# SpecScore vs the BMAD Method

Canonical: https://specscore.md/vs/bmad-method/

The [BMAD Method](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD) (Breakthrough Method for Agile AI-Driven Development) is an [open-source](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD) way to run agile delivery with AI agents: clarify the work, plan it, build it, and check it, with the decisions written down. A product requirements document (PRD) is the prose description of what to build and for whom; the method’s workflow map produces one, then architecture and stories. [Spec-driven development](https://specscore.md/spec-driven-development/) (SDD) is the broader idea both sit in — behavior is specified before code. [SpecScore](https://specscore.md/) is an [open-source](https://github.com/specscore/specscore) format for that specification, plus a [command-line interface](https://specscore.md/cli/) (CLI). [Continuous integration](https://specscore.md/validators/) (CI) — an automatic check on every proposed change — can fail when a SpecScore file is structurally wrong.

## What they share.

- Both refuse to let an agent invent the product while it writes the code.
- Both keep planning documents in the repository, in Markdown, next to the work.
- Both expect a human to approve the plan before implementation runs away.

## What the BMAD Method does well.

The project README, read 30 October 2026, calls v6.12 the stable release and v7 a preview on the main branch. The v7 date in that README had already passed. Treat the line names as a snapshot.

### A method that sizes itself

The README says small changes go straight to build, and larger work gets planning. The [workflow map on main](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD/blob/main/docs/reference/workflow-map.md) spells out phases: a PRD (`PRD.md`), an optional UX spec, `architecture.md` with decision records, epic and story files, then a sprint. That is a full agile loop, not a single prompt.

### A gate before implementation

The same map lists `bmad-check-implementation-readiness`, which returns PASS, CONCERNS, or FAIL before implementation. The v6 product-manager agent also has a validate-PRD step. Those are workflow gates the agent runs. They are not a separate format linter you point at an arbitrary Markdown tree.

### It is actually published

The method is [MIT-licensed](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD/blob/main/LICENSE) in a public repository. The README’s stable install is `npx bmad-method install`, and it asks for Node.js 20.12 or newer and Python 3.10 or newer. The site [bmadcode.com](https://www.bmadcode.com/) says the method is free.

## Feature comparison.

BMAD is the process. SpecScore is the artifact format a process can target. The table compares those roles.

| Capability | BMAD Method | SpecScore |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Primary role | Agile method: agents, skills, and workflows from idea to verified code | **Open spec format + CLI** |
| Planning artifacts | PRD, UX spec, architecture, epics and stories, sprint status — on the workflow map read 30 October 2026 | **Ideas, features, plans, tasks** in a spec/ tree, with requirement ids |
| Checking the work | Readiness gate (PASS / CONCERNS / FAIL) and a validate-PRD workflow, run by the agent | **specscore spec lint** in CI, deterministic. `/score` is a manual AI grade. |
| Requirement ids | Stories and functional requirements inside the PRD and epic files. Not the SpecScore REQ: slug. | **REQ: slug** and acceptance-criterion ids |
| Runtime | Node.js and Python for the v6.12 installer described in the README | **None** beyond a single Go binary |
| License | [MIT](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD/blob/main/LICENSE), [bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD) | [CC BY 4.0](https://github.com/specscore/specscore/blob/main/LICENSE) format · [Apache-2.0](https://github.com/specscore/specscore-cli/blob/main/LICENSE) CLI |

## What SpecScore adds.

### The check is a command, not a step in the method

BMAD’s readiness result is a decision inside its workflow. SpecScore’s result is a process exit code. [dogfood.yml](https://github.com/specscore/specscore/blob/main/.github/workflows/dogfood.yml) runs `specscore spec lint` on every pull request. [/score](https://github.com/specscore/specstudio-skills/blob/main/skills/score/SKILL.md) grades an artifact with the reviewers configured in the repo; you invoke it. CI does not.

```
$ specscore spec lint

features/apply-discount/README.md:0 [error] oq-section: Open Questions section not found
features/apply-discount/README.md:0 [error] index-entries: Child directory not listed in index: refunds
features/apply-discount/refunds:0 [error] readme-exists: README.md not found

3 violations found (3 errors)
```

### The format survives a different method

BMAD’s documents are shaped by its workflows. If you stop running BMAD, you still have the Markdown, but nothing outside the method enforces the shape. A SpecScore tree is the contract. Another workflow — including BMAD — can write it, and the linter still applies.

### Stories and requirements stay linked by id

BMAD stories carry context forward so the agent does not re-decide the product. SpecScore makes the link mechanical: a plan task cites `REQ: slug`, and `specscore:` annotations plus `Verifies:` commit trailers point code back at the criterion.

## When to use which.

### Reach for the BMAD Method when…

- You want a full agile loop — PRD, architecture, stories, sprint — executed by agents with role-specific workflows.
- You want the readiness gate and the party of product, architecture, and test perspectives the method ships.
- You are standardizing how a team prompts, and the method’s skills are the standard.

### Use SpecScore when…

- The specification has to fail CI when a heading, a link, or a status is wrong, even if nobody runs the BMAD workflow that day.
- You need stable requirement ids across tools, not only inside one method’s story files.
- You want a format [open-source](https://github.com/specscore/specscore) that a different process can target.

## The method can write the format.

BMAD answers “how do we run the work.” SpecScore answers “what file is the contract, and how does CI know it is intact.” A team can keep BMAD’s PRD and stories for the conversation, and keep a SpecScore feature for the requirements that must lint.

Use the BMAD Method for the loop. Use SpecScore for the artifact the pull request checks.

## Sources.

The public pages below were read on 30 October 2026. Prices, plan names, and release lines change.

- [bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD)
- [BMAD-METHOD — MIT license](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [BMAD workflow map (main, read 30 October 2026)](https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD/blob/main/docs/reference/workflow-map.md)
- [bmadcode.com](https://www.bmadcode.com/)
- [specscore/specscore — dogfood CI workflow](https://github.com/specscore/specscore/blob/main/.github/workflows/dogfood.yml)
- [specstudio-skills — /score skill](https://github.com/specscore/specstudio-skills/blob/main/skills/score/SKILL.md)
- [specscore/specscore — CC BY 4.0](https://github.com/specscore/specscore/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [specscore/specscore-cli — Apache-2.0](https://github.com/specscore/specscore-cli/blob/main/LICENSE)