Why Prompting Breaks Down and BMAD Doesn't

Key Takeaways

• Vibe coding hits a wall fast. Anyone can produce a shiny prototype with prompts, but scaling to even 500 users exposes the fragility. Spec-driven development bridges that gap.
• BMAD prioritizes specifications over prompts. The framework separates intent from implementation, making success more likely than crafting a "perfect prompt" that encapsulates all context.
• Tech debt transforms into spec debt. Agentic coding makes refactoring easier, so poorly defined requirements—not messy code—become the real liability.
• Recovery follows the methodology. When requirements drift, inject new backlog items rather than bailing to vibe coding. The structured approach keeps output steerable.
• The future remains uncertain. Cursor's plan mode hints at spec-compatible workflows, but tools evolve fast. Spec-driven development works today; tomorrow's approach may look different.

Notable Quotes

"The idea of having gone from seeing outputs in 20 minutes to an hour to seeing outputs at the end of a 6-hour documentation session will be inherently frustrating."

"Any startup that isn't leveraging this build methodology is going to find it very hard to compete."

References

Builds on ideas from spec-driven-development-with-ai, which covers GitHub's Spec Kit for structured AI workflows. For complementary patterns on agent design, see building-effective-agents.