BMAD-METHOD/src/modules/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/instructions.md

Sprint Planning - Sprint Status Generator

The workflow execution engine is governed by: {project-root}/.bmad/core/tasks/workflow.xml You MUST have already loaded and processed: {project-root}/.bmad/bmm/workflows/4-implementation/sprint-planning/workflow.yaml

📚 Document Discovery - Full Epic Loading

Strategy: Sprint planning needs ALL epics and stories to build complete status tracking.

Epic Discovery Process:

1. Search for whole document first - Look for epics.md, bmm-epics.md, or any *epic*.md file
2. Check for sharded version - If whole document not found, look for epics/index.md
3. If sharded version found:
   • Read index.md to understand the document structure
   • Read ALL epic section files listed in the index (e.g., epic-1.md, epic-2.md, etc.)
   • Process all epics and their stories from the combined content
   • This ensures complete sprint status coverage
4. Priority: If both whole and sharded versions exist, use the whole document

Fuzzy matching: Be flexible with document names - users may use variations like epics.md, bmm-epics.md, user-stories.md, etc.

Communicate in {communication_language} with {user_name} Look for all files matching `{epics_pattern}` in {epics_location} Could be a single `epics.md` file or multiple `epic-1.md`, `epic-2.md` files

For each epic file found, extract:

• Epic numbers from headers like ## Epic 1: or ## Epic 2:
• Story IDs and titles from patterns like ### Story 1.1: User Authentication
• Convert story format from Epic.Story: Title to kebab-case key: epic-story-title

Story ID Conversion Rules:

• Original: ### Story 1.1: User Authentication
• Replace period with dash: 1-1
• Convert title to kebab-case: user-authentication
• Final key: 1-1-user-authentication

Build complete inventory of all epics and stories from all epic files

After discovery, these content variables are available: {epics_content} (all epics loaded - uses FULL_LOAD strategy) For each epic found, create entries in this order:

1. Epic entry - Key: epic-{num}, Default status: backlog
2. Story entries - Key: {epic}-{story}-{title}, Default status: backlog
3. Retrospective entry - Key: epic-{num}-retrospective, Default status: optional

Example structure:

development_status:
  epic-1: backlog
  1-1-user-authentication: backlog
  1-2-account-management: backlog
  epic-1-retrospective: optional

For each story, detect current status by checking files:

Story file detection:

• Check: {story_location_absolute}/{story-key}.md (e.g., stories/1-1-user-authentication.md)
• If exists → upgrade status to at least ready-for-dev

Preservation rule:

• If existing {status_file} exists and has more advanced status, preserve it
• Never downgrade status (e.g., don't change done to ready-for-dev)

Status Flow Reference:

• Epic: backlog → in-progress → done
• Story: backlog → ready-for-dev → in-progress → review → done
• Retrospective: optional ↔ completed

Create or update {status_file} with:

File Structure:

# generated: {date}
# project: {project_name}
# project_key: {project_key}
# tracking_system: {tracking_system}
# story_location: {story_location}

# STATUS DEFINITIONS:
# ==================
# Epic Status:
#   - backlog: Epic not yet started
#   - in-progress: Epic actively being worked on
#   - done: All stories in epic completed
#
# Epic Status Transitions:
#   - backlog → in-progress: Automatically when first story is created (via create-story)
#   - in-progress → done: Manually when all stories reach 'done' status
#
# Story Status:
#   - backlog: Story only exists in epic file
#   - ready-for-dev: Story file created in stories folder
#   - in-progress: Developer actively working on implementation
#   - review: Ready for code review (via Dev's code-review workflow)
#   - done: Story completed
#
# Retrospective Status:
#   - optional: Can be completed but not required
#   - completed: Retrospective has been done
#
# WORKFLOW NOTES:
# ===============
# - Epic transitions to 'in-progress' automatically when first story is created
# - Stories can be worked in parallel if team capacity allows
# - SM typically creates next story after previous one is 'done' to incorporate learnings
# - Dev moves story to 'review', then runs code-review (fresh context, different LLM recommended)

generated: { date }
project: { project_name }
project_key: { project_key }
tracking_system: { tracking_system }
story_location: { story_location }

development_status:
  # All epics, stories, and retrospectives in order

Write the complete sprint status YAML to {status_file} CRITICAL: Metadata appears TWICE - once as comments (#) for documentation, once as YAML key:value fields for parsing Ensure all items are ordered: epic, its stories, its retrospective, next epic...

Perform validation checks:

• Every epic in epic files appears in {status_file}
• Every story in epic files appears in {status_file}
• Every epic has a corresponding retrospective entry
• No items in {status_file} that don't exist in epic files
• All status values are legal (match state machine definitions)
• File is valid YAML syntax

Count totals:

• Total epics: {{epic_count}}
• Total stories: {{story_count}}
• Epics in-progress: {{in_progress_count}}
• Stories done: {{done_count}}

Display completion summary to {user_name} in {communication_language}:

Sprint Status Generated Successfully

• File Location: {status_file}
• Total Epics: {{epic_count}}
• Total Stories: {{story_count}}
• Epics In Progress: {{epics_in_progress_count}}
• Stories Completed: {{done_count}}

Next Steps:

1. Review the generated {status_file}
2. Use this file to track development progress
3. Agents will update statuses as they work
4. Re-run this workflow to refresh auto-detected statuses

Additional Documentation

Status State Machine

Epic Status Flow:

backlog → in-progress → done

• backlog: Epic not yet started
• in-progress: Epic actively being worked on (stories being created/implemented)
• done: All stories in epic completed

Story Status Flow:

backlog → ready-for-dev → in-progress → review → done

• backlog: Story only exists in epic file
• ready-for-dev: Story file created (e.g., stories/1-3-plant-naming.md)
• in-progress: Developer actively working
• review: Ready for code review (via Dev's code-review workflow)
• done: Completed

Retrospective Status:

optional ↔ completed

• optional: Can be done but not required
• completed: Retrospective has been completed

Guidelines

1. Epic Activation: Mark epic as in-progress when starting work on its first story
2. Sequential Default: Stories are typically worked in order, but parallel work is supported
3. Parallel Work Supported: Multiple stories can be in-progress if team capacity allows
4. Review Before Done: Stories should pass through review before done
5. Learning Transfer: SM typically creates next story after previous one is done to incorporate learnings