BMAD Synthesize

Auto-generate BMAD planning artifacts from StackShift reverse-engineering documentation.

Estimated Time: 10-30 minutes (depending on mode) Prerequisites: Gear 2 (Reverse Engineer) completed with all 11 docs Output: 4 BMAD artifacts in _bmad-output/planning-artifacts/

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Gear 2 has generated all 11 reverse-engineering docs
• You want BMAD artifacts without running the full BMAD conversation flow
• You chose bmad-autopilot as the implementation framework in Gear 1
• You want to convert existing reverse-engineering docs into BMAD format
• You need a PRD, Architecture doc, Epics, or UX spec generated from code analysis

Trigger Phrases:

• “Generate BMAD artifacts from reverse-engineering docs”
• “Create PRD from the codebase analysis”
• “Auto-generate BMAD planning documents”
• “Synthesize BMAD artifacts”
• “Run BMAD auto-pilot”

What This Skill Does

Reads all 11 reverse-engineering docs and maps their content into 4 BMAD planning artifacts:

Three Modes

Mode 1: YOLO (Fully Automatic)

Time: ~10 minutes User input: None

• Maps all 11 docs to BMAD artifacts automatically
• For questions the docs can’t answer, infers from available context
• Treats [INFERRED] items as accepted
• Resolves [NEEDS USER INPUT] items with best-effort inference
• Generates all 4 artifacts in one shot

Best for: Quick artifact generation, overnight runs, batch processing, when you plan to refine later.

Mode 2: Guided (Recommended)

Time: ~15-20 minutes User input: 5-10 targeted questions

• Auto-populates everything the docs can answer (high confidence)
• Presents targeted questions ONLY for genuinely ambiguous items:
  • Business vision refinement (from business-context.md [NEEDS USER INPUT] items)
  • Priority trade-offs between competing requirements
  • Persona validation (are the inferred personas correct?)
  • Architecture preferences not visible in code
  • Epic scoping decisions
• Generates all 4 artifacts with user input incorporated

Best for: Most projects. Good balance of speed and quality.

Mode 3: Interactive

Time: ~25-30 minutes User input: Full conversation

• Pre-loads all 11 docs as context (you don’t start from zero)
• Walks through each BMAD artifact section by section
• Shows draft content for each section, asks for approval/changes
• Most thorough, but slowest
• Essentially BMAD’s collaborative flow with a massive head start

Best for: Critical projects, when precision matters, when you want full control.

Document Mapping (Detailed)

prd.md Generation

Source → BMAD PRD Section
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
business-context.md
  ├── Product Vision           → ## Product Vision
  ├── Target Users & Personas  → ## Target Users
  ├── Business Goals           → ## Success Criteria / ## KPIs
  ├── Competitive Landscape    → ## Market Context
  ├── Stakeholder Map          → ## Stakeholders
  └── Business Constraints     → ## Constraints & Assumptions

functional-specification.md
  ├── Functional Requirements  → ## FR1: Title, ## FR2: Title, ...
  ├── Non-Functional Reqs      → ## NFR1: Title, ## NFR2: Title, ...
  ├── User Stories             → Embedded in FRs as acceptance criteria
  ├── Business Rules           → ## Business Rules
  ├── System Boundaries        → ## Scope
  ├── Success Criteria         → ## Success Criteria
  ├── User Personas            → Supplements ## Target Users
  └── Product Positioning      → Supplements ## Product Vision

technical-debt-analysis.md
  ├── Migration Priority Matrix → ## Known Issues & Constraints
  └── Security Vulnerabilities  → ## NFR: Security Requirements

integration-points.md
  ├── External Services        → ## External Dependencies
  └── Auth Flows               → ## NFR: Authentication & Authorization

architecture.md Generation

Source → BMAD Architecture Section
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
data-architecture.md
  ├── Data Models              → ## Data Models
  ├── API Endpoints            → ## API Contracts
  ├── Database ER Diagram      → ## Data Layer
  ├── JSON/GraphQL Schemas     → ## API Contracts (detail)
  └── Domain Model / Contexts  → ## Domain Model

