bmad-research

Q: How do I install bmad-research?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/aj-geddes/claude-code-bmad-skills --skill bmad-research in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/bmad-research/ (personal) or .claude/skills/bmad-research/ (project).

by aj-geddesProductivity & Automation

Conducts market, competitive, domain, and technical research using live web sources, producing a cited research-report.md to inform BMAD planning decisions. Use when the user says: - "research [topic/market/technology]" - "competitive analysis" or "who are the competitors" - "market size" or "market landscape" - "technical research" or "evaluate [technology/framework]" - "domain research" or "industry analysis" - "what does the market look like" - "find out about [technology/space]" - "I need research before we plan" - "gather information on [topic]" Supports three modes: Create (new research), Update (refresh existing report with new sources), Validate (cross-check claims in an existing report against live sources). Output lands in bmad-output/ as a cited research-report.md ready for downstream planning skills (business-analyst, product-manager, system-architect).

Installs: 130
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Security: Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/aj-geddes/claude-code-bmad-skills --skill bmad-research

01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads bmad-research automatically when relevant.
03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

BMAD Research

Conducts structured, cited research across three modes to feed BMAD planning workflows. Output is a research-report.md in bmad-output/, ready for handoff to planning skills.

Step 0 — Clarify Intent

Before searching, confirm:

Mode — Create / Update / Validate (default: Create)
Research type — Market | Competitive | Technical | Domain (may combine)
Topic — What is being researched?
Output destination — Default: bmad-output/research-report.md

If project-context.md exists, read it first (bmad-output/project-context.md) for scope constraints.

Step 1 — Plan the Research

Use the source-type strategy guide to pick sources by research type:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-research/scripts/research-sources.sh

Run it (Bash) to print the guide, then sketch a query plan:

3–5 targeted WebSearch queries per research type
Specific URLs to WebFetch (industry reports, competitor sites, docs)
Triangulation goal: each key claim backed by 2+ independent sources

Track progress with TodoWrite.

Step 2 — Execute Research

Market Research

Search: market size, TAM/SAM/SOM, growth CAGR, key trends, growth drivers
Sources: Statista, Grand View Research, CB Insights, SEC filings, industry reports
Quantify everything possible: dollar values, percentages, time frames

Competitive Research

Search: top competitors, feature comparisons, pricing, user reviews, funding
Sources: G2/Capterra (reviews), Crunchbase (funding/size), company IR pages, product documentation, Reddit/HN community sentiment
Build a feature comparison matrix

Technical Research

Search: framework benchmarks, adoption rates, community health, known trade-offs
Sources: Official docs, GitHub stars/issues, npm/PyPI stats, State of JS/CSS, ThoughtWorks Radar, Stack Overflow surveys
Evaluate: maturity, ecosystem, licensing, long-term viability

Domain Research

Search: regulatory landscape, industry standards, key players, domain glossary
Sources: Government databases, standards bodies, academic papers (Google Scholar, arXiv), trade publications

Citation discipline: for every factual claim, record source URL + access date. When a claim cannot be verified across 2+ sources, mark it [UNVERIFIED].

Step 3 — Update Mode

If mode is Update, read the existing report first. Then:

Identify sections with stale data (>6 months old, or marked [UNVERIFIED])
Re-run targeted searches for those sections only
Append a "Last Updated" entry per section
Increment the report version

Step 4 — Validate Mode

If mode is Validate:

Extract all quantitative claims from the existing report
Spot-check each claim with a fresh WebSearch
Mark each claim: [VERIFIED], [CONTRADICTED source: …], or [UNVERIFIED]
Append a "Validation Summary" section noting overall confidence

Step 5 — Write the Report

Use the template:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/bmad-research/templates/research-report.template.md

Fill all sections. Sections irrelevant to the research type may be omitted (mark as N/A). Write the completed report to:

bmad-output/research-report.md   # or a user-specified path

Required sections regardless of mode:

Executive Summary with key findings and bottom line
Research Scope (in/out of scope, time frame)
Methodology (sources used, tools, limitations)
Gaps & Opportunities
Recommendations (planning actions, not implementation actions)
Full source bibliography (Appendix B) with URLs and access dates

Step 6 — Handoff

After writing the report, tell the user:

The output path
The 3 most important findings in plain language
Which BMAD planning skill should consume this report next:
- Market/Competitive → business-analyst or product-manager
- Technical → system-architect
- Domain → business-analyst

Record the research decision in bmad-output/decision-log.md:

## Research: [Topic] — [Date]
- Mode: [Create/Update/Validate]
- Types: [Market/Competitive/Technical/Domain]
- Key finding: [one sentence]
- Report: bmad-output/research-report.md
- Next skill: [skill name]

Subagent Strategy

For broad research covering multiple types simultaneously, fan out parallel agents:

Agent 1 — Market Agent

Read project-context.md, then conduct market research on [topic]:
TAM/SAM/SOM, growth rates, key trends. Write findings to
bmad-output/research-scratch/market.md with full citations.

Agent 2 — Competitive Agent

Read project-context.md, then research top 3-5 competitors for [topic]:
features, pricing, strengths/weaknesses, user sentiment. Write findings to
bmad-output/research-scratch/competitive.md with full citations.

Agent 3 — Technical/Domain Agent

Read project-context.md, then research technical landscape for [topic]:
technology options, ecosystem health, standards. Write findings to
bmad-output/research-scratch/technical.md with full citations.

After all agents complete, synthesize scratch files into the final report using the template. Delete scratch files after synthesis.

Part of the BMAD Planning & Orchestrator plugin — a Claude Code harness for the BMAD Method by the BMAD Code Organization (https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD). Implements the spirit of bmad-market/domain/technical-research. All methodology credit belongs to the BMAD Code Organization.

FAQ

What does the bmad-research skill do?

How do I install bmad-research?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/aj-geddes/claude-code-bmad-skills --skill bmad-research in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/bmad-research/ (personal) or .claude/skills/bmad-research/ (project).

Which AI agents can use bmad-research?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is bmad-research safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains bmad-research?

It is published by aj-geddes in aj-geddes/claude-code-bmad-skills. It has 130 recorded installs.