# The ten packs: what each one adds and how to choose

> A pack is an installable group of agents and skills. Compare the ten BMAD+ packs in one table, learn how to choose, install, add and remove them, and how overlapping packs coexist.

Canonical: https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/packs-overview/
Language: en
BMAD+ version: 0.23.1
Documentation reviewed: 2026-10-19
Author: Laurent Rochetta
License: MIT

BMAD+ documentation › [Packs](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/) › The ten packs: what each one adds and how to choose

A pack is a group of agents, skills and files that you install together for one kind of work. An agent is a named persona with written instructions that your AI coding tool loads; a skill is a reusable protocol an agent opens when needed. BMAD+ 0.23.0 has ten packs. Core is the only required one and carries the four general-purpose agents; the other nine are specialists you add when your project needs them. Installing a pack writes files into your project and nothing runs in the background; the one exception is Memory, which writes the global brain into `~/.bmad-plus/brain/` in your home folder when it links or creates it.

<a id="video-ten-packs"></a>
Video: [Ten packs, 48 agents](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/media/ten-packs-en.mp4) — A tour of the ten packs and their agents, with the count of 48 shown as 15 installed, 27 in Shield and 6 in Dev Studio.
[Captions (WebVTT)](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/media/ten-packs-en.vtt)

Transcript:

> BMAD+ ships as ten packs. Core is required: Atlas for strategy, Forge for architecture and development, Sentinel for quality, Nexus for coordination. OSINT brings Shadow, for governed public-source research. Maker designs, validates and packages new agents. Shield covers compliance with 27 specialist agents and 11 workflows, from GDPR to ISO 27001. SEO adds three agents, Scout, Chief and Judge, and a six-phase audit. Memory brings Zecher, who keeps notes, decisions and session handoffs. Dev Studio has six roles and 38 workflows, from analysis to review. Backup makes timestamped backups, Animated builds scroll-driven websites from video, and Design brings Atelier. In all, that makes 48 agents.

Described transcript:

- **0:00** On screen: Tall, dark, glassy slabs stand in a row, lit from the side by a warm glow. The caption reads “10 packs”, then changes to “Core · Atlas · Forge · Sentinel · Nexus”. Narration: BMAD+ ships as ten packs. Core is required: Atlas for strategy, Forge for architecture and development, Sentinel for quality, Nexus for coordination.
- **0:15** On screen: A terminal. The command npx bmad-plus install --lang en is typed. The installer shows a cyan banner, “BMAD+ Installer v0.23.0”, then “Created by Laurent Rochetta — github.com/lrochetta/BMAD-PLUS”, “Installing to: /home/dev/app” and the question “Which packs to install? (Core is always included)”. Nine empty checkboxes are listed: OSINT, Maker, Shield, SEO, Memory, Dev Studio, Backup, Animated and Design. The highlight moves down the list, and a short description appears next to the highlighted pack, for example “OSINT (OSINT & investigation)”, “Shield (GRC compliance (27 frameworks))” and “Memory (Persistent cross-session memory)”. Nothing is ticked. At the end the screen shows the same question and, in red, “Installation cancelled.” Narration: OSINT brings Shadow, for governed public-source research. Maker designs, validates and packages new agents. Shield covers compliance with 27 specialist agents and 11 workflows, from GDPR to ISO 27001.
- **0:38** On screen: A terminal. The command sed -n '/^## Agents/,/^## Skills/p' AGENTS.md is typed. It prints the heading “## Agents” and the sentence “To activate an agent, say its name or persona:”, then a bulleted list, each agent with its role in parentheses and, except for the four Core agents, its pack in parentheses at the end of the line: Atlas, Forge, Sentinel and Nexus, Shadow, Maker, Shield, the three SEO agents, Zecher, six Dev Studio agents, Backup Manager and Animated Website Creator. The names of Zecher and of the Dev Studio agents are also written in Hebrew, in parentheses. The list scrolls up and ends on “Atelier (Design Engine) — Senior product designer and design engineer: surfaces, tokens, accessibility, audits, redesigns (Design) — drives: design, design-review, redesign”, with “Atelier” outlined. The next heading, “## Skills”, appears at the bottom. Narration: SEO adds three agents, Scout, Chief and Judge, and a six-phase audit. Memory brings Zecher, who keeps notes, decisions and session handoffs. Dev Studio has six roles and 38 workflows, from analysis to review. Backup makes timestamped backups, Animated builds scroll-driven websites from video, and Design brings Atelier.
- **1:10** On screen: A dark blue night sky. A bright star with long rays hangs at the upper right and a small cluster of faint points sits at the left. The view moves slowly in, and the star ends surrounded by glowing particles. The caption reads “48 agents = 15 installed + 27 Shield + 6 Dev Studio”. Narration: In all, that makes 48 agents.
- **1:14** On screen: A dim blue-black sky with a faint band of light at the horizon. The address “bmad-plus.rochetta.fr” fades in, in orange, and fades out.

