggest checking {sprint_status} to see project progress</action> </check> <action>Remain flexible - allow user to choose their own path or ask for other assistance</action> <action>Run: python3 {project-root}/_bmad/scripts/resolve_customization.py --skill {skill-root} --key workflow.on_complete — if the resolved value is non-empty, follow it as the final terminal instruction before exiting.</action> </step>

</workflow>