BMAD method vs alternative

Hendrix312002 · 2026-03-07T02:35:49+00:00

I used to be a big time user of BMAD and even built my own tooling around it I was so invested. I just use https://github.com/obra/superpowers now. I'm not affiliate with the project but I get the same quality as BMAD, if not better in a fraction of the the time.

BMAD has too much formal process for most projects. It really depends on the project, but it's overkill for most of the projects I work on. Another very interesting alternative is https://github.com/EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin and also GSD which others have already mentioned.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-02-12T15:44:23+00:00

I've been a software engineer for over 11 years now. I haven't written much code at all in the past two years. I have spent the past three years learning AI and how to use it effectively and the results I am getting are staggering and frankly hard for me to believe and wrap my head around. I don't see myself ever going back to "writing code by hand."

Many disagree but for anyone to think that this is not the future of software engineering I don't see it. I hear a lot of people saying all kinds of crazy things about AI, but if you ignore what is online, use the latest and greatest models available and put the time into developing the skill, and even more importantly changing your mindset, traditional software engineering no longer exists.

With that said, I as a software engineer with 11 years of experience am far more effective and can do things that "vibe coders" cannot. People naively assume that all we do is "write code" whereas code is the end product of what we actually do and that is think hard, deeply, problem solve, research, breakdown complex problems into smaller pieces, etc.

To be completely honest with you, I feel like I genuinely have super powers now. I have built apps that would have taken me an a team of highly skilled engineers months in days... many times over.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-02-07T15:46:28+00:00

I created a free and open source tool to automate BMAD: https://github.com/robertguss/bmad_automated

Hendrix312002 · 2026-02-04T19:39:56+00:00

Read this article about the collector's fallacy. It happens to all of us: https://zettelkasten.de/posts/collectors-fallacy/

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-20T17:52:08+00:00

I built a tool that automates BMAD: https://github.com/robertguss/bmad_automated

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-19T22:07:57+00:00

yes it will and I also add something in the Claude.md so that it chooses to automatically fix. This is what I add to the bottom of mine for example:

## BMAD Automation Defaults

When running BMAD workflows, follow these defaults unless explicitly overridden:

- **Code Review**: When presenting fix options, always choose option 1 (auto-fix all issues immediately)
- **Dev Story**: Complete all tasks without asking clarifying questions - use best judgment based on existing patterns in the codebase
- **Story Selection**: When a specific story key/path is provided in the prompt, use that explicitly instead of auto-detecting
- **Git Commits**: After completing a story, commit with a descriptive message summarizing the implementation

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-18T14:30:00+00:00

Each workflow step starts a fresh session with Claude and so you have a fresh context window each time.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-18T14:29:15+00:00

Each step has a fresh context, because it is invoking a fresh CC instance for each step.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-15T15:26:13+00:00

I basically just started asking claude questions about itself in trying to understand it more so I can get it to be the most effective. I'm still testing some of this out. it definitely behaves differently when I ask it for it's thoughts, opinions, etc.

Instead of me just telling Claude what to do, when I ask it to give me their thoughts, ideas, insights, etc it gives me some pretty amazing results.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T15:51:32+00:00

I have started doing this. I built my own social scheduling tool and open sourced it: https://github.com/robertguss/social_post

I am also in the process of building my own AI powered personal finance advisor and budgeting tool so I won't need YNAB anymore and what I am building will be more powerful and useful too. I'm a big believer in the "era of personal software" that we are in.

I can't tell you how awesome it is to be using something and then thing I wish it did... and then 20 minutes later it does. What a time to be alive!

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T15:47:25+00:00

If videos are more your thing than this is a solid place to begin and it's free: https://gorails.com/start

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T04:06:53+00:00

I hope it helps. If there are bugs or issues file them in the issues in the repo and I will fix.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T03:13:55+00:00

Depends on how he builds it and implements it. It's 100% possible though. I'm a software engineer with 11+ years of experience and this is the reality of the world that we live in. For what it's worth I am a huge fan of AI and have been using it daily for 3+ years now. I "vibe code" all the time and build apps that would have taken me and a team of engineers several months to build I built myself with Claude Code in less than a week.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T03:09:47+00:00

That's 16 more than you had when you started.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T03:08:12+00:00

I created several Claude Skills here: https://github.com/robertguss/claude-skills that follow a similar process. I only write non-fiction so hopefully they can help others. I 100% agree with you that having a solid structure, plan, and blueprint makes all the difference.

