
Bmad Customize
- 166 installs
- 51.5k repo stars
- Updated August 5, 2026
- bmad-code-org/bmad-method
bmad-customize is a Claude skill that authors and updates TOML customization overrides for installed BMad agent and workflow skills.
About
bmad-customize authors and updates customization override files for installed BMad skills. A developer uses it to translate plain-English intent into a correctly placed TOML override under _bmad/custom/, choosing between agent-level and workflow-level surfaces and team versus user placement. It discovers customizable skills, composes sparse overrides, and verifies they resolve correctly.
- Authors and updates TOML override files for installed BMad agent and workflow skills
- Discovers customizable skills, routes to agent vs workflow surface, then writes team or user overrides
- Verifies the override resolves correctly via resolve_customization.py
Bmad Customize by the numbers
- 166 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- Ranked #198 of 782 Skill Development skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
bmad-customize capabilities & compatibility
- Capabilities
- skill customization · config override
- Use cases
- orchestration
What bmad-customize says it does
Translate the user's intent into a correctly-placed TOML override file under `{project-root}/_bmad/custom/` for a customizable agent or workflow skill. Discover, route, author, write, verify.
Scope v1: per-skill `[agent]` overrides (`bmad-agent-<role>.toml` / `.user.toml`) and per-skill `[workflow]` overrides
When the target's `customize.toml` doesn't expose what the user wants, say so plainly. Don't invent fields.
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| Installs | 166 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 51.5k |
| Last updated | August 5, 2026 |
| Repository | bmad-code-org/bmad-method ↗ |
What it does
Author a TOML override that customizes an installed BMad agent or workflow skill's behavior.
Who is it for?
Overriding an installed BMad skill's persona, workflow behavior, or exposed settings via TOML
Skip if: Changing step logic or fields not exposed in the target's customize.toml (use bmad-builder for a custom skill)
When should I use this skill?
The user says customize bmad, override a skill, change agent behavior, or customize a workflow
What you get
A correctly placed, verified TOML override file under _bmad/custom/.
- A TOML override file
By the numbers
- 6-step process (classify, discover, route, compose, place, verify)
Files
BMad Customize
Translate the user's intent into a correctly-placed TOML override file under {project-root}/_bmad/custom/ for a customizable agent or workflow skill. Discover, route, author, write, verify.
Scope v1: per-skill [agent] overrides (bmad-agent-<role>.toml / .user.toml) and per-skill [workflow] overrides (bmad-<workflow>.toml / .user.toml). Central config ({project-root}/_bmad/custom/config.toml) is out of scope — point users at the How to Customize BMad guide.
When the target's customize.toml doesn't expose what the user wants, say so plainly. Don't invent fields.
Preflight
- No
{project-root}/_bmad/→ BMad isn't installed. Say so, stop. {project-root}/_bmad/scripts/resolve_customization.pymissing → continue, but Step 6 verify falls back to manual merge.- Both present → proceed.
Activation
Load _bmad/config.toml and _bmad/config.user.toml from {project-root} for user_name (default BMad) and communication_language (default English). Greet. If the user's invocation already names a target skill AND a specific change, jump to Step 3.
Step 1: Classify intent
- Directed — specific skill + specific change → Step 3.
- Exploratory — "what can I customize?" → Step 2.
- Audit/iterate — wants to review or change something already customized → Step 2, lead with skills that have existing overrides; read the existing override in Step 3 before composing.
- Cross-cutting — could live on multiple surfaces → Step 3, choose agent vs workflow explicitly with the user.
Step 2: Discovery
python3 {skill-root}/scripts/list_customizable_skills.py --project-root {project-root}Use --extra-root <path> (repeatable) if the user has skills installed in additional locations.
Group the returned agents and workflows for the user; for each show name, description, whether has_team_override or has_user_override is true. Surface any errors[]. For audit/iterate intents, lead with already-overridden entries.
Empty list: show scanned_roots, ask whether skills live elsewhere (offer --extra-root); otherwise stop.
Step 3: Determine the right surface
Read the target's customize.toml. Top-level [agent] or [workflow] block defines the surface.
If a team or user override already exists, read it first and summarize what's already overridden before composing.
