feat: Improve bd mol distill command

- Update help text to clarify mol/wisp/epic support (not just epics)
- Add daemon support (no longer requires --no-daemon)
- Add -o shorthand for --output flag
- Update use cases to match new architecture

Part of bd-1dez.1

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cmd/bd/mol_distill.go

@@ -15,21 +15,22 @@ import (
 )
 
 var molDistillCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "distill <epic-id> [formula-name]",
+	Use:   "distill <id> [formula-name]",
-	Short: "Extract a formula from an existing epic",
+	Short: "Extract a formula from a mol, wisp, or epic",
-	Long: `Distill a molecule by extracting a reusable formula from an existing epic.
+	Long: `Extract a reusable formula from completed work.
 
-This is the reverse of pour: instead of formula → molecule, it's molecule → formula.
+This is the reverse of pour: instead of formula → mol, it's mol → formula.
+Works with any hierarchical work: mols, wisps, or plain epics.
 
 The distill command:
-  1. Loads the existing epic and all its children
+  1. Loads the work item and all its children
   2. Converts the structure to a .formula.json file
   3. Replaces concrete values with {{variable}} placeholders (via --var flags)
 
 Use cases:
-  - Team develops good workflow organically, wants to reuse it
+  - Emergent patterns: structured work manually, want to templatize
-  - Capture tribal knowledge as executable templates
+  - Modified execution: poured formula, added steps, want to capture
-  - Create starting point for similar future work
+  - Learning from success: extract what made a workflow succeed
 
 Variable syntax (both work - we detect which side is the concrete value):
   --var branch=feature-auth    Spawn-style: variable=value (recommended)
@@ -40,8 +41,10 @@ Output locations (first writable wins):
   2. ~/.beads/formulas/     (user-level, if project not writable)
 
 Examples:
-  bd mol distill bd-o5xe my-workflow
+  bd mol distill bd-mol-xyz my-workflow
-  bd mol distill bd-abc release-workflow --var feature_name=auth-refactor`,
+  bd mol distill bd-wisp-abc patrol-template
+  bd mol distill bd-epic-123 release-workflow --var version=1.2.3
+  bd mol distill bd-xyz workflow -o ./formulas/`,
 	Args: cobra.RangeArgs(1, 2),
 	Run:  runMolDistill,
 }
@@ -102,14 +105,9 @@ func parseDistillVar(varFlag, searchableText string) (string, string, error) {
 func runMolDistill(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	ctx := rootCtx
 
-	// mol distill requires direct store access for reading the epic
+	// Check we have some database access
-	if store == nil {
+	if store == nil && daemonClient == nil {
-		if daemonClient != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: no database connection\n")
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: mol distill requires direct database access\n")
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Hint: use --no-daemon flag: bd --no-daemon mol distill %s ...\n", args[0])
-		} else {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: no database connection\n")
-		}
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
@@ -117,17 +115,23 @@ func runMolDistill(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	dryRun, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("dry-run")
 	outputDir, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
 
-	// Resolve epic ID
+	// Load the subgraph (works with daemon or direct)
-	epicID, err := utils.ResolvePartialID(ctx, store, args[0])
+	// Show/GetIssue handle partial ID resolution
-	if err != nil {
+	var subgraph *TemplateSubgraph
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: '%s' not found\n", args[0])
+	var err error
-		os.Exit(1)
+	if daemonClient != nil {
+		subgraph, err = loadTemplateSubgraphViaDaemon(daemonClient, args[0])
+	} else {
+		// Resolve ID for direct access
+		issueID, resolveErr := utils.ResolvePartialID(ctx, store, args[0])
+		if resolveErr != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: '%s' not found\n", args[0])
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		subgraph, err = loadTemplateSubgraph(ctx, store, issueID)
 	}
-
-	// Load the epic subgraph
-	subgraph, err := loadTemplateSubgraph(ctx, store, epicID)
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error loading epic: %v\n", err)
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error loading issue: %v\n", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
@@ -172,7 +176,7 @@ func runMolDistill(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	}
 
 	if dryRun {
-		fmt.Printf("\nDry run: would distill %d steps from %s into formula\n\n", countSteps(f.Steps), epicID)
+		fmt.Printf("\nDry run: would distill %d steps from %s into formula\n\n", countSteps(f.Steps), subgraph.Root.ID)
 		fmt.Printf("Formula: %s\n", formulaName)
 		fmt.Printf("Output: %s\n", outputPath)
 		if len(replacements) > 0 {
@@ -365,7 +369,7 @@ func subgraphToFormula(subgraph *TemplateSubgraph, name string, replacements map
 func init() {
 	molDistillCmd.Flags().StringSlice("var", []string{}, "Replace value with {{variable}} placeholder (variable=value)")
 	molDistillCmd.Flags().Bool("dry-run", false, "Preview what would be created")
-	molDistillCmd.Flags().String("output", "", "Output directory for formula file")
+	molDistillCmd.Flags().StringP("output", "o", "", "Output directory for formula file")
 
 	molCmd.AddCommand(molDistillCmd)
 }