integration-points.md
  ├── External Services        → ## External Integrations
  ├── Internal Service Deps    → ## Service Architecture
  ├── Data Flow Diagrams       → ## System Architecture Diagram
  ├── Auth Flows               → ## Authentication Architecture
  └── Webhook Integrations     → ## Event Architecture

operations-guide.md
  ├── Deployment Procedures    → ## Deployment Architecture
  ├── Infrastructure Overview  → ## Infrastructure
  ├── Scalability Strategy     → ## Scalability & Performance
  └── Monitoring               → ## Observability Architecture

decision-rationale.md
  ├── Technology Selection     → ## Technology Stack
  ├── ADRs                     → ## ADR-001: Title, ## ADR-002: Title, ...
  ├── Design Principles        → ## Design Principles
  └── Trade-offs               → ## Trade-offs & Constraints

configuration-reference.md
  ├── Environment Variables    → ## Configuration Architecture
  └── Feature Flags            → ## Feature Management

observability-requirements.md
  ├── Logging Strategy         → ## Observability Architecture
  ├── Monitoring Strategy      → ## Monitoring & Alerting
  └── Alerting Rules           → ## SLA & SLO Targets

epics.md Generation

Source → BMAD Epics
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
functional-specification.md
  ├── FRs grouped by domain    → ## Epic N: Domain Name
  ├── User Stories per FR      → ### Story N.M: Title
  └── Acceptance Criteria      → Acceptance Criteria per story

business-context.md
  ├── Personas                 → "As a [persona]..." in user stories
  └── Business Goals           → Epic priority ordering

technical-debt-analysis.md
  ├── Migration Priority Matrix → ## Epic: Technical Debt Resolution
  └── Quick Wins               → High-priority stories in debt epic

integration-points.md
  └── External Integrations    → ## Epic: Integration & Connectivity

Epic Grouping Strategy:

1. Group FRs by domain/feature area (auth, data management, reporting, etc.)
2. Each group becomes an Epic
3. Each FR within a group becomes a Story
4. Add a “Technical Foundation” epic for infrastructure/debt items
5. Add an “Integration” epic for external service work
6. Priority ordering: P0 epics first, then P1, P2, P3

ux-design-specification.md Generation

Source → BMAD UX Design Section
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
visual-design-system.md
  ├── Component Library        → ## Component Inventory
  ├── Design Tokens            → ## Design Tokens
  ├── Responsive Breakpoints   → ## Responsive Design
  ├── Accessibility Standards  → ## Accessibility Requirements
  └── User Flows               → ## User Flows

business-context.md
  ├── Personas                 → ## User Personas (with journey maps)
  └── Business Constraints     → ## Design Constraints

functional-specification.md
  ├── User Stories             → ## Key User Journeys
  └── Business Rules           → ## Interaction Patterns

Process

Step 0: Verify Prerequisites

# Check that Gear 2 is complete
DOCS_DIR="docs/reverse-engineering"
REQUIRED_DOCS=("functional-specification.md" "integration-points.md" "configuration-reference.md" "data-architecture.md" "operations-guide.md" "technical-debt-analysis.md" "observability-requirements.md" "visual-design-system.md" "test-documentation.md" "business-context.md" "decision-rationale.md")

MISSING=0
for doc in "${REQUIRED_DOCS[@]}"; do
  if [ ! -f "$DOCS_DIR/$doc" ]; then
    echo "MISSING: $doc"
    MISSING=$((MISSING + 1))
  fi
done

if [ $MISSING -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "ERROR: $MISSING docs missing. Run Gear 2 first: /stackshift.reverse-engineer"
  exit 1
fi

echo "All 11 reverse-engineering docs found. Ready to synthesize."

If docs are missing: Guide user to run /stackshift.reverse-engineer first. If only 9 docs exist (legacy): business-context.md and decision-rationale.md may be missing from older runs. Generate them first using the reverse-engineer skill, or proceed with reduced coverage (warn user).

Step 1: Load All Reverse-Engineering Docs

Read all 11 docs from docs/reverse-engineering/ into memory. Parse each for structured content:

• Extract all FRs, NFRs, user stories, personas
• Extract all data models, API contracts, integration points
• Extract all ADRs, technology selections, design principles
• Extract all business context, goals, constraints
• Note all [INFERRED] and [NEEDS USER INPUT] markers

Step 2: Choose Mode

Ask the user which mode to use:

How should BMAD artifacts be generated?

