Step 1: Clarify and Route

RULES

• Treat the invocation intent as workflow input, not as a substitute for step-02 investigation and plan generation.
• EARLY EXIT means: stop this step immediately, then read and follow the target file. Return here only if a later step explicitly says to loop back.

Intent check (do this first)

Use the invocation prompt as the intent.

The invocation prompt names a ticket from the tree when it calls a reference a ticket (such as ticket 1.2, a ticket file's name, or a ticket's title), or points to a file whose frontmatter type is story, spike, or bug, whatever its status. A ref or title it does not present as a ticket is not one. Resolve a named ticket's plan, entry, and prerequisites with uv run {project-root}/_bmad/method/scripts/tickets.py --project-root {project-root} find <ref>; for a ticket file, pass its folder before its file name. Non-zero exit → HALT with status blocked and blocking condition ticket not resolved, with find's error. Otherwise follow Ticket resolution (below).

If the invocation prompt explicitly points to an existing plan file with recognized status frontmatter, set plan_file, then EARLY EXIT to the appropriate step:

• draft → {{ rendered("step-02-plan.md") }}
• ready-for-dev or in-progress → {{ rendered("step-03-implement.md") }}
• in-review → {{ rendered("step-04-review.md") }}
• blocked → HALT with status blocked and blocking condition blocked plan supplied.
• dropped → HALT with status blocked and blocking condition dropped plan supplied.
• built or done → set review_loop_iteration to 0 in the frontmatter and set followup_pass to true, then EARLY EXIT to {{ rendered("step-04-review.md") }} for a fresh review pass.

Otherwise, treat the invocation prompt as starting intent. This may be a story ID, ticket ID, a ticket file whose type is initiative or epic (read it in full), another file path, short description, or longer free-form intent. Do not infer workflow state from non-plan files. If the invocation prompt does not contain enough intent to identify what to implement, HALT with status blocked and blocking condition unclear intent.

One ticket per invocation: never read another entry, and never advance to a different ticket regardless of outcome.

Ticket resolution

This runs on the output of tickets.py find for one ticket. Set ticket_args to the arguments find resolved it with. Read story_file in full when it is not null, else take find's description, verify, covers, references, notes, and unknown; then read epic_file in full when it is not null. That is the intent. The ticket distills its sources:, so never re-read them; open a file its References or companions: name only for a need the ticket points at. Never write to a ticket file, and never run pull; only HALT runs mark.

• When the file at find's plan exists on disk, treat it as a plan file the invocation prompt pointed to and route it by its status (above).
• Otherwise set plan_file to find's plan; the plan's frontmatter carries ticket set to find's id, or to the stem of find's story_file when id is null, never its ref. Continue to INSTRUCTIONS, skipping item 5.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Load context.
2. A ticket from the tree — when Ticket resolution set plan_file: the story file (or the entry) and the epic file, read in full under Ticket resolution, are already the intent. Then list the <type>-*/ run folders in {{ initiative_folder }}/ and in the ticket's epic folder, and load the main document of each whose ticket names this ticket and whose container, a path from {project-root}, has find's folder as its last folder name, since a run on an entry with no ticket file leaves no References line to follow. A document without container (a research-* run) loads only when it is type: codebase and its ticket names this ticket. When a loaded document lists test files, the plan includes the work that turns them green and a command in ## Verification that runs each listed test; run those commands before you finish, and a failure blocks completion. For continuity, read the plans beside plan_file whose ticket is one of find's after ids that is a plain number (an entry of the same epic; a ref such as 1.5 is another epic's). Carry forward each one's Code Map, Design Notes, Implementation Notes, Plan Change Log, and Tasks & Acceptance, where present, as continuity context for step-02.
3. Anything else: {% if initiative_folder == config.output_folder %}
4. List {{ config.output_folder }}/. {% else %}
5. List {{ initiative_folder }}/, then {{ config.output_folder }}/. {% endif %}
6. If the invocation prompt points to an unformatted plan or intent file, ingest that file. Do not scan for unrelated intent files.
7. Planning documents sit in folders by type, main file named after the folder. Typical ones:
8. Ticket file (initiative-*/initiative-*.md, and tickets/epic-*/epic-*.md under it) — the spec at its altitude; the documents below are its sources:, distilled into it, or its companions:
9. PRD (prd-*/prd-*.md) — product requirements and success criteria
10. Architecture (architecture-*/architecture-*.md) — technical design decisions and constraints
11. UX/Design (ux-*/, with DESIGN.md and EXPERIENCE.md) — user experience and interaction design
12. Product Brief (brief-*/brief-*.md) — project vision and scope
13. Research (research-*/research-*.md) — cited evidence; a type: codebase one says how the code works and how it got that way, as of the commit in its frontmatter
14. When the listing holds a ticket file for this work, read it first and in full and do not re-read its sources:; open a file its References or companions: name only for a need the ticket points at. With no ticket, load the planning documents that fit the intent.
15. Resolve intent from the invocation prompt and loaded artifacts. Do not fantasize or leave open questions. If the intent cannot be resolved, HALT with status blocked and the unresolved questions as blocking condition.
16. Version control sanity check. If version control is unavailable, skip this check. Otherwise require a clean working tree, a branch that fits the intent, and writable repository metadata. For Git, run git add --refresh -- ., then confirm the tree is still clean; on failure or change, HALT with status blocked and blocking condition version-control metadata not writable. For a ticket from the tree, judge the branch against the epic, not the story. HALT on a dirty tree or obvious branch mismatch.
17. Multi-goal warning. If the intent appears to contain multiple independently shippable goals, carry multiple-goals forward so step-02 can add it to {plan_file} frontmatter warnings. Do not split or block.
18. Set the plan file.

Derive a valid kebab-case slug from the clarified intent. If the intent references a tracking identifier (story number, issue number, ticket ID), lead the slug with it (e.g. 3-2-digest-delivery, gh-47-fix-auth). If {{ initiative_folder }}/plan-{slug}.md already exists: if its status is draft, treat it as the same work and resume it (set plan_file to that path, EARLY EXIT → {{ rendered("step-02-plan.md") }}); otherwise append -2, -3, etc. Set plan_file = {{ initiative_folder }}/plan-{slug}.md.

NEXT

Read fully and follow {{ rendered("step-02-plan.md") }}