Beads – Distributed Git-Backed Issue Tracker

This skill activates when working with Beads (bd) for task management, dependency tracking, and AI agent workflows.

When to Use This Skill

Activate when:

• Managing tasks with dependencies in a git repository
• Working with AI agents that need task queue access
• Running multi-branch parallel development workflows
• Needing collision-resistant task IDs across distributed teams
• Tracking task hierarchies and dependency graphs
• Integrating issue tracking directly into version control

What is Beads?

Beads is a distributed git-backed graph issue tracker designed for AI agents and modern development workflows:

• Hash-based IDs: Collision-resistant task identifiers (8+ hex characters)
• Git-native storage: Tasks stored as JSONL in .beads/ directory
• Dependency-aware: Query ready tasks with bd ready
• JSON output: Machine-readable format for AI agent integration
• SQLite cache: Fast local queries with git sync

Installation

npm (Recommended)

npm install -g @anthropic/beads

Homebrew (macOS)

brew install anthropic/tap/beads

Go Install

go install github.com/steveyegge/beads/cmd/bd@latest

mise (Multi-Architecture)

Add to your mise.toml:

[tools."github:steveyegge/beads"]
version = "latest"

[tools."github:steveyegge/beads".platforms]
linux-x64 = { asset_pattern = "beads_*_linux_amd64.tar.gz" }
macos-arm64 = { asset_pattern = "beads_*_darwin_arm64.tar.gz" }

See templates/multi-arch.md for platform-specific patterns.

Getting Started

Initialize Beads

# Full mode - syncs to remote (shared with team)
bd init

# Stealth mode - local only, no commits
bd init --stealth

# Contributor mode - pull only, no push
bd init --contributor

Create Tasks

# Create a task with title
bd create "Implement user authentication"

# Create with description
bd create "Fix login bug" --description "Users cannot log in with special characters"

# Create with labels
bd create "Add dark mode" --labels "feature,ui"

# Create with assignee
bd create "Review PR" --assignee "alice"

List Tasks

# List all open tasks
bd list

# List ready tasks (no blockers)
bd ready

# JSON output for agents
bd list --json
bd ready --json

# Filter by status
bd list --status open
bd list --status closed

# Filter by label
bd list --labels "bug"

# Filter by assignee
bd list --assignee "bob"

Show Task Details

# Show task by ID (use first 4+ characters)
bd show abc1

# Full JSON output
bd show abc1 --json

# Show with comments
bd show abc1 --comments

Manage Dependencies

# Add dependency (task2 depends on task1)
bd dep add task2 task1

# Remove dependency
bd dep remove task2 task1

# View dependency graph
bd dep graph

# List blockers for a task
bd dep blockers task2

# List tasks blocked by a task
bd dep blocking task1

Update Tasks

# Close a task
bd close abc1

# Reopen a task
bd reopen abc1

# Add a comment
bd comment abc1 "Working on this now"

# Update labels
bd label abc1 --add "priority:high"
bd label abc1 --remove "wip"

# Assign task
bd assign abc1 alice

# Unassign
bd unassign abc1

Sync with Git

# Sync changes to remote
bd sync

# Pull changes from remote
bd pull

# Check sync status
bd status

JSON Output for AI Agents

All commands support --json for machine-readable output:

List Ready Tasks (JSON)

bd ready --json

Output:

[
  {
    "id": "abc12345",
    "title": "Implement login form",
    "status": "open",
    "labels": ["feature", "frontend"],
    "created": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "dependencies": [],
    "blocking": ["def67890"]
  }
]

Show Task Details (JSON)

bd show abc1 --json

Output:

{
  "id": "abc12345",
  "title": "Implement login form",
  "description": "Create a login form with email and password fields",
  "status": "open",
  "labels": ["feature", "frontend"],
  "assignee": "alice",
  "created": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "updated": "2024-01-16T14:20:00Z",
  "dependencies": [],
  "blocking": ["def67890"],
  "comments": [
    {
      "author": "bob",
      "body": "Should we add OAuth support?",
      "created": "2024-01-15T11:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Parse JSON in Scripts