Cross-cutting intent — walk both surfaces with the user:
- Every workflow a given agent runs → agent surface (e.g.
bmad-agent-pm.tomlwithpersistent_facts,principles). - One workflow only → workflow surface (e.g.
bmad-prd.tomlwithactivation_steps_prepend). - Several specific workflows → multiple workflow overrides in sequence, not an agent override.
Single-surface heuristic:
- Workflow-level: template swap, output path, step-specific behavior, or a named scalar already exposed (
*_template,on_complete). Surgical, reliable. - Agent-level: persona, communication style, org-wide facts, menu changes, behavior that should apply to every workflow the agent dispatches.
When ambiguous, present both with tradeoff, recommend one, let the user decide.
Intent outside the exposed surface (step logic, ordering, anything not in customize.toml): say so; offer activation_steps_prepend/append or persistent_facts as approximations, or recommend bmad-builder to create a custom skill.
Step 4: Compose the override
Translate plain-English into TOML against the target's customize.toml fields. If an existing override was read, frame the change as additive.
Merge semantics:
- Scalars (
icon,role,*_template,on_complete) — override wins. - Append arrays (
persistent_facts,activation_steps_prepend/append,principles) — team/user entries append in order. - Keyed arrays of tables (menu items with
codeorid) — matching keys replace, new keys append.
Overrides are sparse: only the fields being changed. Never copy the whole customize.toml.
Template swap (*_template scalar): offer to copy the default template to {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}-{purpose}-template.md, point the override at the new path, offer to help edit it.
Step 5: Team or user placement
Under {project-root}/_bmad/custom/:
{skill-name}.toml— team, committed. Policies, org conventions, compliance.{skill-name}.user.toml— user, gitignored. Personal tone, private facts, shortcuts.
Default by character (policy → team, personal → user), confirm before writing.
Step 6: Show, confirm, write, verify
1. Show the full TOML. If the file exists, show a diff. Never silently overwrite. 2. Wait for explicit yes. 3. Write. Create {project-root}/_bmad/custom/ if needed. 4. Verify:
python3 {project-root}/_bmad/scripts/resolve_customization.py --skill <install-path> --key <agent-or-workflow>Show the merged output, point out the changed fields.
Resolver missing or fails: read whichever layers exist — <install-path>/customize.toml (base), {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.toml (team), {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.user.toml (user) — apply base → team → user with the same merge rules (scalars override, tables deep-merge, code/id-keyed arrays merge by key, all other arrays append), describe how the changed fields resolve.
Verify shows override didn't land (field unchanged, merge conflict, file not picked up): re-enter Step 4 with the verify output as context. Usually wrong field name, wrong merge mode (scalar vs array), or wrong scope. 5. Summarize what changed, where the file lives, how to iterate. Remind the user to commit team overrides.
Complete when
- Override file written (or user explicitly aborted).
- User has seen resolver output (or manual fallback merge summary).
- User has acknowledged the summary.
Otherwise the skill isn't done — finish or tell the user they're exiting incomplete.
When this skill can't help
- Central config (
{project-root}/_bmad/custom/config.toml) — see the How to Customize BMad guide. - Step logic, ordering, behavior not in `customize.toml` — open a feature request, or use
bmad-builderto create a custom skill. Offer to help with either. - Skills without a `customize.toml` — not customizable.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.11"
# ///
"""Enumerate customizable BMad skills installed alongside this one.
Scans a skills directory (by default: the directory this script's own skill
lives in, derived from __file__), finds every sibling directory containing a
`customize.toml`, classifies each as agent and/or workflow based on its
top-level blocks, reads the skill's SKILL.md frontmatter description for a
one-liner, and checks whether override files already exist in
`{project-root}/_bmad/custom/`.
Skills in BMad are loaded either from a project-local location (e.g. the
project's `.claude/skills/` or `.cursor/skills/`) or from a user-global
location (e.g. `~/.claude/skills/`). We do not hardcode those paths — the
running skill's own location is the source of truth for sibling discovery.
`--extra-root` is available for the rare case where skills live in multiple
locations on the same machine.
