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/steveyegge/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# Initialize in YOUR project
cd your-project
bd init

# Tell your agent
echo "Use 'bd' for task tracking" >> 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.

🛠 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.

🔗 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)

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.

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
•