beads

name	beads
description	Expert knowledge for the bd (beads) CLI issue tracker. Use when working with beads issues, bd commands, .beads/ config files, or dependency management workflows.

Beads (bd) CLI Expert

Beads is a lightweight, dependency-aware issue tracker with first-class support for agent workflows, Git integration, and Dolt-powered storage. The CLI is bd. This skill provides comprehensive reference for all commands, flags, and workflows.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• Running bd commands (create, update, close, show, list, etc.)
• Managing issue dependencies and blockers
• Setting up beads in a new repository
• Debugging .beads/ configuration or Dolt server issues
• Building automation around the bd CLI
• Understanding the issue lifecycle and status transitions
• Working with molecules (multi-step workflows), epics, or swarms

Core Concepts

Issue Lifecycle

Issues flow through these statuses:

• open — unstarted work, eligible for bd ready
• in_progress — claimed and active
• blocked — has unresolved blockers (use bd blocked to see these)
• deferred — hidden until a future date
• hooked — assigned to an agent's hook
• closed — completed

No done or complete status exists — only closed.

Dependency Semantics (Critical)

Dependencies express "X needs Y", not "X comes before Y":

bd dep add <dependent> <prerequisite>

WRONG mental model (temporal): "phase-1 blocks phase-2"

# WRONG:
bd dep add phase1 phase2   # This means phase1 needs phase2

CORRECT mental model (requirement): "phase-2 needs phase-1"

# CORRECT:
bd dep add phase2 phase1   # phase2 depends on phase1

Also: bd dep <blocker> --blocks <blocked> is a shorthand that reads naturally: "blocker blocks blocked".

Issue IDs

IDs are prefixed per-project (e.g., bd-42, be-218, gt-7, hq-abc). The prefix identifies which rig/database owns the issue. bd commands auto-route to the correct database by prefix.

.beads/ Directory

Created by bd init. Contains:

• *.db — SQLite or Dolt database redirect file
• config.yaml — Project-level configuration
• Gitignored by default in most setups

Key Commands Reference

Finding Work

# Show unblocked, open issues (not in_progress/hooked/deferred)
bd ready

# Find ready work in a specific molecule
bd ready --mol bd-abc

# Show all open issues (flat list)
bd list --status open

# Show blocked issues (dependency-blocked)
bd blocked

# List all issues (including closed)
bd list --all

# Filter by type, assignee, label, priority
bd list -t bug -a alice -l security -p 0
bd list --label-any "P0,P1" --type feature

# Search by text
bd search "authentication"

Viewing Issues

# Show full details
bd show bd-42

# Short one-line view
bd show bd-42 --short

# Show with all fields (agent, gate, extended metadata)
bd show bd-42 --long

# Show children of an issue
bd show bd-42 --children

# Show reverse references (what references this issue)
bd show bd-42 --refs

# Watch for changes (auto-refresh)
bd show bd-42 --watch

# Show as of a specific Dolt commit
bd show bd-42 --as-of <commit-hash>

Creating Issues

# Basic creation
bd create "Issue title"

# Full creation with metadata
bd create "Fix auth bug" \
  -t bug \
  -p 1 \
  -d "Description of the problem" \
  -a alice \
  -l security,authentication \
  --due +2d

# Create with dependencies
bd create "Phase 2 work" \
  --deps "discovered-from:bd-10,bd-11"

# Quick capture (outputs ID only, for scripting)
bd q "Quick note"

# Create in a different rig
bd create "Bug in gastown" --rig gastown
bd create "Bug" --prefix gt-

# Dry run (preview without creating)
bd create "Test" --dry-run

# Create multiple from markdown file
bd create -f issues.md

# Create ephemeral (short-lived) issue
bd create "Temporary note" --ephemeral

Issue Types: bug, feature, task, epic, chore, decision

• Aliases: enhancement/feat → feature, dec/adr → decision

Priority: 0 (critical) through 4 (backlog), default 2

Updating Issues

# Update fields
bd update bd-42 --title "New title"
bd update bd-42 --status in_progress
bd update bd-42 -p 1 -a bob
bd update bd-42 --notes "Progress update"
bd update bd-42 --append-notes "Additional note"

