Getting Started

BMad can help you plan and build anything from a small bug fix to a project with a million lines of code. Let’s start with something small.

Already have a repository and a small change you want to make? Install BMad there, open your coding tool in the repository, and run the installed bmad-build skill. Talk to it about the change you want, and it will make it happen.

Otherwise, start here. You will make a working Python program in an empty project.

Before You Start

Use a macOS or Linux shell with Node.js 20.12+, Python 3, and a coding tool supported by BMad. The exact install and launch commands below are for Claude Code. If you use another supported tool, select it when installing BMad and run the bmad-build skill there instead.

Create an Empty Project

mkdir bmad-first-project
cd bmad-first-project

Install the current stable version of BMad Method. This command sets it up for Claude Code:

npx bmad-method install --directory . --modules bmm --tools claude-code --yes

Open your coding tool in this directory. For Claude Code, run:

claude

Build a Mars Rover

Ask the bmad-build skill to make the Mars Rover programming kata, a small exercise used to practice coding, without adding any design choices:

/bmad-build write an implementation of mars rover kata

This gives the bmad-build skill room to ask what you want. It may start with a question like this:

`bmad-build`: Before implementation, I need one choice: which language should I use?
You: Python 3. Make it a small old-school terminal program I can run locally,
with no dependencies beyond Python standard library.

Your questions, answers, plan, and finished program may differ. Choose the behavior you want rather than copying the example answer.

After you answer its questions, read its plan. Approve it or ask for changes. The skill then writes the program, checks its work, fixes any problems, and shows you what changed.

Run the Mars Rover

Depending on what you told it, the result may look something like this:

python3 mars_rover.py --size 5x5 --obstacle 2,2

Enter FFRFF, then MAP, then QUIT. The terminal shows the rover stopping before the obstacle:

MARS ROVER CONTROL
Commands: F/M forward, B backward, L/R turn, MAP, STATUS, HELP, QUIT
Position: (0, 0)  Heading: N
rover> Position: (1, 2)  Heading: E
OBSTACLE: movement blocked at (2, 2)
rover>  4  . . . . .
 3  . . . . .
 2  . > # . .
 1  . . . . .
 0  . . . . .
    0 1 2 3 4
rover> Mission control signing off.

Open the files listed in the final message to look at your finished program.

Ask BMad Help

The bmad-help skill answers questions about BMad. Use it to understand what happened, decide what to do next, or solve a problem. Try it now:

/bmad-help Explain what bmad-build just did.

You Built It

Mars Rover showed how the bmad-build skill turns a short request into working software. It clarified the request, presented a plan for your approval, wrote the program, and checked its work before showing you the result.

Keep Building

1. Install BMad in your own repository, then run the bmad-build skill with a short description of a small change.
2. Continue to Getting Deeper for a small change in a mature codebase, followed by a larger change using a written spec.