<a id="the-ten-packs"></a>
## The ten packs side by side

**Ten packs: purpose, agents, install id, status and extra requirements**

| Pack | Purpose | Agents | Install id | Required? | Extra runtime needs |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Core](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/core/) | Plan, architect, build, review and orchestrate | Atlas, Forge, Sentinel, Nexus | `core` | required, always installed | Node.js 20 |
| [OSINT](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/osint/) | Governed public-source research | Shadow | `osint` | optional | Python 3.10+, at least one API key (Apify token for scraping) |
| [Maker](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/maker/) | Design and package new agents | Maker | `maker` | optional | nothing extra |
| [Shield](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/shield/) | Compliance: 27 framework specialists, 11 GDPR and AI Act workflows, evidence tools | Shield + 27 specialists | `shield` | optional | nothing extra |
| [SEO / GEO](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/seo/) | Audit visibility in search and in AI-generated answers | SEO Scout, SEO Chief, SEO Judge | `seo` | optional | Python 3.11+ for the optional toolkit (`--provision-python`), `GOOGLE_API_KEY` optional |
| [Memory](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/memory-pack/) | Persistent project and global memory, session handoffs | Zecher | `memory` | optional | nothing extra |
| [Dev Studio](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/dev-studio/) | Full software lifecycle: 6 personas, 38 workflows | Dev Studio orchestrator + Miriam, Huldah, Yosef, Rachel, Bezalel, Oholiab | `dev-studio` | optional | nothing extra |
| [Backup](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/backup/) | Timestamped ZIP backups, restore, rotation | Backup Manager | `backup` | optional | PowerShell (Windows) or the `zip` program (Linux, macOS) |
| [Animated](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/animated/) | Turn an MP4 into a scroll-driven website | Animated Website Creator | `animated` | optional | FFmpeg and FFprobe with the `libwebp` encoder, an MP4 file; Python 3 only for the preview server |
| [Design](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/design/) | Build, audit and redesign interfaces, intake first | Atelier | `design` | optional | nothing extra (the `design-skill` package 0.2.1 comes with BMAD+) |

Count the agents: 4 in Core, 1 each in OSINT, Maker, Memory, Backup, Animated and Design, 3 in SEO / GEO, one Shield orchestrator with its 27 specialists, and one Dev Studio orchestrator with its 6 personas. That is 15 entry points, 27 Shield specialists and 6 Dev Studio personas: 48 agents. The roster page lists all of them.

<a id="how-to-choose"></a>
## How to choose

- Start with Core alone. It covers the path from idea to a reviewed delivery, and every other pack can be added later.
- Add Memory if you work on the same project across many sessions, Dev Studio if you want named, repeatable procedures for each step of the lifecycle.
- Add Shield when regulation matters (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001, the AI Act), SEO / GEO for a public website, Design for interfaces, Backup before risky changes.
- Add OSINT, Animated or Maker only for their specific job: they need extra tools, keys or a legal basis, which their pages explain.

If you would rather let the tool suggest, `bmad-plus autoconfig` analyses the project and recommends packs. It always recommends Core and Memory, adds Dev Studio when there is no `docs/` folder or more than five top-level folders, adds Shield when it finds CI/CD or Docker, and adds SEO when it detects Next.js, Nuxt, Angular, React, Vue.js or Svelte.

<a id="example-packs-overview-ask-which"></a>
### Ask your assistant what is installed

Use it after any install or update. `bmad-help` is a message to the assistant, not a shell command.

**In your AI assistant**

```text
bmad-help
```

**What you should get** The assistant lists the installed agents and workflows from the project’s `AGENTS.md`, which the installer generates from the packs you chose. An agent from a pack you did not install is simply absent from that list.

<a id="example-packs-overview-pick-by-goal"></a>
### Describe the job and get a pack recommendation

The assistant answers from the installed instructions and can tell you which pack, if any, is missing.

**In your AI assistant**

```text
I need to check my web shop for GDPR problems and then make it show up better in search and in AI answers. Which BMAD+ packs and agents do I need, and are they installed in this project?
```

**What you should get** A correct answer points to Shield (agent Shield, specialist `gdpr-agent`) for the GDPR check and to SEO / GEO (SEO Scout, SEO Judge, SEO Chief) for search and AI-answer visibility, and says which of them the project’s `AGENTS.md` shows as installed. An agent from a pack you did not install is absent from that file, so the assistant can tell you it is missing but not how to add it: run `npx bmad-plus install --packs shield,seo --yes` yourself.

