Discovery Analysis Skill

When to Invoke

Automatically activate this skill when the user:

• Says "I have an idea...", "What if we...", "I'm thinking about..."

• Asks "Help me think through...", "Can you help me brainstorm...", "Let's explore..."

• Mentions "new project", "new feature", "explore possibilities"

• Talks about research, competitive analysis, or market exploration

• Has vague requirements that need clarification

• Mentions understanding or documenting an existing project

• Is starting a Level 3-4 project (complex/novel problems)

• Uses words like: idea, brainstorm, explore, research, discovery, analyze

Specific trigger phrases:

• "I have an idea for [something]"

• "What if we built [something]"

• "Help me think through [problem]"

• "Can we explore [opportunity]"

• "I need to research [topic]"

• "Document this project"

• "Understand this codebase"

Do NOT invoke when:

• User already has a detailed PRD (use bmad-product-planning instead)

• User is asking for implementation help (use bmad-development-execution instead)

• User has clear, well-defined requirements (skip to bmad-product-planning)

• User is asking about workflow status (use main-workflow-router)

• Project is Level 0-2 and requirements are clear (skip to bmad-product-planning)

Mission

Turn vague ideas or problem statements into structured briefs that downstream skills can trust. Identify goals, constraints, risks, and unknowns to inform product planning.

Inputs Required

• problem_statement: initial idea, pain, or opportunity description

• stakeholders: who cares about the outcome and why

• context_assets: repos, documents, or market references available for analysis

If essential context is missing, gather it before deeper synthesis.

Outputs

• Discovery brief following patterns in REFERENCE.md

• Brainstorm notes (from assets/brainstorm-template.md.template )

• Product brief (from assets/product-brief-template.md.template )

• Research dossier (from assets/research-dossier-template.md.template )

• Prioritized questions and risk register captured for product-requirements skill

• Recommendation on readiness to progress or need for further discovery

Template locations: .claude/skills/bmad-discovery-research/assets/*.template

Process

• Validate entry criteria in CHECKLIST.md and classify project complexity.

• Conduct desk research across provided assets; cite sources.

• Frame insights into concise problem summary, goals, personas, and constraints (use templates in assets/ ).

• Document open questions, assumptions, and risks with recommended owners.

• Deliver summary plus links to created artifacts for the orchestrator and stakeholders.

Note on automation: This skill currently operates through collaborative conversation using templates. No automation scripts are required—artifacts are generated manually using Jinja2 templates from assets/ . See scripts/README.md for future automation roadmap.

Quality Gates

Confirm CHECKLIST.md is satisfied before signaling readiness for planning. Missing data or low confidence requires escalation.

Error Handling

• If the idea remains ambiguous after initial probing, request specific clarifications rather than guessing.

• Flag conflicting stakeholder goals and recommend alignment conversations.

• When scope is too small (Level 0-1), suggest redirecting to lighter-weight workflows documented in REFERENCE.md .