# Get first ready task ID
TASK_ID=$(bd ready --json | jq -r '.[0].id')

# Count open tasks
bd list --json | jq 'length'

# Get task titles
bd list --json | jq -r '.[].title'

Task Hierarchies

Parent-Child Relationships

# Create parent task
bd create "Authentication system"
# Returns: Created task auth123

# Create child tasks
bd create "Login form" --parent auth123
bd create "Password reset" --parent auth123
bd create "Session management" --parent auth123

# List children
bd list --parent auth123

# View hierarchy
bd tree auth123

Epic/Story/Task Pattern

# Create epic
bd create "User Management Epic" --labels "epic"

# Create stories under epic
bd create "User registration story" --parent epic123 --labels "story"
bd create "User profile story" --parent epic123 --labels "story"

# Create tasks under stories
bd create "Design registration form" --parent story456 --labels "task"
bd create "Implement validation" --parent story456 --labels "task"

Dependency Management

Dependency Types

# Task A blocks Task B (B depends on A)
bd dep add taskB taskA

# View what blocks a task
bd dep blockers taskB

# View what a task blocks
bd dep blocking taskA

# Circular dependency detection
bd dep add taskA taskB  # Error if creates cycle

Ready Tasks Query

The bd ready command shows tasks with no unresolved dependencies:

# All ready tasks
bd ready

# Ready tasks with label
bd ready --labels "priority:high"

# Ready tasks for assignee
bd ready --assignee "alice"

Storage and Sync

File Structure

.beads/
├── tasks.jsonl     # Task data (append-only)
├── comments.jsonl  # Comments (append-only)
└── deps.jsonl      # Dependencies (append-only)

.beads.sqlite       # Local cache (not committed)

Sync Modes

Conflict Resolution

Beads uses append-only JSONL and hash-based IDs to minimize conflicts:

# Pull remote changes
bd pull

# Resolve conflicts in .beads/ files
git mergetool .beads/tasks.jsonl

# Rebuild cache after conflict resolution
bd rebuild

Workflow Examples

PR-Based Development Workflow

The recommended workflow for git repositories integrates beads with feature branches and pull requests:

Session Start

git checkout main && git pull    # Start fresh
bd ready                         # Find available tasks
bd show <id>                     # Read task requirements

Task Execution

git checkout -b feature/<name>   # Create feature branch
bd update <id> --status in_progress  # Claim task

# Do the work:
# - Read existing code to understand patterns
# - Implement following TDD (tests first when practical)
# - Run quality gates (tests, linters, formatters)

git add <files>                  # Stage changes
git commit -m "type(scope): description"  # Commit

PR Creation

git push -u origin <branch>
gh pr create --title "type(scope): description" --body "- Change one
- Change two"

# Notify user: "PR created: <url>"

Watch CI & Close Tasks

Watch CI until it passes, then close tasks:

gh pr checks --watch             # Wait for CI to complete
bd close <id>                    # Close completed task
git add .beads/ && git commit -m "chore(beads): close <id>"
git push                         # Push closure to branch

Notify user: “CI passed, tasks closed. Ready for merge review.”

Cleanup & Continue

After user merges:

git checkout main && git pull    # Sync with merged changes
git branch -d <branch>           # Delete feature branch
bd ready                         # Find next task

Key Principles

1. One task = one branch = one PR – Keep changes atomic
2. Claim before working – bd update --status in_progress
3. Close with completion – Document what was done
4. Minimal PRs – Title + bullets only, no templates
5. Wait for user – Never auto-merge or assume approval
6. Clean up – Delete local branch after merge

AI Agent Task Loop (Automated)

For automated processing without PRs:

#!/bin/bash
# Agent picks up ready tasks until none remain

while true; do
  TASK=$(bd ready --json | jq -r '.[0] // empty')

  if [ -z "$TASK" ]; then
    echo "No ready tasks"
    break
  fi

  TASK_ID=$(echo "$TASK" | jq -r '.id')
  TITLE=$(echo "$TASK" | jq -r '.title')

  echo "Working on: $TITLE ($TASK_ID)"

  # Do work...

  bd close "$TASK_ID"
  bd sync
done

Feature Branch Workflow

# Create feature tasks
bd create "Feature: Dark Mode" --labels "feature"
bd create "Add theme toggle" --parent feat123
bd create "Update color palette" --parent feat123
bd dep add toggle456 palette789  # Toggle depends on palette