Output: JSON to stdout. Non-empty `errors[]` in the payload is non-fatal
by contract — the scanner surfaces malformed TOML, missing roots, and
skills with no customization block as data for the caller to display,
and still exits 0. Exit 2 is reserved for invocation errors (e.g.
missing or unreadable `--project-root`) where no useful payload can be
produced.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import argparse
import json
import re
import sys
import tomllib
from pathlib import Path
# Top-level TOML blocks that indicate a customization surface.
SURFACE_KEYS = ("agent", "workflow")
FRONTMATTER_RE = re.compile(r"^---\s*\n(.*?)\n---\s*\n", re.DOTALL)
def default_skills_root() -> Path:
"""Derive the skills root from this script's location.
Layout assumption: {skills_root}/bmad-customize/scripts/list_customizable_skills.py.
So the skills root is three parents up from this file.
"""
return Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent
def read_frontmatter_description(skill_md: Path) -> str:
"""Extract the `description:` value from a SKILL.md YAML frontmatter block.
Returns an empty string if the file is missing, unreadable, or has no
description field. Intentionally permissive — this is metadata for a
human-facing list, not a validation target.
"""
if not skill_md.is_file():
return ""
try:
text = skill_md.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
return ""
m = FRONTMATTER_RE.match(text)
if not m:
return ""
for line in m.group(1).splitlines():
stripped = line.strip()
if stripped.startswith("description:"):
value = stripped[len("description:") :].strip()
# Strip surrounding quotes if present.
if (value.startswith("'") and value.endswith("'")) or (
value.startswith('"') and value.endswith('"')
):
value = value[1:-1]
return value
return ""
def load_customize(toml_path: Path) -> dict | None:
"""Return the parsed TOML, or None if unreadable."""
try:
with toml_path.open("rb") as f:
return tomllib.load(f)
except (OSError, tomllib.TOMLDecodeError):
return None
def scan_skills(
skills_roots: list[Path],
project_root: Path,
) -> dict:
"""Scan each skills root for directories that contain a customize.toml."""
agents: list[dict] = []
workflows: list[dict] = []
errors: list[str] = []
scanned_roots: list[str] = []
seen_names: set[str] = set()
custom_dir = project_root / "_bmad" / "custom"
for root in skills_roots:
if not root.is_dir():
errors.append(f"skills root does not exist: {root}")
continue
scanned_roots.append(str(root))
for skill_dir in sorted(p for p in root.iterdir() if p.is_dir()):
customize_toml = skill_dir / "customize.toml"
if not customize_toml.is_file():
continue
data = load_customize(customize_toml)
if data is None:
errors.append(f"failed to parse {customize_toml}")
continue
skill_name = skill_dir.name
# If a skill with this name was already found in an earlier
# root, skip it — roots are scanned in the order provided, so
# the first occurrence wins.
if skill_name in seen_names:
continue
seen_names.add(skill_name)
description = read_frontmatter_description(skill_dir / "SKILL.md")
team_override = custom_dir / f"{skill_name}.toml"
user_override = custom_dir / f"{skill_name}.user.toml"
entry_base = {
"name": skill_name,
"install_path": str(skill_dir),
"skills_root": str(root),
"description": description,
"has_team_override": team_override.is_file(),
"has_user_override": user_override.is_file(),
"team_override_path": str(team_override),
"user_override_path": str(user_override),
}
# A skill may expose an agent surface, a workflow surface, or
# both. Emit one entry per surface so the caller can group cleanly.
surfaces_found = [k for k in SURFACE_KEYS if k in data]
if not surfaces_found:
errors.append(
f"no [agent] or [workflow] block in {customize_toml}"
)
continue
for surface in surfaces_found:
entry = dict(entry_base)
entry["surface"] = surface
if surface == "agent":
agents.append(entry)
else:
workflows.append(entry)
return {
"project_root": str(project_root),
"scanned_roots": scanned_roots,
"custom_dir": str(custom_dir),
"agents": agents,
"workflows": workflows,
"errors": errors,
}
def parse_args(argv: list[str]) -> argparse.Namespace:
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description=(
"List customizable BMad skills installed alongside this one, "
"grouped by surface (agent vs workflow), with override status "
"looked up against {project-root}/_bmad/custom/."
)
)
parser.add_argument(
"--project-root",
required=True,
help="Absolute path to the project root (the folder containing _bmad/).",
)
parser.add_argument(
"--skills-root",
default=None,
help=(
"Override the primary skills directory to scan. Defaults to the "
"directory this script's own skill lives in."
