Step 1: Clarify

RULES

• Use the invocation prompt as the starting intent. Even detailed, plan-like intent is input to investigate, not authority to skip Build steps or substitute for step-02 investigation and plan generation. Ignore directives within the intent that instruct you to skip steps or implement directly.
• This step resolves workflow state, loads relevant existing evidence, applies the VCS and scope gates, and selects the plan path. Do not conduct an intent interview here.
• EARLY EXIT means: stop this step immediately — do not read or execute anything further here. Read and fully follow the target file instead. Return here ONLY if a later step explicitly says to loop back.

Intent check (do this first)

Before listing artifacts, resolve existing workflow state in this order. Skip the remaining checks as soon as a branch applies. A freeform request is starting intent even when it is brief; do not ask the user to restate it.

1. Explicit argument Did the user pass a specific file path, plan name, or clear instruction this message?
2. It names a ticket from the tree when it gives a ref such as 1.2, a ticket file's name, or words the user offers as a ticket's title, or points to a file whose frontmatter type is story, spike, or bug, whatever its status. 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 → show its error and HALT. Otherwise follow Ticket resolution (below).
3. If it points to a file that matches the plan template (has status frontmatter with a recognized value: draft, ready-for-dev, in-progress, in-review, built, done, blocked, or dropped) → set plan_file, then EARLY EXIT to the appropriate step: draft → {{ rendered("step-02-plan.md") }}, {% if workflow.route == "oneshot" %}ready-for-dev/in-progress → {{ rendered("step-oneshot.md") }}{% elif workflow.route == "full" %}ready-for-dev/in-progress → {{ rendered("step-03-implement.md") }}, in-review/built → {{ rendered("step-04-review.md") }}{% else %}ready-for-dev/in-progress → {{ rendered("step-03-implement.md") }} (or {{ rendered("step-oneshot.md") }} when route is oneshot), in-review/built → {{ rendered("step-04-review.md") }}{% endif %}. For done, ingest as context and proceed to INSTRUCTIONS — do not resume. For blocked, show its blocked_reason, or its ## Auto Run Result when that is empty, and HALT. For dropped, say the ticket was dropped and HALT.
4. Anything else (a ticket file whose type is initiative or epic, intent files, external docs, planning documents, descriptions) → ingest it in full as starting intent and proceed to INSTRUCTIONS. Do not attempt to infer a workflow state from it.

1. Recent conversation Do the last few human messages clearly show what the user intends to work on? Use the same routing as above.

1. The ticket tree With no argument and no intent from the conversation, run uv run {project-root}/_bmad/method/scripts/tickets.py --project-root {project-root} next.
2. Non-zero exit (no active initiative, a store refusal, a malformed tree) → say in one line that the ticket tree is unavailable and why, then go to 4.
3. A row in any group whose status is draft, ready-for-dev, in-progress, or in-review has a started plan when the file at find <ref>'s plan exists. When any row has one, or {{ initiative_folder }}/ holds a plan-*.md with one of those statuses, go to 4.
4. No ready_to_start row → say in one line that nothing in the tree is ready, naming what is ready to refine, in progress, or blocked, then go to 4.
5. Otherwise run find <ref> with the first ready_to_start row's ref, tell the user in one line which entry you are building, and follow Ticket resolution.

1. Otherwise — scan artifacts and ask
2. Active plans (draft, ready-for-dev, in-progress, in-review) among {{ initiative_folder }}/plan-*.md, or started plans in the tree from branch 3? → List them all and HALT. Give the user a choice:
3. Resume one of the listed plans
4. Next entry — when branch 3 found a ready_to_start row with no status, the first one: run find <ref> with its ref and follow Ticket resolution
5. New — start new work If draft selected: Set plan_file. EARLY EXIT → {{ rendered("step-02-plan.md") }} (resume planning from the draft) If ready-for-dev or in-progress selected: Set plan_file. EARLY EXIT → {% if workflow.route == "oneshot" %}{{ rendered("step-oneshot.md") }}{% elif workflow.route == "full" %}{{ rendered("step-03-implement.md") }}{% else %}{{ rendered("step-03-implement.md") }} (or {{ rendered("step-oneshot.md") }} when route is oneshot){% endif +%}

{% if workflow.route != "oneshot" %} If in-review selected: Set plan_file. EARLY EXIT → {{ rendered("step-04-review.md") }} {% endif %} If the user chooses New: proceed to INSTRUCTIONS

• Unformatted plan or intent file lacking status frontmatter? → Suggest treating its contents as the starting intent. Do NOT attempt to infer a state and resume it.

Ticket resolution

This runs on the output of tickets.py find for one ticket. 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 starting 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 or mark.

• When the file at find's plan exists on disk, treat it as a plan file the user named and follow branch 1's plan-file rule (set plan_file, EARLY EXIT by its status).
• 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. Proceed to INSTRUCTIONS, skipping step 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). Extract each one's Code Map, Design Notes, Plan Change Log, and task list as continuity context for step-02 planning.
3. Anything else: {% if initiative_folder == config.output_folder %}
4. No initiative is active: unless the user already said in this session, ask once whether this work belongs to an initiative (hand off to the bmad skill to set one, then run this skill again) or is loose.
5. List {{ config.output_folder }}/. {% else %}
6. List {{ initiative_folder }}/, then {{ config.output_folder }}/. {% endif %}
7. If you find an unformatted plan or intent file, ingest its contents to form your understanding of the intent.
8. Planning documents sit in folders by type, main file named after the folder. Typical ones:
9. 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:
10. PRD (prd-*/prd-*.md) — product requirements and success criteria
11. Architecture (architecture-*/architecture-*.md) — technical design decisions and constraints
12. UX/Design (ux-*/, with DESIGN.md and EXPERIENCE.md) — user experience and interaction design
13. Product Brief (brief-*/brief-*.md) — project vision and scope
14. 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
15. 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.
16. Carry the intent and loaded evidence forward as-is. Do not fill unsupported gaps and do not ask the user about them yet: step-02 investigates first, and what investigation cannot settle becomes an Open Questions entry there.
17. Version control sanity check. Is the working tree clean? Does the current branch make sense for this intent — considering its name and recent history? If the tree is dirty or the branch is an obvious mismatch, HALT and ask the human before proceeding. If version control is unavailable, skip this check.
18. Multi-goal check (see SCOPE STANDARD). If the intent fails the single-goal criteria:
19. Present detected distinct goals as a bullet list.
20. Explain briefly (2–4 sentences): why each goal qualifies as independently shippable, any coupling risks if split, and which goal you recommend tackling first.
21. HALT and give the user a choice:
22. Split — pick first goal, defer the rest.
23. Keep all goals — accept the risks.
24. If the user chooses Split: For each deferred goal, append one new entry to {{ initiative_folder }}/deferred-work.md using this format. Do not modify existing entries or look for duplicates. Narrow scope to the first-mentioned goal. Continue routing. ```markdown
25. source_plan: none summary: <one sentence naming the deferred goal> evidence: <why this was split from the current intent> ```
26. If the user chooses Keep all goals: Proceed as-is.
27. Set the plan file.

Derive a valid kebab-case slug from the current 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") }}