From b4bc682d93cde4828a4424a43c0c81a588e5a413 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Steve Yegge <steve.yegge@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2025 02:38:00 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] feat(create): add require-description config option (GH#596)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Add create.require-description config option that enforces descriptions
when creating issues. When enabled, bd create will error if no
description is provided (except for test issues).

- Config in .beads/config.yaml or ~/.config/bd/config.yaml
- Also supports BD_CREATE_REQUIRE_DESCRIPTION env var
- Default: false (preserves current behavior with warning)

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

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 cmd/bd/create.go          | 18 ++++++++++++------
 docs/CONFIG.md            |  5 +++++
 internal/config/config.go |  3 +++
 3 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cmd/bd/create.go b/cmd/bd/create.go
index c8d0fdcd..001f99c1 100644
--- a/cmd/bd/create.go
+++ b/cmd/bd/create.go
@@ -67,12 +67,18 @@ var createCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		// Get field values
 		description, _ := getDescriptionFlag(cmd)
 
-		// Warn if creating an issue without a description (unless it's a test issue or silent mode)
-		if description == "" && !strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(title), "test") && !silent && !debug.IsQuiet() {
-			yellow := color.New(color.FgYellow).SprintFunc()
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s Creating issue without description.\n", yellow("⚠"))
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  Issues without descriptions lack context for future work.\n")
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  Consider adding --description=\"Why this issue exists and what needs to be done\"\n")
+		// Check if description is required by config
+		if description == "" && !strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(title), "test") {
+			if config.GetBool("create.require-description") {
+				FatalError("description is required (set create.require-description: false in config.yaml to disable)")
+			}
+			// Warn if creating an issue without a description (unless silent mode)
+			if !silent && !debug.IsQuiet() {
+				yellow := color.New(color.FgYellow).SprintFunc()
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s Creating issue without description.\n", yellow("⚠"))
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  Issues without descriptions lack context for future work.\n")
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  Consider adding --description=\"Why this issue exists and what needs to be done\"\n")
+			}
 		}
 
 		design, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("design")
diff --git a/docs/CONFIG.md b/docs/CONFIG.md
index e8740e9e..5ade25c5 100644
--- a/docs/CONFIG.md
+++ b/docs/CONFIG.md
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Tool-level settings you can configure:
 | `no-auto-flush` | `--no-auto-flush` | `BD_NO_AUTO_FLUSH` | `false` | Disable auto JSONL export |
 | `no-auto-import` | `--no-auto-import` | `BD_NO_AUTO_IMPORT` | `false` | Disable auto JSONL import |
 | `no-push` | `--no-push` | `BD_NO_PUSH` | `false` | Skip pushing to remote in bd sync |
+| `create.require-description` | - | `BD_CREATE_REQUIRE_DESCRIPTION` | `false` | Require description when creating issues |
 | `db` | `--db` | `BD_DB` | (auto-discover) | Database path |
 | `actor` | `--actor` | `BD_ACTOR` | `$USER` | Actor name for audit trail |
 | `flush-debounce` | - | `BEADS_FLUSH_DEBOUNCE` | `5s` | Debounce time for auto-flush |
@@ -71,6 +72,10 @@ daemon-log-compress: true    # Compress rotated logs (default true)
 ```yaml
 # Project team prefers longer flush delay
 flush-debounce: 15s
+
+# Require descriptions on all issues (enforces context for future work)
+create:
+  require-description: true
 ```
 
 ### Why Two Systems?
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 443f3bfe..47a9f177 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ func Initialize() error {
 	// Push configuration defaults
 	v.SetDefault("no-push", false)
 
+	// Create command defaults
+	v.SetDefault("create.require-description", false)
+
 	// Read config file if it was found
 	if configFileSet {
 		if err := v.ReadInConfig(); err != nil {