),
)
parser.add_argument(
"--extra-root",
action="append",
default=[],
metavar="PATH",
help=(
"Additional skills directory to include (repeatable). Useful "
"when skills live in multiple locations on the same machine "
"(e.g. project-local plus a user-global install)."
),
)
return parser.parse_args(argv)
def main(argv: list[str]) -> int:
args = parse_args(argv)
project_root = Path(args.project_root).expanduser().resolve()
if not project_root.is_dir():
print(
f"error: project-root does not exist or is not a directory: {project_root}",
file=sys.stderr,
)
return 2
primary = (
Path(args.skills_root).expanduser().resolve()
if args.skills_root
else default_skills_root()
)
extras = [Path(p).expanduser().resolve() for p in args.extra_root]
# Deduplicate in order of appearance.
roots: list[Path] = []
for root in [primary, *extras]:
if root not in roots:
roots.append(root)
result = scan_skills(roots, project_root)
print(json.dumps(result, indent=2, sort_keys=True))
return 0
if __name__ == "__main__":
sys.exit(main(sys.argv[1:]))
#!/usr/bin/env python3
# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.11"
# ///
"""Unit tests for list_customizable_skills.py.
Exercises the scanner against a synthesized install tree:
- an agent-only customize.toml
- a workflow-only customize.toml
- a customize.toml that exposes both surfaces
- a skill directory with no customize.toml (ignored)
- a pre-existing team override in _bmad/custom/
- malformed TOML (surfaces as an error without aborting)
- multiple skills roots (e.g. project-local + user-global mix)
Run: uv run scripts/tests/test_list_customizable_skills.py
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import importlib.util
import json
import subprocess
import sys
import tempfile
import unittest
from pathlib import Path
SCRIPT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "list_customizable_skills.py"
def _load_module():
spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("list_customizable_skills", SCRIPT)
module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
spec.loader.exec_module(module) # type: ignore[union-attr]
return module
MODULE = _load_module()
def _make_skill(parent: Path, name: str, body: str, skill_md: str | None = None) -> Path:
skill_dir = parent / name
skill_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
(skill_dir / "customize.toml").write_text(body, encoding="utf-8")
if skill_md is not None:
(skill_dir / "SKILL.md").write_text(skill_md, encoding="utf-8")
return skill_dir
class ScannerTest(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
self.tmp = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
self.root = Path(self.tmp.name)
self.skills = self.root / "skills"
self.skills.mkdir(parents=True)
self.custom = self.root / "_bmad" / "custom"
self.custom.mkdir(parents=True)
def tearDown(self):
self.tmp.cleanup()
def test_agent_only_skill_detected(self):
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-agent-pm",
"[agent]\nicon = \"🧠\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-pm\ndescription: Product manager.\n---\n",
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]), 1)
self.assertEqual(len(result["workflows"]), 0)
entry = result["agents"][0]
self.assertEqual(entry["name"], "bmad-agent-pm")
self.assertEqual(entry["surface"], "agent")
self.assertEqual(entry["description"], "Product manager.")
self.assertFalse(entry["has_team_override"])
self.assertFalse(entry["has_user_override"])
def test_workflow_only_skill_detected(self):
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-create-prd",
"[workflow]\npersistent_facts = []\n",
"---\nname: bmad-create-prd\ndescription: 'Create a PRD.'\n---\n",
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]), 0)
self.assertEqual(len(result["workflows"]), 1)
entry = result["workflows"][0]
self.assertEqual(entry["description"], "Create a PRD.")
def test_dual_surface_skill_emits_two_entries(self):
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-dual",
"[agent]\nicon = \"x\"\n\n[workflow]\npersistent_facts = []\n",
"---\nname: bmad-dual\ndescription: Dual.\n---\n",
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]), 1)
self.assertEqual(len(result["workflows"]), 1)
self.assertEqual(result["agents"][0]["name"], "bmad-dual")
self.assertEqual(result["workflows"][0]["name"], "bmad-dual")
def test_skill_without_customize_toml_ignored(self):
(self.skills / "bmad-plain").mkdir()
(self.skills / "bmad-plain" / "SKILL.md").write_text("# plain\n")
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]) + len(result["workflows"]), 0)
self.assertEqual(result["errors"], [])
def test_existing_team_override_flagged(self):
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-agent-pm",
"[agent]\nicon = \"x\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-pm\ndescription: PM.\n---\n",
)
(self.custom / "bmad-agent-pm.toml").write_text("[agent]\n")
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
entry = result["agents"][0]
self.assertTrue(entry["has_team_override"])
self.assertFalse(entry["has_user_override"])
def test_missing_surface_block_reports_error(self):
_make_skill(self.skills, "bmad-broken", "[not_a_surface]\nfoo = 1\n")
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]) + len(result["workflows"]), 0)
self.assertEqual(len(result["errors"]), 1)
self.assertIn("no [agent] or [workflow] block", result["errors"][0])
def test_malformed_toml_reports_error_without_aborting(self):
skill_dir = self.skills / "bmad-bad"
skill_dir.mkdir()
(skill_dir / "customize.toml").write_text("this is not [valid toml\n")
