beads

bd - Beads

Distributed, git-backed graph issue tracker for AI agents.

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 (macOS/Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveyegge/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# Initialize (Humans run this once)
bd init

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

🛠 Features

• Git as Database: Issues stored as JSONL in .beads/. Versioned, branched, and merged like code.
• 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.
• Invisible Infrastructure: SQLite local cache for speed; background daemon for auto-sync.
• Compaction: Semantic "memory decay" summarizes old closed tasks to save context window.

📖 Essential Commands

Command	Action
bd ready	List tasks with no open blockers.
bd create "Title" -p 0	Create a P0 task.
bd dep add <child> <parent>	Link tasks (blocks, related, parent-child).
bd show <id>	View task details and audit trail.
bd quickstart	Interactive guide for AI agents.

🔗 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.

📦 Installation

• npm: npm install -g @beads/bd
• Homebrew: brew install steveyegge/beads/bd
• Go: go install github.com/steveyegge/beads/cmd/bd@latest

Requirements: Linux (glibc 2.32+), macOS, or Windows.

🌐 Community Tools

• beads_viewer - Keyboard-driven terminal UI with kanban board, insights panel, and graph view. Built by @Dicklesworthstone.
• beads.el - Emacs UI to browse, edit, and manage beads. Built by @ctietze.
• beads-ui - Local web interface with live updates and kanban board. npx beads-ui start. Built by @mantoni.
• bdui - Real-time terminal UI with tree view, dependency graph, and vim-style navigation. Built by @assimelha.
• perles - Terminal UI with BQL (Beads Query Language) and multi-view kanban. Built by @zjrosen.
• vscode-beads - VS Code extension with issues panel and daemon management. Built by @jdillon.

📝 Documentation

• Installing | Agent Workflow | Sync Branch Mode | FAQ