synthpanel-bmad

BMad expansion pack for SynthPanel — agent + workflows for synthetic deliberation panels on hard-to-reverse product decisions.

The pack ships Quinn (the Panel Facilitator) plus four workflows (convene-quick-poll, convene-panel, extend-panel, render-readback) that wrap the SynthPanel MCP server's deliberation tools. Use it to get structured multi-persona signal on the kind of choices where "ask three people in Slack" is too thin and "run a full user study" is too slow.

The pack itself does not bundle the MCP server. SynthPanel is a prerequisite — see § Setup.

What you get

Capability	Code	Wraps	Use it for
Convene a Quick Poll	QP	run_quick_poll	5–10-persona signal on copy variants, naming shortlists, sub-headline phrasing. Not ship-blocking.
Convene a Panel	RP	run_panel	12–20-persona structured deliberation on pricing, positioning, hiring, launch lede, external-audience copy. Default n=16.
Extend a Panel	EP	extend_panel	Follow-up question on a prior panel — persona continuity preserved, convergence diffed against parent.
Render a Readback	RB	(local)	Re-render a saved panel_verdict.json as the markdown verdict card.

Each workflow runs an eight-stage spine — preflight → trigger-check → frame → assemble → call → validate → persist → readback — and saves both the raw verdict envelope (_bmad/synthpanel/verdicts/{run_id}.json) and a rendered markdown card (_bmad/synthpanel/cards/{run_id}.md). The card is the shareable artifact: paste it into a PR, a doc, or a Slack thread.

Quinn (the agent) decides which workflow fits and runs it. You usually don't invoke skills by name — you describe the decision in prose.

Setup

See INSTALL.md for copy-paste install + setup steps.

Three steps:

1. Install SynthPanel (the MCP server) and register it with your host.
2. Install synthpanel-bmad via your host's plugin / expansion-pack flow.
3. Run /spb-setup to write project config.

Workflow examples

The natural way to invoke Quinn is to describe the decision. Quinn picks the workflow; the menu codes (QP / RP / EP / RB) are available as fallback shortcuts when you want to be explicit.

Quick Poll (QP) — low-stakes signal

"Quinn, quick poll: should we name the new flag --dry-run or --preview? 8 voices."

Quinn runs run_quick_poll against a default 8-persona cohort, validates the response envelope, persists the verdict, and reads it back with the limit named up front:

Quick-poll (n=8, pack=indie-builders) — not ship-blocking. --dry-run wins
6/8, with two voices flagging --preview reads less destructive on first
encounter.

Top dissent (verbatim):
- "preview matches the screenshot tooling I'd already have open."
- "dry-run is what every CLI I use says, that's the whole point."

Convene Panel (RP) — flagship deliberation

"I'm setting our launch tier at $19/mo or $29/mo. Convene a panel."

Quinn coaches the frame (four-part: choice, audience, success, constraint), defaults to n=16 with an audience-matched pack, and runs run_panel. The readback ledes with the frame, then convergence band, dissent count, top-3 verbatim quotes, surfaced flags, and what this panel isn't (a substitute for pricing-page A/B data).

If convergence < 0.45, the readback ends with a soft offer to extend the panel on the cleavage — your opt-in to extend-panel.

Extend Panel (EP) — follow-up on a prior run

"Extend the pricing panel — what does the cohort think about a free tier as a wedge?"

Quinn loads the prior run's persona realization, calls extend_panel with your follow-up, and reads the verdict back as Extension of: … — diffing convergence and dissent against the parent run so you can see whether the cohort moved.

Render Readback (RB) — re-render a saved verdict

"Render the readback for run 01HZ… — terminal scrolled."

Local-only. Loads _bmad/synthpanel/verdicts/{run_id}.json, applies the current card template, and prints (or with --write, overwrites) the markdown card. Useful for sharing a verdict from a prior session or regenerating a card after a customize.toml template change.

Compatibility

This pack	Required SynthPanel schema_version
0.1.x	>=1.0.0,<2.0.0

Pre-1.0 — breaking changes possible on minor bumps. See CHANGELOG.md for per-release schema-compat notes and design-notes/distribution-versioning.md for the full versioning policy.

License

MIT.