# Atomically claim (sets assignee=you, status=in_progress; fails if taken)
bd update bd-42 --claim

# Add/remove labels
bd update bd-42 --add-label security
bd update bd-42 --remove-label wontfix
bd update bd-42 --set-labels "security,high-priority"

# Defer until future date
bd update bd-42 --defer "2025-06-01"
bd update bd-42 --defer "+3d"
bd update bd-42 --defer ""    # Clear defer

# Set due date
bd update bd-42 --due "+1w"
bd update bd-42 --due "next monday"
bd update bd-42 --due ""      # Clear

# Update last-touched issue (no ID needed)
bd update --notes "Progress"

Date formats: +6h, +1d, +2w, tomorrow, next monday, 2025-01-15, RFC3339

Closing Issues

# Close with reason
bd close bd-42 --reason "Completed implementation"

# Close without changes needed
bd close bd-42 --reason "no-changes: already fixed in bd-10"

# Close and suggest next unblocked issues
bd close bd-42 --suggest-next

# Close molecule step and auto-advance
bd close bd-42 --continue

# Force close pinned issues
bd close bd-42 --force

# Alias: bd done bd-42
bd done bd-42 --reason "Done"

Dependencies

# Add dependency: bd-42 needs bd-10
bd dep add bd-42 bd-10

# Shorthand: bd-10 blocks bd-42
bd dep bd-10 --blocks bd-42

# Remove dependency
bd dep remove bd-42 bd-10

# List dependencies of an issue
bd dep list bd-42

# Detect cycles
bd dep cycles

# Visualize dependency tree
bd dep tree bd-42

# Create bidirectional relates_to link
bd dep relate bd-42 bd-55

Labels

# Add label to issue
bd label add bd-42 security

# Remove label
bd label remove bd-42 security

# List labels on an issue
bd label list bd-42

# List all labels in database
bd label list-all

# Propagate parent label to children
bd label propagate bd-42 security

Epics and Hierarchy

# Create epic
bd create "Large feature" -t epic

# Create child issue
bd create "Subtask" --parent bd-epic

# List epic with children
bd epic list
bd show bd-epic --children

Molecules (Multi-Step Workflows)

Molecules are structured sequences of steps (wisps) with a formula template. Used by Gas Town agents for multi-phase work.

# Check current molecule step
bd mol current

# List all molecules
bd mol list

# Show molecule status
bd mol status

# Promote a wisp to permanent bead
bd promote bd-wisp-xyz

Swarms

# Swarm management for structured epics with parallel workers
bd swarm --help

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Purpose
BEADS_DOLT_PORT	3307	Dolt server port
BEADS_DOLT_PASSWORD	(empty)	MySQL password for Dolt
BD_ACTOR	git user.name or $USER	Actor name for audit trail
BD_DEBUG_ROUTING	(unset)	Set to 1 to debug rig routing

Development isolation: Use port 3308 for dev/test Dolt servers to avoid touching the production server on 3307.

Global Flags

Available on all commands:

Flag	Description
--json	Output in JSON format (essential for scripting)
--actor STRING	Override actor name for audit trail
--db PATH	Override database path (default: auto-discover .beads/*.db)
--dolt-auto-commit on|off|batch	Dolt commit policy
--quiet / -q	Errors only
--verbose / -v	Debug output
--readonly	Block write operations
--sandbox	Disable auto-sync
--rig STRING	Query different rig (e.g., --rig gastown, --rig gt-)

Configuration

# Show all config
bd config list

# Set a value
bd config set jira.url "https://company.atlassian.net"
bd config set status.custom "awaiting_review,awaiting_testing"
bd config set doctor.suppress.pending-migrations true

# Get a value
bd config get jira.url

# Remove a value
bd config unset jira.url

Common namespaces: jira.*, linear.*, github.*, custom.*, status.*, doctor.suppress.*

Dolt Server Management

Beads uses Dolt (a version-controlled MySQL-compatible database) as its storage backend.

