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

1. Validate entry criteria in CHECKLIST.md and classify project complexity.
2. Conduct desk research across provided assets; cite sources.
3. Frame insights into concise problem summary, goals, personas, and constraints (use templates in assets/).
4. Document open questions, assumptions, and risks with recommended owners.
5. 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.