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Beads Quickstart

Get up and running with Beads in 2 minutes.

Installation

cd ~/src/beads
go build -o bd ./cmd/bd
./bd --help

Initialize

First time in a repository:

# Basic setup
bd init

# OSS contributor (fork workflow with separate planning repo)
bd init --contributor

# Team member (branch workflow for collaboration)
bd init --team

# Protected main branch (GitHub/GitLab)
bd init --branch beads-metadata

The wizard will:

  • Create .beads/ directory and database
  • Import existing issues from git (if any)
  • Prompt to install git hooks (recommended)
  • Prompt to configure git merge driver (recommended)
  • Auto-start daemon for sync

Your First Issues

# Create a few issues
./bd create "Set up database" -p 1 -t task
./bd create "Create API" -p 2 -t feature
./bd create "Add authentication" -p 2 -t feature

# List them
./bd list

Note: Issue IDs are hash-based (e.g., bd-a1b2, bd-f14c) to prevent collisions when multiple agents/branches work concurrently.

Hierarchical Issues (Epics)

For large features, use hierarchical IDs to organize work:

# Create epic (generates parent hash ID)
./bd create "Auth System" -t epic -p 1
# Returns: bd-a3f8e9

# Create child tasks (automatically get .1, .2, .3 suffixes)
./bd create "Design login UI" -p 1       # bd-a3f8e9.1
./bd create "Backend validation" -p 1    # bd-a3f8e9.2
./bd create "Integration tests" -p 1     # bd-a3f8e9.3

# View hierarchy
./bd dep tree bd-a3f8e9

Output:

🌲 Dependency tree for bd-a3f8e9:

→ bd-a3f8e9: Auth System [epic] [P1] (open)
  → bd-a3f8e9.1: Design login UI [P1] (open)
  → bd-a3f8e9.2: Backend validation [P1] (open)
  → bd-a3f8e9.3: Integration tests [P1] (open)

Add Dependencies

# API depends on database
./bd dep add bd-2 bd-1

# Auth depends on API
./bd dep add bd-3 bd-2

# View the tree
./bd dep tree bd-3

Output:

🌲 Dependency tree for bd-3:

→ bd-3: Add authentication [P2] (open)
  → bd-2: Create API [P2] (open)
    → bd-1: Set up database [P1] (open)

Find Ready Work

./bd ready

Output:

📋 Ready work (1 issues with no blockers):

1. [P1] bd-1: Set up database

Only bd-1 is ready because bd-2 and bd-3 are blocked!

Work the Queue

# Start working on bd-1
./bd update bd-1 --status in_progress

# Complete it
./bd close bd-1 --reason "Database setup complete"

# Check ready work again
./bd ready

Now bd-2 is ready! 🎉

Track Progress

# See blocked issues
./bd blocked

# View statistics
./bd stats

Database Location

By default: ~/.beads/default.db

You can use project-specific databases:

./bd --db ./my-project.db create "Task"

Migrating Databases

After upgrading bd, use bd migrate to check for and migrate old database files:

# Inspect migration plan (AI agents)
./bd migrate --inspect --json

# Check schema and config
./bd info --schema --json

# Preview migration changes
./bd migrate --dry-run

# Migrate old databases to beads.db
./bd migrate

# Migrate and clean up old files
./bd migrate --cleanup --yes

AI agents: Use --inspect to analyze migration safety before running. The system verifies required config keys and data integrity invariants.

Database Maintenance

As your project accumulates closed issues, the database grows. Manage size with these commands:

# View compaction statistics
bd compact --stats

# Preview compaction candidates (30+ days closed)
bd compact --analyze --json --no-daemon

# Apply agent-generated summary
bd compact --apply --id bd-42 --summary summary.txt --no-daemon

# Immediately delete closed issues (CAUTION: permanent!)
bd cleanup --force

When to compact:

  • Database file > 10MB with many old closed issues
  • After major project milestones when old issues are no longer relevant
  • Before archiving a project phase

Note: Compaction is permanent graceful decay. Original content is discarded but viewable via bd restore <id> from git history.

Advanced: Agent Mail (Optional)

For multi-agent workflows (2+ AI agents working concurrently), Agent Mail provides real-time coordination:

Benefits:

  • 20-50x latency reduction (<100ms vs 2-5s git sync)
  • Collision prevention via file reservations
  • Agents can't accidentally claim same issue

Quick setup:

# Install and start server (one-time)
git clone https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/mcp_agent_mail.git
cd mcp_agent_mail && python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
python -m mcp_agent_mail.cli serve-http

# Configure each agent (environment variables)
export BEADS_AGENT_MAIL_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8765
export BEADS_AGENT_NAME=assistant-alpha  # Unique per agent
export BEADS_PROJECT_ID=my-project

# Use bd normally - Agent Mail auto-activates
bd ready
bd update bd-42 --status in_progress  # Reserves instantly

When to use:

  • ✅ Multiple agents working simultaneously
  • ✅ High collision risk (frequent status updates)
  • ❌ Single agent workflows (unnecessary overhead)

See AGENT_MAIL.md for complete guide.

Background Daemon

bd runs a background daemon for auto-sync and performance. You rarely need to manage it directly:

# Check daemon status
bd info | grep daemon

# List all running daemons
bd daemons list

# Force direct mode (skip daemon)
bd --no-daemon ready

When to disable daemon:

  • Git worktrees (required: bd --no-daemon)
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • Resource-constrained environments

See DAEMON.md for complete daemon management guide.

Next Steps

  • Add labels: ./bd create "Task" -l "backend,urgent"
  • Filter ready work: ./bd ready --priority 1
  • Search issues: ./bd list --status open
  • Detect cycles: ./bd dep cycles

See README.md for full documentation.