BMAD-METHOD/docs/reference/core-tools.md

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Core Tools	Reference for the core module's built-in skills, plus the standalone thinking skills and the BMad Analysis pack.	order 3

Every BMad installation includes the core module — a small set of skills that work across all projects, all modules, and all phases. This page covers those five core skills, plus the standalone thinking skills (brainstorming, forge idea, party mode) that install separately as their own modules — most easily via the BMad Analysis pack.

:::tip[Quick Path] Run any tool by typing its skill name (e.g., bmad-help) in your IDE. No agent session required. :::

Overview

Core module (always installed):

Tool	Purpose
bmad-help	Get context-aware guidance on what to do next
bmad-advanced-elicitation	Push LLM output through iterative refinement methods
bmad-editorial-review	Two-pass editorial review — structure, then prose
bmad-review	Multi-lens critical review — adversarial, edge-case, and verification-gap
bmad-customize	Create and verify BMad customization overrides

Standalone thinking skills (installed via the BMad Analysis pack or individually):

Tool	Purpose
bmad-brainstorming	Facilitate interactive brainstorming sessions
bmad-forge-idea	Pressure-test an idea until it hardens, proves out, or dies cheaply
bmad-party-mode	Orchestrate multi-agent group discussions

:::note[Moved and removed] bmad-spec now ships with the BMM module as a Phase 2 planning workflow — see the Workflow Map. The bmad-shard-doc and bmad-index-docs utilities have been removed. The former bmad-editorial-review-prose, bmad-editorial-review-structure, bmad-review-adversarial-general, bmad-review-edge-case-hunter, and bmad-review-verification-gap skills are merged into bmad-editorial-review and bmad-review; the old IDs still resolve via hidden forwarders for compatibility. :::

bmad-help

Your intelligent guide to what comes next. — Inspects your project state, detects what's been done, and recommends the next required or optional step.

Use it when:

• You finished a workflow and want to know what's next
• You're new to BMad and need orientation
• You're stuck and want context-aware advice
• You installed new modules and want to see what's available

How it works:

1. Scans your project for existing artifacts (PRD, architecture, stories, etc.)
2. Detects which modules are installed and their available workflows
3. Recommends next steps in priority order — required steps first, then optional
4. Presents each recommendation with the skill command and a brief description

Input: Optional query in natural language (e.g., bmad-help I have a SaaS idea, where do I start?)

Output: Prioritized list of recommended next steps with skill commands

bmad-advanced-elicitation

Push the LLM to reconsider, refine, and improve its recent output. — BMad's shared refinement checkpoint: other skills invoke it at natural pauses, and you can call it directly on anything recent in the conversation.

Use it when:

• LLM output feels shallow or generic
• You want to explore a topic from multiple analytical angles
• You're refining a critical document and want deeper thinking
• You want a known method by name — Socratic, first principles, pre-mortem, red team

How it works:

1. Targets the most recent output in the conversation unless you point it at something else
2. Offers a short menu of best-fit elicitation methods for the content
3. Applies the chosen methods against the target
4. Hands back the improved version so the invoking flow resumes where it paused

Input: The recent output to refine (default), or any content you point it at; optionally a named method

Output: Enhanced version of the content with improvements applied

bmad-editorial-review

Two-pass editorial review — structure, then prose. — A clinical editor that reviews a document's shape and its sentences, returning suggested fixes you accept or reject row by row. Content is sacrosanct: it never challenges your ideas, only how they're organized and expressed.

Use it when:

• You've drafted a document and want it tightened and polished
• A document was produced from multiple subprocesses and needs structural coherence
• You want to reduce length while preserving comprehension
• You need clarity fixes without style-opinion changes

How it works:

1. Structure pass — proposes cuts, merges, moves, and condensing; asks whether the document's shape serves its purpose
2. Prose pass — copy-edits for communication issues that impede comprehension, using the Microsoft Writing Style Guide as the baseline (a provided style guide overrides it)
3. Runs both passes, structure first, by default; ask for a structure-only or prose-only review to run one
4. Proposes, never executes — the author decides what to accept

Input:

• content (required) — Document to review
• style_guide (optional) — Project-specific style guide
• reader_type (optional) — humans (default) for clarity/flow, or llm for precision/consistency
• purpose / target_audience / length_target (optional) — calibrate the structure pass

Output: Findings table with suggested fixes, plus estimated reduction when structural changes are proposed

bmad-review

Multi-lens critical review over any diff, doc, or artifact. — Runs independent review lenses — each a distinct method and stance — and reports every finding in one canonical shape. Zero findings is a valid outcome; it never pads to look thorough.

