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Bmad Document Project

  • 318 installs
  • 51.5k repo stars
  • Updated August 5, 2026
  • bmad-code-org/bmad-method

bmad-document-project is a BMad Method Agent Skill that scans existing codebases and generates structured project documentation—including architecture notes, setup guides, and module overviews—for developers onboarding t

About

bmad-document-project is a bmad-code-org/bmad-method skill triggered as DP on Analyst or Technical Writer agents to document brownfield projects for AI-assisted development. The workflow classifies repos against 12 project types, detects architecture from package.json and folder layout, scans entry points, and generates index.md, project-overview.md, architecture.md, source-tree-analysis.md, component-inventory.md, and optional deep-dive files after exhaustive module reads. Modes include initial scan, full rescan after major changes, and deep-dive on APIs, features, or services. Outputs land in the project docs folder as AI-friendly retrieval sources—no application code is written. Developers reach for bmad-document-project when onboarding to legacy repos, refreshing docs post-refactor, or feeding accurate context into BMAD PRDs. With 249 catalog installs, it sits in the BMAD Method suite of 34+ workflows.

  • Creates structured project docs from code and BMAD outputs
  • Covers architecture, setup, and module-level explanations
  • Improves onboarding for new engineers and agents
  • Keeps documentation aligned with evolving implementation
  • Reduces tribal knowledge loss across project phases

Bmad Document Project by the numbers

  • 318 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #443 of 1,879 Documentation skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
npx skills add https://github.com/bmad-code-org/bmad-method --skill bmad-document-project

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs318
repo stars51.5k
Last updatedAugust 5, 2026
Repositorybmad-code-org/bmad-method

How do you document an existing codebase with BMAD?

Generate and maintain structured project documentation—architecture notes, setup guides, and module overviews—from the codebase and BMAD artifacts for onboarding and operations.

Who is it for?

Developers onboarding to undocumented or stale brownfield repositories who use BMad Method agents and need AI-readable project docs.

Skip if: Greenfield projects with no code yet or teams wanting a one-paragraph stack summary instead of a full documentation scan.

When should I use this skill?

The user triggers DP, asks to document an existing project, onboard to a legacy repo, or refresh brownfield architecture docs in BMAD.

What you get

docs/index.md, project-overview.md, architecture.md, source-tree-analysis.md, and optional deep-dive markdown files.

  • index.md master doc index
  • architecture.md
  • deep-dive module documents

By the numbers

  • Classifies projects against 12 BMAD project types
  • Three scan modes: initial scan, full rescan, and deep-dive
  • Part of BMAD Method suite with 34+ workflows

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Document Project Workflow

Goal: Document brownfield projects for AI context.

Your Role: Project documentation specialist.

Conventions

  • Bare paths (e.g. instructions.md) resolve from the skill root.
  • {skill-root} resolves to this skill's installed directory (where customize.toml lives).
  • {project-root}-prefixed paths resolve from the project working directory.
  • {skill-name} resolves to the skill directory's basename.

On Activation

Step 1: Resolve the Workflow Block

Run: python3 {project-root}/_bmad/scripts/resolve_customization.py --skill {skill-root} --key workflow

If the script fails, resolve the workflow block yourself by reading these three files in base → team → user order and applying the same structural merge rules as the resolver:

1. {skill-root}/customize.toml — defaults 2. {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.toml — team overrides 3. {project-root}/_bmad/custom/{skill-name}.user.toml — personal overrides

Any missing file is skipped. Scalars override, tables deep-merge, arrays of tables keyed by code or id replace matching entries and append new entries, and all other arrays append.

Step 2: Execute Prepend Steps

Execute each entry in {workflow.activation_steps_prepend} in order before proceeding.

Step 3: Load Persistent Facts

Treat every entry in {workflow.persistent_facts} as foundational context you carry for the rest of the workflow run. Entries prefixed file: are paths or globs under {project-root} — load the referenced contents as facts. All other entries are facts verbatim.

Step 4: Load Config

Load config from {project-root}/_bmad/bmm/config.yaml and resolve:

  • Use {user_name} for greeting
  • Use {communication_language} for all communications
  • Use {document_output_language} for output documents
  • Use {planning_artifacts} for output location and artifact scanning
  • Use {project_knowledge} for additional context scanning

Step 5: Greet the User

Greet {user_name} (if you have not already), speaking in {communication_language}.

Step 6: Execute Append Steps

Execute each entry in {workflow.activation_steps_append} in order.

Activation is complete. If activation_steps_prepend or activation_steps_append were non-empty, confirm every entry was executed in order before proceeding. Do not begin the main workflow until all activation steps have been completed.

Execution

Read fully and follow: ./instructions.md

Related skills

How it compares

Pick bmad-document-project over bmad-generate-project-context when the team needs full multi-file docs with deep-dive scans, not a single project-context summary.

FAQ

What files does bmad-document-project generate?

bmad-document-project produces index.md, project-overview.md, architecture.md, source-tree-analysis.md, optional component-inventory.md, and deep-dive-{area}.md files tailored to the detected project type.

When should bmad-document-project run?

bmad-document-project fits brownfield onboarding, new team member ramp-up, post-refactor doc refreshes, and preparing accurate codebase context before BMAD PRD or architecture workflows.

Does bmad-document-project modify source code?

No. bmad-document-project is a documentation-only BMAD skill. It scans the repository and writes markdown planning artifacts agents and developers use as retrieval context.

Documentationdocsintegrations

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