# Server lifecycle
bd dolt start
bd dolt stop
bd dolt status

# Version control
bd dolt commit
bd dolt push
bd dolt pull

# Configuration
bd dolt set port 3308
bd dolt set database myproject
bd dolt set host 127.0.0.1
bd dolt set data-dir /path/to/dolt-data

# Diagnostics
bd dolt show
bd dolt test

# Cleanup
bd dolt clean-databases    # Remove stale test databases
bd dolt killall            # Kill orphan Dolt processes

NEVER use rm -rf on Dolt data directories. Use bd dolt cleanup or bd dolt clean-databases instead.

Git Worktrees

# Create worktree with beads redirect (shares parent .beads/)
bd worktree create feature-auth
bd worktree create bugfix --branch fix-1

# List worktrees
bd worktree list

# Remove worktree (with safety checks)
bd worktree remove feature-auth

# Show current worktree info
bd worktree info

Worktrees automatically share the same .beads/ database via redirect files, ensuring consistent issue state across all worktrees.

Initialization and Setup

# Initialize in current directory
bd init
bd init -p myprefix        # Custom prefix
bd init --stealth          # Personal use, invisible to collaborators

# Set up AI editor integration
bd setup claude            # Claude Code integration
bd setup cursor
bd setup aider

# Health check
bd doctor

# Show AI workflow context
bd prime

# Non-destructive setup (for fresh clones)
bd bootstrap

Sync and Versioning

# Push/pull Dolt data
bd dolt push
bd dolt pull

# Version history for an issue
bd history bd-42

# Show diff between commits
bd diff bd-42

# Branch management
bd branch list
bd branch create feature-work

Maintenance

# Database overview and statistics
bd status

# Find stale issues
bd stale

# Count issues matching filters
bd count --type bug --status open

# Compact Dolt history
bd compact

# Garbage collection
bd gc

# Export to JSONL
bd export > issues.jsonl

# Import from JSONL
bd init --from-jsonl

# Check PR readiness
bd preflight

Common Agent Workflows

Claim and work on an issue

bd ready                           # Find unblocked work
bd update bd-42 --claim            # Atomically claim
# ... do the work ...
bd close bd-42 --reason "Done"     # Complete

File a discovered issue with context

bd create "Found bug in auth" \
  -t bug -p 1 \
  -d "Detailed description" \
  --deps "discovered-from:bd-parent"

Multi-rig routing

# File in a different rig
bd create "Bug in CLI tool" --rig beads
bd create "Gas Town issue" --rig gastown

# Cross-rig show (auto-routes by prefix)
bd show hq-abc       # Routes to HQ rig
bd show gt-7         # Routes to gastown rig

Temporal dependency ordering

Rule: "X needs Y" not "X comes before Y"

# Phase 2 needs Phase 1 to complete first
bd dep add phase2-id phase1-id

# Verify: phase2 should appear in blocked list
bd blocked

JSON Output

Use --json for all programmatic access. Key fields in issue JSON:

{
  "id": "bd-42",
  "title": "Fix the bug",
  "status": "open",
  "type": "bug",
  "priority": 1,
  "assignee": "alice",
  "labels": ["security"],
  "description": "...",
  "notes": "...",
  "design": "...",
  "acceptance": "...",
  "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2025-01-02T00:00:00Z",
  "due_at": null,
  "defer_until": null,
  "parent": null,
  "deps": [{"type": "needs", "id": "bd-10"}]
}

Gotchas

1. bd ready vs bd list --ready: NOT equivalent. bd ready uses blocker-aware semantics; bd list --ready only filters by stored status.

2. Dependency direction: bd dep add A B means "A needs B" (B must complete before A can start). Think requirements, not time order.

3. --claim is atomic: Fails if already claimed by another agent. This is intentional for agent coordination.

4. No done/complete status: Valid statuses are open, in_progress, blocked, deferred, hooked, closed.

5. Dolt port conflicts: Dev/test MUST use port 3308, never 3307 (production). Set with bd dolt set port 3308.

6. Auto-routing by prefix: bd show be-42 routes to the beads_el rig, bd show gt-7 routes to gastown. Set BD_DEBUG_ROUTING=1 to debug.

7. --rig vs --prefix: --rig takes a rig name (e.g., gastown); --prefix takes the issue prefix (e.g., gt- or gt).