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The ensureStoreActive() function was ignoring the user-configured --lock-timeout flag and always using the 30s default via sqlite.New(). This fix changes ensureStoreActive() to use sqlite.NewWithTimeout() with the configured lockTimeout, allowing users to specify shorter timeouts for multi-agent scenarios. With this change, users can now run: bd --lock-timeout=500ms sync to fail fast if the database is locked, rather than waiting 30s. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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/FreeBSD)
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. |
🔗 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.
Contributor vs Maintainer: When working on open-source projects:
- Contributors (forked repos): Run
bd init --contributorto 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 maintainerif using GitHub HTTPS without credentials but you have write access.
📦 Installation
- npm:
npm install -g @beads/bd - Homebrew:
brew install beads - Go:
go install github.com/steveyegge/beads/cmd/bd@latest
Requirements: Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, or Windows.
🌐 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.