A) YOLO - Fully automatic, no questions asked (~10 min)
   Best for: Quick generation, batch processing, refine later

B) Guided - Auto-fill + 5-10 targeted questions (~15-20 min) (Recommended)
   Best for: Most projects, good balance of speed and quality

C) Interactive - Section-by-section review (~25-30 min)
   Best for: Critical projects, maximum precision

Step 3: Generate Artifacts (Mode-Dependent)

YOLO Mode

1. Generate prd.md: Map all source sections per the mapping above. For [NEEDS USER INPUT] items, use best-effort inference and mark with [AUTO-INFERRED - review recommended].
2. Generate architecture.md: Map all technical docs. Generate Mermaid diagrams for system architecture and data flow.
3. Generate epics.md: Group FRs into domain-based epics. Create stories with “As a [persona]” format. Set priorities from FR priorities.
4. Generate ux-design-specification.md: Map visual design system + persona journey maps.
5. Write all artifacts to _bmad-output/planning-artifacts/.
6. Generate a coverage report showing what percentage of each artifact was filled from docs vs inferred.

Guided Mode

1. Parse and score: Read all docs, identify [NEEDS USER INPUT] items and low-confidence sections.
2. Auto-fill high-confidence sections: Everything that maps cleanly from docs.
3. Present targeted questions (5-10 max):
   • “The codebase suggests [X] as the primary user persona. Is this accurate, or would you refine it?”
   • “Business goals appear to center on [X]. What are the top 3 success metrics?”
   • “The architecture uses [X]. For the BMAD architecture doc, should we document the current state or a target state?”
   • “FRs group naturally into [N] domains: [list]. Does this epic structure make sense?”
   • “The competitive landscape suggests [X]. Any corrections?”
4. Incorporate answers into artifacts.
5. Write all artifacts.

Interactive Mode

1. Create context brief: One-page summary of all 11 docs for quick reference.
2. Walk through prd.md section by section:
   • Show draft for each section
   • Ask: “Approve as-is, or modify?”
   • Incorporate changes
3. Walk through architecture.md section by section (same approach).
4. Walk through epics.md: Present epic groupings, ask for approval, refine stories.
5. Walk through ux-design-specification.md: Present design system mapping, ask for approval.
6. Write all artifacts.

Step 4: Write Output

Create _bmad-output/planning-artifacts/ directory and write all 4 artifacts:

_bmad-output/
└── planning-artifacts/
    ├── prd.md
    ├── architecture.md
    ├── epics.md
    └── ux-design-specification.md

Each artifact includes YAML frontmatter:

---
stepsCompleted: [1, 2, 3]
inputDocuments:
  - docs/reverse-engineering/functional-specification.md
  - docs/reverse-engineering/business-context.md
  - docs/reverse-engineering/integration-points.md
  # ... all source docs used
workflowType: prd  # or architecture, epics, ux-design
project_name: "<from state file>"
date: "<current date>"
synthesize_mode: "yolo"  # or guided, interactive
coverage_score: 92  # percentage of sections filled from docs
---

Step 5: Generate Synthesis Report

Output a summary showing:

BMAD Synthesis Complete
═══════════════════════

Mode: Guided
Time: 18 minutes

Artifacts Generated:
  prd.md                    - 94% from docs, 6% user input
  architecture.md           - 88% from docs, 12% inferred
  epics.md                  - 82% from docs, 18% structured from FRs
  ux-design-specification.md - 68% from docs, 32% inferred

Items Requiring Review:
  - prd.md: 2 items marked [AUTO-INFERRED]
  - architecture.md: 1 ADR with [INFERRED] rationale
  - epics.md: Story priorities may need reordering

Next Steps:
  - Review artifacts in _bmad-output/planning-artifacts/
  - Install BMAD: npx bmad-method@alpha install
  - Run: *workflow-init (BMAD will use these artifacts as starting point)
  - Or: Manually refine artifacts before handing off to BMAD

Output Format

prd.md Structure

---
stepsCompleted: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
workflowType: prd
project_name: "..."
date: "..."
synthesize_mode: "guided"
---