The shipped lenses:

Lens	Method
Adversarial	Skeptical review that assumes problems exist — hunts what's missing, not just what's wrong
Edge case	Walks every branching path and boundary condition, reports only unhandled paths
Verification gap	Finds changed behavior that could regress without reliable verification catching it

Use it when:

• You need quality assurance before finalizing a deliverable
• You want exhaustive edge-case coverage of code or logic
• You want to know whether a change is adequately verified
• You want all three perspectives at once (the default)

How it works:

1. Loads the content and identifies its type — diff, file, function, or document
2. Selects lenses: the ones you name, or every enabled lens that fits the content
3. Runs each lens independently — in parallel via subagents when the platform supports it
4. Assembles one findings array; overlap between lenses is signal, not duplication

Input:

• content (required) — Diff, branch, uncommitted changes, file, spec, story, or any document
• lenses (optional) — one or more lens codes or names; default is a full review
• also_consider (optional) — Additional areas to keep in mind

Output: JSON findings array (each finding carries lens, location, trigger_condition, guard_snippet, potential_consequence) and/or a markdown report grouped by lens

:::note[Used by other workflows] Code Review workflows in other modules run these lenses automatically. Custom lenses can be added — and shipped ones tuned or disabled — through the skill's customize.toml. :::

bmad-customize

Create and verify customization overrides. — Helps you change how an installed BMad agent or workflow behaves without hand-authoring TOML.

Use it when:

• You want to change an agent or workflow behavior
• You need to add persistent facts, activation hooks, or custom menu items
• You want the right override scope selected and verified automatically

How it works:

1. Scans installed BMad skills for customizable surfaces
2. Selects the right scope for your requested change
3. Writes override files under _bmad/custom/
4. Verifies the merged configuration

Input: Natural language description of the customization you want

Output: TOML override files under _bmad/custom/

For a detailed guide on customizing BMad, see How to Customize BMad.

Standalone Thinking Skills

The three skills below are not part of the core module. Each is its own single-skill module, hidden from the installer picker, and arrives either through the visible BMad Analysis pack or when another module declares it as a dependency. See Standalone Skills & Module Dependencies for how that works.

bmad-brainstorming

Generate diverse ideas through interactive creative techniques. — A facilitated brainstorming session that loads proven ideation methods from a technique library and guides you toward 100+ ideas before organizing.

Use it when:

• You're starting a new project and need to explore the problem space
• You're stuck generating ideas and need structured creativity
• You want to use proven ideation frameworks (SCAMPER, reverse brainstorming, etc.)

How it works:

1. Sets up a brainstorming session with your topic
2. Loads creative techniques from a method library
3. Guides you through technique after technique, generating ideas
4. Applies anti-bias protocol — shifts creative domain every 10 ideas to prevent clustering
5. Produces an append-only session document with all ideas organized by technique

Input: Brainstorming topic or problem statement, optional context file

Output: a self-contained brainstorm.html keepsake of the session, an optional brainstorm-intent.md for downstream skills, and a .memlog.md session record

:::note[Quantity Target] The magic happens in ideas 50–100. The workflow encourages generating 100+ ideas before organization. :::

bmad-forge-idea

Pressure-test an idea until it hardens, proves out, or dies cheaply. — An adversarial interrogator drives a half-formed idea one question at a time, bringing two characters to every branch, until what survives is something you can act on with conviction.

Use it when:

• You hold an idea and want it stress-tested before you invest in it
• You want an honest read on whether to kill it
• You need a thinking partner that pushes back instead of agreeing

How it works:

1. Establishes the goal up front and steers the questioning to match it
2. Works one question at a time in dependency order, putting a recommended answer on the table to push against
3. Brings two voices to every branch — one from your installed roster, one conjured by the topic
4. Challenges fuzzy terms and tests claims against an existing project's material
5. Lands as Hardened, Killed, or Clearer, with a self-contained report you can keep

Input: The idea, in any domain — a feature, a business model, a research hypothesis, a life decision

Output: A forged-idea.md distillate when an idea hardens (optional), plus a forge-report.html keepsake every run

bmad-party-mode

Orchestrate multi-agent group discussions. — Loads all installed BMad agents and facilitates a natural conversation where each agent contributes from their unique expertise and personality.

Use it when:

• You need multiple expert perspectives on a decision
• You want agents to challenge each other's assumptions
• You're exploring a complex topic that spans multiple domains

How it works:

1. Loads the agent manifest with all installed agent personalities
2. Analyzes your topic to select 2–3 most relevant agents
3. Agents take turns contributing, with natural cross-talk and disagreements
4. Rotates agent participation to ensure diverse perspectives over time
5. Exit with goodbye, end party, or quit

Input: Discussion topic or question, along with specification of personas you would like to participate (optional)

Output: Real-time multi-agent conversation with maintained agent personalities