Less prescriptive landing protocol + recommend AGENTS.md session-ending hygiene

- AGENTS.md: Updated 'landing the plane' section to encourage creative,
  methodical conflict resolution instead of rigid step-by-step commands
- README.md: Added 'Configuring Your Own AGENTS.md' section recommending
  that project maintainers add session-ending protocols to their own
  AGENTS.md files to ensure proper database hygiene

AGENTS.md

@@ -607,12 +607,9 @@ bd sync --merge
 1. **File beads issues for any remaining work** that needs follow-up
 2. **Ensure all quality gates pass** (only if code changes were made) - run tests, linters, builds (file P0 issues if broken)
 3. **Update beads issues** - close finished work, update status
-4. **Git pull & rebase**
-5. **bd sync** - verify both import and export succeeded
-6. **Git push** - redo rebase if necessary until it succeeds
-7. **Double-check for untracked files** (beads files often get dirty again after git push)
-8. **Ensure no untracked files remain**
-9. **Choose a follow-up issue for next session**
+4. **Sync the issue tracker carefully** - Work methodically to ensure both local and remote issues merge safely. This may require pulling, handling conflicts (sometimes accepting remote changes and re-importing), syncing the database, and verifying consistency. Be creative and patient - the goal is clean reconciliation where no issues are lost.
+5. **Verify clean state** - Ensure all changes are committed and pushed, no untracked files remain
+6. **Choose a follow-up issue for next session**
    - Provide a prompt for the user to give to you in the next session
    - Format: "Continue work on bd-X: [issue title]. [Brief context about what's been done and what's next]"
 
@@ -628,19 +625,20 @@ golangci-lint run ./...
 # 3. Close finished issues
 bd close bd-42 bd-43 --reason "Completed" --json
 
-# 4. Pull & rebase
+# 4. Sync carefully - example workflow (adapt as needed):
 git pull --rebase
-
-# 5. Sync beads
-bd sync
-
-# 6. Push
+# If conflicts in .beads/issues.jsonl, resolve thoughtfully:
+#   - git checkout --theirs .beads/issues.jsonl (accept remote)
+#   - bd import -i .beads/issues.jsonl (re-import)
+#   - Or manual merge, then import
+bd sync  # Export/import/verify
 git push
+# Repeat pull/push if needed until clean
 
-# 7-8. Verify clean state
+# 5. Verify clean state
 git status
 
-# 9. Choose next work
+# 6. Choose next work
 bd ready --json
 bd show bd-44 --json
 ```

README.md

@@ -165,6 +165,34 @@ bd update <issue-id> --status in_progress --json
 bd close <issue-id> --reason "Implemented" --json
 ```
 
+## Configuring Your Own AGENTS.md
+
+**Recommendation for project maintainers:** Add a session-ending protocol to your project's `AGENTS.md` file to ensure agents properly manage issue tracking and sync the database before finishing work.
+
+This pattern has proven invaluable for maintaining database hygiene and preventing lost work. Here's what to include (adapt for your workflow):
+
+**1. File/update issues for remaining work**
+- Agents should proactively create issues for discovered bugs, TODOs, and follow-up tasks
+- Close completed issues and update status for in-progress work
+
+**2. Run quality gates (if applicable)**
+- Tests, linters, builds - only if code changes were made
+- File P0 issues if builds are broken
+
+**3. Sync the issue tracker carefully**
+- Work methodically to ensure local and remote issues merge safely
+- Handle git conflicts thoughtfully (sometimes accepting remote and re-importing)
+- Goal: clean reconciliation where no issues are lost
+
+**4. Verify clean state**
+- All changes committed and pushed
+- No untracked files remain
+
+**5. Choose next work**
+- Provide a formatted prompt for the next session with context
+
+See the ["Landing the Plane"](AGENTS.md#landing-the-plane) section in this project's `AGENTS.md` for a complete example you can adapt. The key insight: explicitly reminding agents to maintain issue tracker hygiene prevents the common problem of agents creating issues during work but forgetting to sync them at session end.
+
 ## The Magic: Distributed Database via Git
 
 Here's the crazy part: **bd acts like a centralized database, but it's actually distributed via git.**