bd - Beads

Distributed graph issue tracker for AI agents, powered by Dolt.

Platforms: macOS, Linux, Windows, FreeBSD

Docs: https://gastownhall.github.io/beads/

Beads provides a persistent, structured memory for coding agents. It replaces messy markdown plans with a dependency-aware graph, allowing agents to handle long-horizon tasks without losing context.

⚡ Quick Start

# Install beads CLI (system-wide - don't clone this repo into your project)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gastownhall/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# Initialize in YOUR project
cd your-project
bd init

# Optional: install richer instructions for your agent
bd setup codex    # Codex CLI - creates/updates AGENTS.md
bd setup claude   # Claude Code - installs hooks/settings
bd setup factory  # Factory.ai Droid - creates/updates AGENTS.md

Note: Beads is a CLI tool you install once and use everywhere. You don't need to clone this repository into your project.

bd init creates or updates AGENTS.md by default so agents can discover the beads workflow. It skips agent files only when you pass --skip-agents or --stealth, or when you configure a custom agent file. Use bd setup --list to see supported integrations, including bd setup codex, bd setup factory, bd setup claude, bd setup mux, bd setup cursor, and more. See Agent and IDE setup.

Manual copy-paste is only for unsupported agents, existing projects where you cannot rerun bd init/bd setup, or custom instruction files. In those cases, run bd onboard and paste the printed snippet into the file your agent reads.

If your agent is not covered by bd setup, add this minimal AGENTS.md section:

This project uses bd (beads) for issue tracking.

- Run `bd prime` for workflow context and command guidance.
- Use `bd ready`, `bd show <id>`, `bd update <id> --claim`, and `bd close <id>`.
- Use `bd remember "insight"` for persistent project memory; do not create MEMORY.md files.
- Do not use markdown TODO lists for task tracking.

🛠 Features

• Dolt-Powered: Version-controlled SQL database with cell-level merge, native branching, and built-in sync via Dolt remotes.
• Agent-Optimized: JSON output, dependency tracking, and auto-ready task detection.
• Zero Conflict: Hash-based IDs (bd-a1b2) prevent merge collisions in multi-agent/multi-branch workflows.
• Compaction: Semantic "memory decay" summarizes old closed tasks to save context window.
• Messaging: Message issue type with threading (--thread), ephemeral lifecycle, and mail delegation.
• Graph Links: relates_to, duplicates, supersedes, and replies_to for knowledge graphs.

📖 Essential Commands

Command	Action
bd ready	List tasks with no open blockers.
bd create "Title" -p 0	Create a P0 task.
bd update <id> --claim	Atomically claim a task (sets assignee + in_progress).
bd dep add <child> <parent>	Link tasks (blocks, related, parent-child).
bd show <id>	View task details and audit trail.
bd prime	Print agent workflow context and persistent memories.
bd remember "insight"	Store project memory that bd prime injects later.

🔗 Hierarchy & Workflow

Beads supports hierarchical IDs for epics:

• bd-a3f8 (Epic)
• bd-a3f8.1 (Task)
• bd-a3f8.1.1 (Sub-task)

Stealth Mode: Run bd init --stealth to use Beads locally without committing files to the main repo. Perfect for personal use on shared projects. See Git-Free Usage below.

Contributor vs Maintainer: When working on open-source projects:

• Contributors (forked repos): Run bd init --contributor to route planning issues to a separate repo (e.g., ~/.beads-planning). Keeps experimental work out of PRs.
• Maintainers (write access): Beads auto-detects maintainer role via SSH URLs or HTTPS with credentials. Only need git config beads.role maintainer if using GitHub HTTPS without credentials but you have write access.

📦 Installation

brew install beads           # macOS / Linux (recommended)
npm install -g @beads/bd     # Node.js users

Other methods: install script | go install | from source | Windows | Arch AUR

Requirements: macOS, Linux, Windows, or FreeBSD. See docs/INSTALLING.md for complete installation guide.

Security And Verification

Before trusting any downloaded binary, verify its checksum against the release checksums.txt.

The install scripts verify release checksums before install. For manual installs, do this verification yourself before first run.

On macOS, scripts/install.sh preserves the downloaded signature by default. Local ad-hoc re-signing is explicit opt-in via BEADS_INSTALL_RESIGN_MACOS=1.

See docs/ANTIVIRUS.md for Windows AV false-positive guidance and verification workflow.

💾 Storage Modes

Beads uses Dolt as its database. Two modes are available:

Embedded Mode (default)

bd init

Dolt runs in-process — no external server needed. Data lives in .beads/embeddeddolt/. Single-writer only (file locking enforced). This is the recommended mode for most users.

Server Mode

bd init --server

Connects to an external dolt sql-server. Data lives in .beads/dolt/. Supports multiple concurrent writers. Configure the connection with flags or environment variables:

Flag	Env Var	Default
--server-host	BEADS_DOLT_SERVER_HOST	127.0.0.1
--server-port	BEADS_DOLT_SERVER_PORT	3307
--server-socket	BEADS_DOLT_SERVER_SOCKET	(none; uses TCP)
--server-user	BEADS_DOLT_SERVER_USER	root
	BEADS_DOLT_PASSWORD	(none)
	BEADS_DOLT_CLI_DIR	local Dolt database path for CLI push/pull

Unix domain sockets: Use --server-socket to connect via a Unix socket instead of TCP. This avoids port conflicts between concurrent projects and is useful in sandboxed environments (e.g., Claude Code) where file-level access control is simpler than network allowlists. The Dolt server must be started with dolt sql-server --socket <path>. Auto-start is not supported in socket mode.

When BEADS_DOLT_SERVER_MODE=1 points at a Dolt server managed outside Beads, set BEADS_DOLT_CLI_DIR if bd dolt push / bd dolt pull must use the local dolt CLI (for example git-protocol remotes or credentials that only exist in the current shell). Use the actual Dolt database directory, not the server root.

Backup & Migration

Back up your database and migrate between modes using bd backup:

# Set up a backup destination and push
bd backup init /path/to/backup
bd backup sync

# Restore into a new project (any mode)
bd init           # or bd init --server
bd backup restore --force /path/to/backup

See docs/DOLT.md for full migration instructions.

🌐 Community Tools

See docs/COMMUNITY_TOOLS.md for a curated list of community-built UIs, extensions, and integrations—including terminal interfaces, web UIs, editor extensions, and native apps.

🚀 Git-Free Usage

Beads works without git. The Dolt database is the storage backend — git integration (hooks, repo discovery, identity) is optional.

# Initialize without git
export BEADS_DIR=/path/to/your/project/.beads
bd init --quiet --stealth

# All core commands work with zero git calls
bd create "Fix auth bug" -p 1 -t bug
bd ready --json
bd update bd-a1b2 --claim
bd prime
bd close bd-a1b2 "Fixed"

BEADS_DIR tells bd where to put the .beads/ database directory, bypassing git repo discovery. --stealth sets no-git-ops: true in config, disabling all git hook installation and git operations.

This is useful for:

• Non-git VCS (Sapling, Jujutsu, Piper) — no .git/ directory needed
• Monorepos — point BEADS_DIR at a specific subdirectory
• CI/CD — isolated task tracking without repo-level side effects
• Evaluation/testing — ephemeral databases in /tmp

For daemon mode without git, use bd daemon start --local (see PR #433).

📝 Documentation

• Documentation site (versioned) | Installing | Agent Workflow | Copilot Setup | Articles | Sync Branch Mode | Troubleshooting | FAQ
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