# Work on branch
git checkout -b feature/dark-mode

# Complete tasks as you go
bd close palette789
bd sync

# Toggle is now ready
bd ready  # Shows toggle456

Sprint Planning

# Create sprint container
bd create "Sprint 42" --labels "sprint"

# Add sprint items
bd create "User story 1" --parent sprint42
bd create "User story 2" --parent sprint42
bd create "Bug fix 1" --parent sprint42

# Assign work
bd assign story1 alice
bd assign story2 bob
bd assign bug1 charlie

# Track progress
bd list --parent sprint42 --json | jq '[.[] | select(.status=="closed")] | length'

Best Practices

Task ID References

• Use at least 4 characters of the hash ID
• Full IDs are 8+ characters (e.g., abc12345)
• Shorter prefixes work if unique in the repo

Commit Messages

Reference task IDs in commits:

git commit -m "Implement login form

Closes: abc12345"

Labels Convention

type:bug, type:feature, type:chore
priority:high, priority:medium, priority:low
status:wip, status:blocked, status:review
sprint:42, epic:auth
skill:git, skill:security, skill:rust    # Suggested skills for task execution

Dependency Best Practices

• Keep dependency chains shallow (< 5 levels)
• Use bd ready to find actionable tasks
• Avoid circular dependencies (bd detects these)
• Document blocking reasons in comments

AI Agent Integration

• Use --json for all programmatic access
• Poll bd ready for task queue
• Close tasks atomically after completion
• Sync frequently in multi-agent scenarios

Skills-Aware Task Creation

When creating tasks, analyze the task domain and suggest relevant marketplace skills using skill: labels. This helps the beads-worker agent (and humans) know which skills to activate during execution.

How to suggest skills:

1. Identify the task domain from its title, description, and labels
2. Consult references/skill-catalog.md for the keyword-to-skill mapping (Tier 1: static catalog)
3. Check available skills in the current session for additional matches beyond the catalog (Tier 2: runtime discovery)
4. Add 1-3 skill: labels for the most relevant skills from either tier

Matching priority: explicit skill: labels > static catalog keyword match > runtime skill description match.

Note: skill: labels work with any installed skill, not just those in the static catalog. If a user has third-party skills loaded, those can be suggested and activated by the worker.

Example with skill suggestions:

bd create "Add pre-commit gitleaks scanning" \
  --labels "type:feature,skill:security,skill:git" \
  --description "## Task
Integrate gitleaks pre-commit hook for secret detection.

## Suggested Skills
- security: gitleaks configuration and scanning patterns
- git: pre-commit hook setup and git workflow integration"

Include a ## Suggested Skills block in the description when skills need context beyond the label name. This tells the worker why each skill is relevant.

IDE Integration

VS Code Extensions

Two extensions enhance the beads experience in VS Code:

Beads Extension (planet57.vscode-beads)

Core beads integration for VS Code:

• Task list sidebar view
• Create, edit, and close tasks from the editor
• Syntax highlighting for .beads/ files
• Task ID autocompletion in commit messages

Install via Extensions panel or:

code --install-extension planet57.vscode-beads

Beads Kanban (DavidCForbes.beads-kanban)

Visual kanban board for beads tasks:

• Drag-and-drop task management
• Status columns (open, in-progress, closed)
• Filter by labels and assignees
• Dependency visualization

Install via Extensions panel or:

code --install-extension DavidCForbes.beads-kanban

Recommended VS Code Settings

Add to .vscode/settings.json for beads projects:

{
  "files.associations": {
    "*.jsonl": "json"
  },
  "files.exclude": {
    ".beads.sqlite": true
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Cache Issues

# Rebuild SQLite cache from JSONL
bd rebuild

# Clear and rebuild
rm .beads.sqlite
bd rebuild

Sync Conflicts

# Check status
bd status

# Manual conflict resolution
git status .beads/
git mergetool .beads/tasks.jsonl
bd rebuild

ID Collisions

Hash collisions are rare but possible:

# Use more characters if ambiguous
bd show abc1234  # Instead of abc1

# Full IDs are always unique
bd show abc12345678

References

• references/skill-catalog.md: Skill catalog with keyword triggers for task matching

Key Principles

• Git-native: Tasks live in the repo, versioned with code
• Collision-resistant: Hash IDs work across branches and forks
• Dependency-aware: Query ready tasks, manage blockers
• AI-friendly: JSON output for programmatic access
• Distributed: No central server, sync via git