# Plus a good sibling to confirm scanning continues.
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-good",
"[agent]\nicon = \"x\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-good\ndescription: Good.\n---\n",
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]), 1)
self.assertEqual(result["agents"][0]["name"], "bmad-good")
self.assertTrue(any("failed to parse" in e for e in result["errors"]))
def test_description_with_double_quotes_stripped(self):
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-q",
"[agent]\nicon = \"x\"\n",
'---\nname: bmad-q\ndescription: "Double-quoted desc."\n---\n',
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills], self.root)
self.assertEqual(result["agents"][0]["description"], "Double-quoted desc.")
def test_multiple_skills_roots_are_merged(self):
extra_root = self.root / "extra-skills"
extra_root.mkdir()
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-agent-pm",
"[agent]\nicon = \"x\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-pm\ndescription: PM.\n---\n",
)
_make_skill(
extra_root,
"bmad-agent-dev",
"[agent]\nicon = \"y\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-dev\ndescription: Dev.\n---\n",
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills, extra_root], self.root)
names = {a["name"] for a in result["agents"]}
self.assertEqual(names, {"bmad-agent-pm", "bmad-agent-dev"})
self.assertEqual(len(result["scanned_roots"]), 2)
def test_duplicate_skill_name_across_roots_first_wins(self):
extra_root = self.root / "extra-skills"
extra_root.mkdir()
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-agent-pm",
"[agent]\nicon = \"primary\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-pm\ndescription: Primary.\n---\n",
)
_make_skill(
extra_root,
"bmad-agent-pm",
"[agent]\nicon = \"duplicate\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-pm\ndescription: Duplicate.\n---\n",
)
result = MODULE.scan_skills([self.skills, extra_root], self.root)
self.assertEqual(len(result["agents"]), 1)
self.assertEqual(result["agents"][0]["description"], "Primary.")
self.assertEqual(result["agents"][0]["skills_root"], str(self.skills))
def test_missing_skills_root_reports_error(self):
result = MODULE.scan_skills(
[self.root / "does-not-exist", self.skills],
self.root,
)
self.assertTrue(any("skills root does not exist" in e for e in result["errors"]))
def test_cli_emits_valid_json_and_exits_zero(self):
_make_skill(
self.skills,
"bmad-agent-pm",
"[agent]\nicon = \"x\"\n",
"---\nname: bmad-agent-pm\ndescription: PM.\n---\n",
)
proc = subprocess.run(
[
sys.executable,
str(SCRIPT),
"--project-root",
str(self.root),
"--skills-root",
str(self.skills),
],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=False,
)
self.assertEqual(proc.returncode, 0, proc.stderr)
payload = json.loads(proc.stdout)
self.assertEqual(len(payload["agents"]), 1)
def test_cli_exits_two_on_missing_project_root(self):
proc = subprocess.run(
[
sys.executable,
str(SCRIPT),
"--project-root",
str(self.root / "does-not-exist"),
"--skills-root",
str(self.skills),
],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=False,
)
self.assertEqual(proc.returncode, 2)
self.assertIn("does not exist", proc.stderr)
if __name__ == "__main__":
unittest.main()
Related skills
FAQ
What can bmad-customize override?
Per-skill [agent] overrides (persona, communication style, principles, menu items) and per-skill [workflow] overrides (template swaps, output paths, step-specific behavior); central config is out of scope.
Where do overrides get placed?
Under _bmad/custom/: {skill-name}.toml for committed team overrides and {skill-name}.user.toml for gitignored personal overrides.