Edit Workflow

Purpose

An intelligent workflow editor that helps you modify existing BMAD workflows while adhering to all best practices and conventions documented in the workflow creation guide.

Use Case

When you need to:

Fix issues in existing workflows
Update workflow configuration or metadata
Improve instruction clarity and specificity
Add new features or capabilities
Ensure compliance with BMAD workflow conventions

How to Invoke

workflow edit-workflow

Or through a BMAD agent:

*edit-workflow

Expected Inputs

Target workflow path: Path to the workflow.yaml file or workflow folder you want to edit
Edit type selection: Choice of what aspect to modify
User approval: For each proposed change

Generated Outputs

Modified workflow files (in place)
Optional change log at: {output_folder}/workflow-edit-log-{date}.md

Features

Comprehensive Analysis: Checks workflows against the official creation guide
Prioritized Issues: Identifies and ranks issues by importance
Guided Editing: Step-by-step process with explanations
Best Practices: Ensures all edits follow BMAD conventions
Instruction Style Optimization: Convert between intent-based and prescriptive styles
Validation: Checks all changes for correctness
Change Tracking: Documents what was modified and why

Understanding Instruction Styles

When editing workflows, one powerful option is adjusting the instruction style to better match the workflow's purpose.

Intent-Based vs Prescriptive Instructions

Intent-Based (Recommended for most workflows)

Guides the AI with goals and principles, allowing flexible conversation.

More flexible and conversational - AI adapts to user responses
Better for complex discovery - Requirements gathering, creative exploration
Quality over consistency - Deep understanding matters more
Example: <action>Guide user to define their target audience with specific demographics and needs</action>

When to use:

Complex discovery processes (user research, requirements)
Creative brainstorming and ideation
Iterative refinement workflows
Workflows requiring nuanced understanding

Prescriptive

Provides exact questions with structured options.

More controlled and predictable - Consistent questions every time
Better for simple data collection - Platform, format, yes/no choices
Consistency over quality - Same execution every run
Example: <ask>What is your target platform? Choose: PC, Console, Mobile, Web</ask>

When to use:

Simple data collection (platform, format, binary choices)
Compliance verification and standards adherence
Configuration with finite options
Quick setup wizards

Edit Workflow's Style Adjustment Feature

The "Adjust instruction style" editing option (menu option 11) helps you:

Analyze current style - Identifies whether workflow is primarily intent-based or prescriptive
Convert between styles - Transform prescriptive steps to intent-based (or vice versa)
Optimize the mix - Intelligently recommend the best style for each step
Step-by-step control - Review and decide on each step individually

Common scenarios:

Make workflow more conversational: Convert rigid tags to flexible tags for complex steps
Make workflow more consistent: Convert open-ended tags to structured tags for simple data collection
Balance both approaches: Use intent-based for discovery, prescriptive for simple choices

This feature is especially valuable when converting legacy workflows or adapting workflows for different use cases.

Workflow Steps

Load and analyze target workflow
Check against best practices
Select editing focus
Load relevant documentation
Perform edits with user approval
Validate all changes (optional)
Generate change summary

Requirements

Access to workflow creation guide
Read/write permissions for target workflow
Understanding of BMAD workflow types

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