From BMAD Planning & Orchestrator
Creates lightweight technical specifications for small-scope work (1-15 stories). Produces a single planning artifact replacing PRD and architecture documents.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/bmad-planning-orchestrator:bmad-tech-specThis skill is limited to the following tools:
The summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
This skill produces a focused `tech-spec.md` for **Quick Flow** work: small, well-scoped
This skill produces a focused tech-spec.md for Quick Flow work: small, well-scoped
features or changes that sit in the 1-15 story range. It consolidates the product
rationale, technical approach, and story backlog into a single lightweight document,
skipping the separate PRD + architecture artifacts that larger tracks require.
Track guidance
- 1-15 stories, single team, clear requirements → Quick Flow (this skill)
- 10-50+ stories, multiple concerns, or uncertain scope → use bmad-prd then bmad-architecture
- 30+ stories, cross-org, security/compliance/DevOps dimensions → Enterprise track
Ask the user (or infer from context) which of three intents applies:
| Intent | When |
|---|---|
| Create | No tech-spec.md exists yet |
| Update | Revising scope, requirements, or approach in an existing spec |
| Validate | Checking a draft spec for BMAD completeness before moving to stories |
For Create, collect (interactively or from existing project files):
bmad-output/decision-log.mdLoad bmad-output/project-context.md if present — it is the project constitution and must
not be contradicted without a recorded decision.
For Update, read the existing bmad-output/tech-spec.md first, then apply targeted
edits and log what changed in the decision log.
For Validate, read the existing spec and report against the checklist in the Validation Checklist section below.
Render the template at:
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-tech-spec/templates/tech-spec.template.md
Fill every section. Omit sections that genuinely do not apply (e.g., no API design for a
pure-CLI tool) and note the omission inline. Do not leave unreplaced {{placeholders}}.
Testing strategy in the spec is planning only — describe what should be tested and why. Do not write test code. Do not set coverage numbers as mandatory targets; frame them as guidance for the dev team.
Write to bmad-output/tech-spec.md (respecting the outputFolder user config if set).
If decision-log entries were made, append them to bmad-output/decision-log.md
(create the file if it does not exist, using the format: ## [YYYY-MM-DD] <title> /
**Decision:** ... / **Rationale:** ...).
After writing, tell the user:
When intent is Validate, report pass/fail for each item:
{{placeholders}} remainThis skill is primarily single-threaded (one conversation, one document). Parallelism is optional and limited to information gathering:
Part of the BMAD Planning & Orchestrator plugin — a Claude Code harness for the BMAD Method by the BMAD Code Organization (https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD). Implements the spirit of
bmad-tech-spec. All methodology credit belongs to the BMAD Code Organization.
npx claudepluginhub aj-geddes/claude-code-bmad-skills --plugin bmad-planning-orchestratorGenerates very quick, implementation-ready specs for small changes or features. Auto-activates when users say 'create a quick spec' or 'generate a quick tech spec'.
Creates technical specifications interactively by gathering requirements, exploring codebases, running planning interviews, drafting with Mermaid diagrams, expert review, and iteration. For new features or projects needing architecture and decisions.
Creates or updates SPEC.md documents from requirements, notes, or interview output, structuring into sections for goals, design, edge cases, security, testing, and success criteria. Use for feature specs.