The retrospective workflow is v6's learning capture mechanism, run by the Scrum Master (SM) after epic completion to systematically harvest insights, patterns, and improvements discovered during implementation. Unlike traditional retrospectives that focus primarily on process and team dynamics, this workflow performs deep technical and methodological analysis of the entire epic journey—from story creation through implementation to review—identifying what worked well, what could improve, and what patterns emerged. The retrospective produces actionable intelligence that informs future epics, improves workflow templates, and evolves the team's shared knowledge.

This workflow represents a critical feedback loop in the v6 methodology. Each epic is an experiment in adaptive software development, and the retrospective is where we analyze the results of that experiment. The SM examines completed stories, review feedback, course corrections made, story-context effectiveness, technical decisions, and team collaboration patterns to extract transferable learning. This learning manifests as updates to workflow templates, new story-context patterns, refined estimation approaches, and documented best practices.

The retrospective is not just a compliance ritual but a genuine opportunity for continuous improvement. By systematically analyzing what happened during the epic, the team builds institutional knowledge that makes each subsequent epic smoother, faster, and higher quality. The insights captured here directly improve future story creation, context generation, development efficiency, and review effectiveness.

Usage

# Conduct retrospective after epic completion
bmad run retrospective

The SM should run this workflow:

After all stories in an epic are completed
Before starting the next major epic
When significant learning has accumulated
As preparation for improving future epic execution

Inputs

Required Context:

Epic Document: Complete epic specification and goals
All Story Documents: Every story created for the epic
Review Reports: All review feedback and findings
Course Corrections: Any correct-course actions taken
Story Contexts: Generated expert guidance for each story
Implementation Artifacts: Code commits, test results, deployment records

Analysis Targets:

Story creation accuracy and sizing
Story-context effectiveness and relevance
Implementation challenges and solutions
Review findings and patterns
Technical decisions and outcomes
Estimation accuracy
Team collaboration and communication
Workflow effectiveness

Outputs

Primary Deliverable:

Retrospective Report ([epic-id]-retrospective.xml): Comprehensive analysis including:
- Executive summary of epic outcomes
- Story-by-story analysis of what was learned
- Technical insights and architecture learnings
- Story-context effectiveness assessment
- Process improvements identified
- Patterns discovered (good and bad)
- Recommendations for future epics
- Metrics and statistics (velocity, cycle time, etc.)

Actionable Outputs:

Template Updates: Improvements to workflow templates based on learning
Pattern Library: New story-context patterns for common scenarios
Best Practices: Documented approaches that worked well
Gotchas: Issues to avoid in future work
Estimation Refinements: Better story sizing guidance
Process Changes: Workflow adjustments for next epic

Artifacts:

Epic marked as complete with retrospective attached
Knowledge base updated with new patterns
Workflow templates updated if needed
Team learning captured for onboarding