<a id="install-add-remove"></a>
## Install, add and remove packs

**In your project terminal**

```sh
npx bmad-plus install
npx bmad-plus install --packs core,shield,seo --tools claude-code --yes
npx bmad-plus install --packs all --yes

```

- The interactive wizard asks for the packs and tools. With `--packs`, list the ids from the table, separated by commas; `all` selects every pack and `none` selects only Core. An unknown id stops the install and prints the valid ones.
- Add a pack later by running the install again with the extra id. Re-running at the same version only adds the missing packs, tools and files and keeps what you edited. If the installed version differs from the package you run, use `bmad-plus update` first.
- There is no command to remove a single pack. `bmad-plus uninstall` removes every file BMAD+ owns (files identical to what it shipped, plus its manifest) and keeps memory, `_bmad/config.yaml`, `_bmad-output/`, your edited files and anything it does not recognise. To drop one pack, uninstall and install again with the packs you keep.

**Where a pack lands in your project**

| Item | Location |
| --- | --- |
| Single-agent packs (Core agents, OSINT, Maker) | `.agents/skills/<agent folder>/`, for example `agent-shadow` |
| Packaged packs (Shield, SEO / GEO, Memory, Dev Studio, Backup, Animated, Design) | `.agents/skills/pack-<name>/` |
| Skills | `.agents/skills/<skill>/` |
| Role-switching triggers | `.agents/data/role-triggers.yaml` |
| Module description and help index | `_bmad/module.yaml` and `_bmad/module-help.csv` |

<a id="example-packs-overview-autoconfig"></a>
### Let BMAD+ recommend packs for an existing project

Run it from the project folder. It reads your project’s structure and stack, shows a health percentage and the reasons behind each recommendation, then offers to install.

**In your AI assistant**

```text
npx bmad-plus autoconfig
```

**What you should get** A report of the detected stack and structure, then the recommended packs with reasons such as "No docs/ found — Huldah (Tech Writer) will help document" or "CI/CD and/or Docker detected — GRC compliance agents recommended". Add `--yes` to accept without prompts.

<a id="example-packs-overview-add-pack"></a>
### Add a pack to a project that already has BMAD+

Re-running install at the same version adds only what is missing. Packs already installed stay.

**In your AI assistant**

```text
npx bmad-plus install --packs design --yes
```

**What you should get** The Design pack and its three skills are added, the project’s `AGENTS.md` and tool adapters are regenerated to include Atelier, and your existing files and settings are kept. `bmad-plus doctor` then confirms the new files.

<a id="cohabitation"></a>
## Cohabitation rules

**Packs that overlap or touch existing files**

| Pack | Rule |
| --- | --- |
| Memory | Detects and links an existing brain (`_brain/`, `~/.bmad-plus/brain/`, `~/.claude/memory/`) and creates a global brain in `~/.bmad-plus/brain/` when it finds none; never overwrites your memory files. |
| Dev Studio | Its personas overlap with Atlas, Forge, Sentinel and Nexus; both can coexist, so pick the role you need. |
| Design | Overlaps Sentinel’s UX review and Rachel from Dev Studio; when installed, its rules govern visual design and accessibility and the others hand those over. |

<a id="data-and-prerequisites"></a>
## Data flows by pack

BMAD+ has no telemetry. The flows that can send data off your machine are few, each under its own consent: Core and the CLI (`update-check`, which you can switch off, the optional `nexus` launch and verification commands, the commands you declare in an assurance case and run with `bmad-plus assurance run`, and the acceptance page of `uat`), OSINT (calls to search and scraping providers with your keys) and SEO / GEO (the crawl of the site you audit, Google APIs with your key, the screenshot browser, and the optional Python provisioning). Memory, Maker, Shield, Dev Studio, Backup, Animated and Design add no flow of their own (the `assurance` command belongs to the CLI, not to Shield). What your AI tool sends to its model is governed by that tool.

**See also**

- [Core pack](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/core/)
- [Roster of all 48 agents](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/agents/agents-roster/)
- [How agents are activated](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/agents/agents-activation/)
- [install command reference](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/reference/cli-install/)
- [autoconfig command reference](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/reference/cli-autoconfig/)
- [uninstall command reference](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/reference/cli-uninstall/)
- [Data handling and privacy](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/security/data-handling/)

[BMAD+ documentation](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/) · [Packs](https://bmad-plus.rochetta.fr/docs/packs/)

[Source on GitHub](https://github.com/lrochetta/BMAD-PLUS)