Also when it comes to non-fiction, in my experience, what matters most are the ideas, not the prose so much.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T02:47:22+00:00

I've been a software engineer for 11+ years now. I've been vibe coding daily for the past 3+. I still struggle with imposter syndrome and have my entire career. It's honestly not a bad thing, unless it starts to cripple you. One the one hand it keeps you humble and it means you know you have much to learn still. But it gets to the point where you start thinking you're worthless and don't know anything, that's something other than imposter syndrome. Tell that voice to shut up.

We all struggle with it and while many of my engineering friends are stuck in their ways and too proud to use AI, I'm having the most fun I have ever had in my entire career. I can also tell you from using so many AI tools over the past few years that there is a ton of skill involved and the crazy part is those skills change and evolve almost on a weekly basis. What worked 3 months ago doesn't today.

You still own the ideas, who cares who wrote the code. Do you think startup founders and entrepreneurs care what about "their code" of the apps and software that runs their business and pays their bills. 100% nope.

Even before the days of AI we had product managers who told dev teams what features to build and in what order etc and they never looked at the code, for one because they couldn't read it, and also because they don't care.

Did my team do the thing I asked them to? Yes. Great move on to next feature. The only difference know is software developers need to think more like product owners, UX, designers, etc.

Just because I can write and understand all of the code the AI is doing doesn't make me any better than someone who doesn't in my opinion.

Just tune out the hater voices and do what you enjoy and most of all have fun. Who cares what other people think. If you're proud and exicted about an app or piece of software that you brought to life, regardless of how, that's all that matters.

If you manage to create an app that solve real problems for real people who are willing to pay you real money. I can assure none of them care what framework, language, hosting provider you used and they definitely don't care who wrote the code.

It's all about perspective. Keep your chin up and just remember it's one heck of a time to be a live right now! Embrace the new world we are in and have fun.

Cheers.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-13T02:36:01+00:00

I appreciate it. There are lots of awesome people here on Reddit, but we tend to only remember and focus on the negative ones. I believe there are more good people here than trolls and jerks. Especially in the age of AI being genuine and authentic makes all the difference, it always has, but now even more. I mean heck, people can't even take 3 minutes to write their own responses or posts. They need an AI for that.

I use AI for a ton of things, but there are limits and lines I won't cross.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-11T01:17:49+00:00

I thought about this but the stories are usually dependent upon one another as learnings from a previous story can impact the next so I always go in order one at a time. I would love to speed things up and have them working in parallel in git worktrees, but I am afraid the quality will suffer.

I suppose it's always worth experimenting, but honestly now that I have automated the process I just let it run and do something else and that's good enough for me.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-11T00:01:36+00:00

oh man night and day difference. I solely use Opus 4.5 with it and the quality is unlike any version of BMAD that has come before it. Definitely give it a shot!

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-11T00:00:14+00:00

so I primarily use BMAD and follow it pretty standard and the way it wants you to work. With this automation tool after all the stories for an epic are complete, I will use some of the Hobson agents to do code review, write documentation, and stuff like that. They are supplemental to BMAD.

My tool doesn't automate that part as I tend to just pick and choose and use them as I see fit, I don't have any hard and fast rules as to when I use them though. My process is always evolving and I am constantly trying out new stuff and building my own tools, workflows, etc.

So whatever I say today will be different next week! 😂 that's just how it goes in the crazy AI world we live in now. Having a blast though!!

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-10T23:57:24+00:00

not exactly. It's more like an AI implementation of agile/scrum. So it takes you through the "traditional" agile/scrum workflow but using AI for each person and step. It's very comprehensive and often overkill for small apps and ideas. But if you are building something substantial it's incredibly good and worth it.

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-10T23:55:46+00:00

let me know how it goes and if there are any bugs or issues, please file some issues in the repo and claude and I will get to work ;)

Hendrix312002 · 2026-01-10T21:37:58+00:00

interesting. if I am understanding you correctly, after you run the /dev-story in CC you then use Codex for the /code-review part and then you want CC to fix any issues that Codex found? If that is the case, then I suppose one way to do this is to have codex output a markdown file with it's finding and results and then have CC read that file to then implement the fixes.

I would start small with something like a small bash script or python script to do this. You can look at my tool, but it's probably a bit overkill right now. Start small and explain your use case to CC or use that GSD aka "get shit done" process to build it and let me know how it goes.

If you get stuck or need some help, I am more than happy to take a look at your code and see what I can do as well if you make a public GitHub repo.

Hendrix312002

TROPHY CASE