Roadmap

BotMinter is developed through incremental milestones. Each milestone builds on the previous one, adding features to the CLI and validating them with synthetic test tasks before operational use.

Overview

Completed

Structure + human-assistant

Built the foundational infrastructure:

• Profile skeleton — process-agnostic directory structure
• scrum profile — PROCESS.md, CLAUDE.md, team knowledge/invariants
• human-assistant member skeleton with three-hat model
• Workspace model — clone project, embed team repo, surface config
• Human-in-the-loop (HIL) via RObot — validated during development; available as an optional bridge on any profile

Proved: Inner loop works (Ralph + hats). Workspace model works (clone, surface, run). HIL validated (human <> human-assistant via Telegram).

Autonomous Ralph

Spike validating how Ralph runs autonomously in a persistent loop, pulling work from a board instead of a single-objective prompt:

• persistent: true with task.resume routing
• Self-clearing scratchpad/tasks between work items
• Idle behavior via LOOP_COMPLETE

Deliverable: validated ralph.yml pattern adopted directly by later milestones.

Architect + First Epic

Added the architect as a second team member and validated two-member coordination:

• Architect member skeleton (ralph.yml, PROMPT.md, CLAUDE.md, five hats)
• human-assistant evolution — new hats for epic creation, design gating
• Epic lifecycle statuses in PROCESS.md
• Two-member outer loop coordination validated with synthetic epics

Proved: Outer loop works (GitHub issues, status labels, knowledge resolution). Pull model works (architect picks up work via status watch). Two-member coordination works (PO creates, architect designs, PO gates).

GitHub Integration

Replaced file-based coordination with real GitHub (pulled forward from original planning):

• gh CLI calls replaced file operations (1:1 mapping)
• Unified gh skill as single interaction point
• Coordination model unchanged — only backing store moved

bm CLI

Replaced Justfile-based tooling with a Rust CLI binary (bm):

• Single operator interface for managing agentic teams
• Workzone model with known, discoverable workspace directory
• Profile restructuring — collapsed into single layer with botminter.yml + .schema/
• Profiles shipped with the binary, extracted to disk on first use (bm profiles init)
• Event-driven daemon with webhook and poll modes (bm daemon start/stop/status)
• Knowledge management commands (bm knowledge list/show + interactive mode)
• Formation-aware deployment (bm start --formation)
• Commands: bm init, bm hire, bm start (alias: bm up), bm stop, bm status, bm teams list/show/sync, bm members list/show, bm roles list, bm profiles list/describe, bm projects add/list/show/sync, bm knowledge list/show (+ interactive mode), bm daemon start/stop/status, bm completions
• Integration test suite covering full lifecycle, hire, sync, schema guard, multi-team

Proved: CLI-driven team management works. Versioned profile model enables future upgrades. Workzone model provides discoverability.

Minty and Friends

Multiple UX enhancements to improve the operator experience:

• Chief of Staff role — a new team-scoped role for process improvement tasks, operating independently from dev workflow
• Profile externalization — profiles extracted to disk on first use, editable and customizable without rebuilding the binary
• Workspace repository model — dedicated git repo per agent with submodules for team repo and project forks, replacing the earlier embedded workspace model
• Minty — BotMinter's interactive assistant persona with composable skills
• Coding-agent-agnostic cleanup — abstracted Claude Code-specific assumptions from profiles and CLI

Proved: Role-as-skill pattern works. Skill-driven architecture viable. Disk-based profiles enable operator customization. Stack is coding-agent-agnostic end-to-end.

Team Bridge

Bridge plugin system for connecting team members to messaging platforms:

• Bridge plugin contract — Knative-style resource format (bridge.yml + schema.json + Justfile), no Rust code needed for new bridges
• Matrix / Tuwunel bridge (local, default) — single Podman container with Tuwunel homeserver, pre-selected during bm init
• Telegram bridge (external, experimental) — operator-managed bot tokens, per-member identity
• Rocket.Chat bridge (local, experimental) — Podman pod with RC + MongoDB, auto-provisioned bot accounts
• Bridge CLI — bm bridge start/stop/status, bm bridge identity add/show/rotate/remove, bm bridge room create/list
• Per-member start/stop — bm start <member> and bm stop <member> for individual member lifecycle
• Credential storage — system keyring with env var fallback, formation-aware via CredentialStore trait
• E2E test coverage — operator journey scenarios for Matrix and Telegram bridges

Proved: Bridge plugin model is extensible. Local bridges can self-provision. Credential management works across formation types.

Future

Full Team + First Story

Adds dev, QE, and reviewer as team members:

• Dev, QE, reviewer member skeletons
• Full story kanban statuses in PROCESS.md
• TDD flow: QE writes tests, dev implements, QE verifies, reviewer reviews, architect signs off, PO merges
• Codebase access model (project fork, agent-cloned)
• First real knowledge accumulation

Eval/Confidence System

Formalizes the distributed eval framework:

• Eval framework across recursive scopes (team, project, member, member+project)
• Hard-gate vs advisory eval distinction
• Scored confidence metrics
• Evidence chain verification
• HIL graduation path (training, supervised, autonomous)

Future ideas

• Extract human-assistant from profiles (infrastructure, not a team role)
• Access control per scope + SLSA-style attestation for PRs
• ralph.yml hot-reload (eliminate need for sync + restart)
• Knowledge observation mechanism for automatic knowledge capture
• Hat-level skill filtering (pending Ralph runtime support)

Related topics

• Architecture — profile-based generation model and two-layer runtime
• Member Roles — current and planned role definitions
• Bridges — bridge types and plugin contract