use the <X> method

Syntax

use the <X> method

What it does

Pulls in a method — a library of stages (e.g. BMAD's analyze → architect → story → qa) — so a tiny file behaves like a hand-written pipeline. Methods are libraries, not syntax: you import proven behavior instead of retyping the same stages in every file.

Why it matters: a mature workflow is a fixed sequence of stories with the same gates and checks every time. Copy-pasting that pipeline into every .loop is error-prone and drifts as the method evolves. use the <X> method collapses the whole sequence into one line — the method supplies the stages, their order, and their default gates; your file just declares intent. It's a config-tier line, so it belongs at the top of the file, above any definition, alongside companions like runner: and target:.

A method preset can also carry its own git: block — a version-control strategy the whole imported pipeline runs under. That default is the weakest tier: your file's own git: block, or a per-loop one, overrides it. Because a method is a plain library of stages, it stays method-neutral — BMAD is one example, not the syntax; the same mechanism imports any stage library that ships for Loop.

Example

use the BMAD method   # import the method's whole pipeline
runner: claude code
target: ./src

Example — override the method's git default

use the BMAD method       # preset may carry its own git: block
target: ./packages/api

git:
  work in a worktree       # this file wins over the method's default
  commit each story

Common mistakes

• Writing it inside a loop body. use the <X> method is config-tier — it goes at the top of the file, before any loop or pipeline. It imports a pipeline; it isn't a line you put inside one.
• Assuming the method's git: block is final. A preset's git strategy is the lowest tier of the cascade. If you need a different branch or commit cadence, add your own git: block — it overrides the method's.
• Expecting new syntax. A method is a stage library, not a keyword — it can't do anything a hand-written pipeline couldn't. If you need to see the shape it expands to, print the flow.
• Treating it as BMAD-only. The mechanism is method-neutral. Name whichever method's library ships for your project; don't assume BMAD is the only value the line accepts.

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