# [Product Name] - Product Requirements Document

## Product Vision
[From business-context.md Product Vision]

## Target Users
[From business-context.md Personas + functional-spec User Personas]

### Persona 1: [Name]
- **Role:** ...
- **Goals:** ...
- **Pain Points:** ...

## Success Criteria
[From functional-spec Success Criteria + business-context Business Goals]
- Criterion 1
- Criterion 2

## Functional Requirements

### FR1: [Title]
**Priority:** P0
**Description:** [From functional-spec FR-001]
**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Criterion 1
- [ ] Criterion 2

### FR2: [Title]
...

## Non-Functional Requirements

### NFR1: [Title]
**Priority:** P1
**Description:** [From functional-spec NFR-001]

## External Dependencies
[From integration-points.md]

## Constraints & Assumptions
[From business-context.md Business Constraints]

## Known Issues
[From technical-debt-analysis.md high-priority items]

architecture.md Structure

---
stepsCompleted: [1, 2, 3]
workflowType: architecture
---

# [Product Name] - Technical Architecture

## System Architecture Diagram
[Mermaid diagram from integration-points Data Flow Diagrams]

## Technology Stack
[From decision-rationale.md Technology Selection]

## Domain Model
[From data-architecture.md Domain Model / Bounded Contexts]

## API Contracts
[From data-architecture.md API Endpoints]

### GET /api/resource
**Description:** ...
**Request:** ...
**Response:** ...

## Data Models
[From data-architecture.md Data Models]

### ModelName
- **field1**: type - description
- **field2**: type - description

## ADR-001: [Decision Title]
**Context:** [From decision-rationale.md]
**Decision:** ...
**Rationale:** ...

## Deployment Architecture
[From operations-guide.md]

## Scalability & Performance
[From operations-guide.md Scalability Strategy]

## Observability Architecture
[From observability-requirements.md]

Integration with Existing Workflows

From Spec Kit → BMAD Synthesize

If you already ran Gears 1-5 with Spec Kit and want BMAD artifacts too:

1. The reverse-engineering docs are already generated
2. Run /stackshift.bmad-synthesize directly
3. BMAD artifacts supplement (don’t replace) .specify/ structure

From BMAD Synthesize → BMAD Workflow

After generating artifacts:

1. Install BMAD: npx bmad-method@alpha install
2. Run *workflow-init
3. BMAD agents will find and use the pre-generated artifacts
4. PM agent refines PRD, Architect agent refines Architecture
5. Much faster than starting from scratch

Batch Mode Integration

When running batch processing (/stackshift.batch):

• Batch session can include synthesize_mode: "yolo" in answers
• Each repo gets BMAD artifacts generated automatically after Gear 2
• Useful for enterprise-scale documentation of many services

Success Criteria

• ✅ All 4 BMAD artifacts generated in _bmad-output/planning-artifacts/
• ✅ prd.md contains FRs, NFRs, personas, success criteria, constraints
• ✅ architecture.md contains data models, API contracts, ADRs, deployment architecture
• ✅ epics.md contains domain-grouped epics with user stories
• ✅ ux-design-specification.md contains design system and user journey maps
• ✅ Each artifact has YAML frontmatter with source tracking
• ✅ Synthesis report shows coverage percentages
• ✅ [AUTO-INFERRED] items clearly marked for review

Next Steps

After BMAD Synthesize:

1. Review artifacts in _bmad-output/planning-artifacts/
2. Refine manually or hand off to BMAD agents for collaborative refinement
3. Install BMAD (if not installed): npx bmad-method@alpha install
4. Run BMAD workflow: *workflow-init — agents will use your artifacts as starting point
5. Or use directly: Artifacts are valid BMAD format, can be used as-is for implementation

Technical Notes

• Read all 11 docs using the Read tool (parallel reads recommended)
• For Mermaid diagrams in architecture.md, generate from integration-points.md data flow descriptions
• Epic grouping uses domain clustering: analyze FR titles and descriptions for common themes
• User story format: “As a [persona from business-context], I want [FR description], so that [business goal]”
• Priority inheritance: Stories inherit priority from their source FR
• ADR numbering: Sequential from decision-rationale.md, preserving original order