Use Web Bundles

Plan in the web, build in the IDE. A web bundle runs FMAD planning on your Gemini or ChatGPT subscription. You copy the artifact into your repo and continue in Claude Code or Cursor.

What a web bundle is

A web bundle is an FMAD skill repackaged for installation as a Google Gemini Gem or ChatGPT Custom GPT. Once installed, it is a reusable Gem or Custom GPT scoped to one FMAD planning capability. Each bundle contains:

• SKILL.md, the protocol, uploaded as a knowledge file.
• INSTRUCTIONS.md, a block you paste into the Gem or GPT instructions. The persona lives here.
• Any data files the skill needs: CSVs, templates, validation checklists, and content loaded as needed.

Swap the persona in the pasted instructions without touching the protocol in the knowledge file.

Why use one

Planning and implementation work better in different tools.

Concern	Web LLM (Gem or GPT)	IDE (Claude Code, Cursor)
Cost model	Flat-rate subscription	Metered tokens
Strongest at	Conversation, Canvas, Deep Research, images	Files, terminal, codebase context
Best for	Brainstorming, briefs, PRDs, research	Implementation, refactoring, code review

A full PRD or market research conversation in an IDE burns tokens that a Gem or Custom GPT handles for the price of your existing subscription. The saving grows with every round of planning you do there.

When to use a bundle, and when to stay in the IDE

Use a web bundle when:

• You are doing the upfront thinking for a project and want a focused tool with persona, Canvas, and Deep Research.
• You want to keep IDE token spend for actual coding.
• You are sharing the planning artifact with collaborators who do not have your IDE setup.

Stay in the IDE when:

• The work needs to read or modify code in your repo.
• You are already mid-implementation and want to keep context.
• You do not have a Gemini Advanced or ChatGPT paid subscription.

The shelf

The current bundles cover the analysis and planning phases. Each carries a default persona (from the matching FMAD agent, when there is one) and a contrasting swap persona that shows the voice-change pattern.

Bundle	Phase	Default persona	Swap persona
Brainstorming Coach	Analysis	Blaze (Osborn lineage)	Ember (FMAD analyst)
Product Brief Coach	Analysis	Ember (FMAD analyst)	Iris (thinking-partner voice)
PRFAQ Coach	Analysis	Ember (FMAD analyst)	Bezos (Working Backwards)
PRD Coach	Planning	Flint (FMAD PM, Cagan lineage)	Ezra (calmer coaching)
UX Coach	Planning	Sienna (FMAD UX designer, Norman method)	Kenji (Rams and Zhuo discipline)
Market & Industry Research	Analysis	Ember (Porter and Christensen anchors)	Geoff (Moore and Dunford lineage)

How a session works

1. Open the Gem or Custom GPT. The persona greets in character and opens conversational discovery.
2. Discover scope. The persona asks what you are trying to do, what you have on hand, and what constraints apply. It does not use a form.
3. Do the work in Canvas. The protocol opens Canvas at session start and updates it continuously. Mermaid diagrams and HTML tables go in alongside the prose.
4. Hand off. You finish with a Canvas document you can export, paste into your repo, or feed to an FMAD skill in your IDE for the next phase.

Market & Industry Research is the bundle that uses Deep Research. Its persona drafts a Deep Research brief mid-session for you to paste into Gemini’s or ChatGPT’s Deep Research mode, then ingests the returned report.

Install a bundle

Download the bundle ZIPs from the web-bundles-v1.0.0 release on the FMAD releases page. Every shelf update ships as a tagged GitHub release, and the newest tag holds the current bundles. The ZIPs are packaged from the web-bundles/ folder in the repository. Setup is not one-click, but every bundle follows the same pattern.

To install one:

1. Pick a bundle from the shelf above.
2. Download its ZIP from the release. Each ZIP holds one bundle.
3. Open its INSTRUCTIONS.md and find the Gemini Gem or ChatGPT Custom GPT steps for your platform.
4. Follow the steps: create the Gem or Custom GPT, upload the knowledge files, paste the instructions block, save.

Prerequisites

• Gemini Gems: Gemini Advanced subscription.
• ChatGPT Custom GPTs: Plus, Pro, Business, or Enterprise plan.
• Deep Research (Market & Industry Research): Deep Research enabled on your plan. It has its own plan limits.

Customize the persona

Each bundle’s INSTRUCTIONS.md (inside the ZIP) includes a Persona Swap Example above the paste boundary. Replace the [persona] block in your installed instructions with the swap example to change the voice without changing the protocol. You can also write your own persona from scratch; the protocol stays the same.

Persona drift

Web LLMs occasionally drop the persona partway through long sessions. If the model starts speaking out of character, remind it of its persona or start a fresh session.

Update a bundle

When you pull a newer version of a bundle, the typical update is to its knowledge files: the SKILL.md protocol and any attached templates, CSVs, or validation checklists. Re-upload those into your Gem or Custom GPT to take the update. The instructions block usually does not change.

Keep your customizations in the instructions block, not in the knowledge files. The instructions block holds the persona, preferences, and any local overrides; the knowledge files are the protocol the bundle ships with. If you keep customization in the instructions block, an update is re-uploading the knowledge files, not merging your edits back into them.

Customize the instructions, attach the knowledge

Persona swaps, default user name, team-specific rules, and preferred phrasing belong in the pasted instructions block. Leave the knowledge files as shipped so you can refresh them without losing your changes.

Build your own

To turn an existing FMAD skill into a web bundle, use an existing bundle directory in web-bundles/ as the model. Package the skill’s SKILL.md, an INSTRUCTIONS.md with the setup steps and the paste block, and any data files the skill needs. Take the default persona from the matching FMAD agent when there is one, and add a contrasting swap example.

To submit your bundle to the shelf, open a PR on FMAD-METHOD that adds the bundle directory and an entry in web-bundles/bundles.json.