Test auto-start in fred


Remove obsolete renumber.go command (hash IDs eliminated need)


Debug MCP Agent Mail tool execution errors

**EXTERNAL WORK**: Debug the standalone MCP Agent Mail server (separate from beads integration).

The Agent Mail server runs as an independent service at ~/src/mcp_agent_mail. This is NOT beads code - it's a separate GitHub project we're evaluating for optional coordination features.

Current Issue:
- MCP API endpoint returns errors when calling ensure_project tool
- Error: "Server encountered an unexpected error while executing tool"
- Core HTTP server works, web UI functional, but tool wrapper layer fails

Server Details:
- Location: ~/src/mcp_agent_mail (separate repo)
- Repository: https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/mcp_agent_mail
- Runs on: http://127.0.0.1:8765
- Bearer token: In .env file

Investigation Steps:
1. Check tool execution logs for full stack trace
2. Verify Git storage initialization at ~/.mcp_agent_mail_git_mailbox_repo
3. Review database setup (storage.sqlite3)
4. Test with simpler MCP tools if available
5. Compare with working test cases in tests/

Why This Matters:
- Blocks [deleted:bd-6hji] (testing file reservations)
- Need working MCP API to validate Agent Mail benefits
- Proof of concept for lightweight beads integration later

Note: The actual beads integration (bd-wfmw) will be lightweight HTTP client code only.


Prevent multiple daemons from running on the same repo

Multiple bd daemons running on the same repo clone causes race conditions and data corruption risks.

**Problem:**
- Nothing prevents spawning multiple daemons for the same repository
- Multiple daemons watching the same files can conflict during sync operations
- Observed: 4 daemons running simultaneously caused sync race condition

**Solution:**
Implement daemon singleton enforcement per repo:
1. Use a lock file (e.g., .beads/.daemon.lock) with PID
2. On daemon start, check if lock exists and process is alive
3. If stale lock (dead PID), clean up and acquire lock
4. If active daemon exists, either:
   - Exit with message 'daemon already running (PID xxx)'
   - Or offer --replace flag to kill existing and take over
5. Release lock on graceful shutdown

**Edge cases to handle:**
- Daemon crashes without releasing lock (stale PID detection)
- Multiple repos in same directory tree (each repo gets own lock)
- Race between two daemons starting simultaneously (atomic lock acquisition)


Integration test: mutation to export latency

Measure time from bd create to JSONL update. Verify <500ms latency. Test with multiple rapid mutations to verify batching.


Add concurrent import race condition tests

Currently no tests verify behavior when multiple clones import simultaneously with external_ref matching.

Scenarios to test:
1. Two clones import same external_ref update at same time
2. Clone A imports while Clone B updates same issue
3. Verify transaction isolation prevents corruption
4. Document expected behavior (last-write-wins vs timestamp-based)

Related: bd-1022
Files: internal/importer/external_ref_test.go


Implement bd resolve-conflicts (git merge conflicts in JSONL)

Automatically detect and resolve git merge conflicts in .beads/issues.jsonl file.

Features:
- Detect conflict markers in JSONL
- Parse conflicting issues from HEAD and BASE
- Provide mechanical resolution (remap duplicate IDs)
- Support AI-assisted resolution (requires internal/ai package)

See repair_commands.md lines 125-353 for design.


Extract SQLite migrations into separate files

The file `internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go` is 2,136 lines and contains 11 sequential migrations alongside core storage logic. Extract migrations into a versioned system.

Current issues:
- 11 migration functions mixed with core logic
- Hard to see migration history
- Sequential migrations slow database open
- No clear migration versioning

Migration functions to extract:
- `migrateDirtyIssuesTable()`
- `migrateIssueCountersTable()`
- `migrateExternalRefColumn()`
- `migrateCompositeIndexes()`
- `migrateClosedAtConstraint()`
- `migrateCompactionColumns()`
- `migrateSnapshotsTable()`
- `migrateCompactionConfig()`
- `migrateCompactedAtCommitColumn()`
- `migrateExportHashesTable()`
- Plus 1 more (11 total)

Target structure:
```
internal/storage/sqlite/
├── sqlite.go          # Core storage (~800 lines)
├── schema.go          # Table definitions (~200 lines)
├── migrations.go      # Migration orchestration (~200 lines)
└── migrations/        # Individual migrations
    ├── 001_initial_schema.go
    ├── 002_dirty_issues.go
    ├── 003_issue_counters.go
    [... through 011_export_hashes.go]
```

Benefits:
- Clear migration history
- Each migration self-contained
- Easier to review migration changes in PRs
- Future migrations easier to add


Missing test for IsExpiredTombstone edge cases

## Problem

The `IsExpiredTombstone()` function has several edge cases that aren't directly tested:

1. **Invalid DeletedAt timestamp** - Returns false (safety), but not tested
2. **ttl=0 fallback to DefaultTombstoneTTL** - Not tested directly
3. **Tombstone with empty DeletedAt** - Returns false, tested implicitly but not explicitly
4. **Clock skew grace period effect** - Not tested (would need time mocking)

## Current Test Coverage

The existing tests use `time.Now()` which makes them non-deterministic:
```go
DeletedAt: time.Now().Add(-24 * time.Hour).Format(time.RFC3339)
```

This works but doesn't test the expiration boundary precisely.

## Recommendation

Add explicit unit tests for `IsExpiredTombstone()`:

```go
func TestIsExpiredTombstone(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct {
        name      string
        status    string
        deletedAt string
        ttl       time.Duration
        expected  bool
    }{
        {"non-tombstone returns false", "open", "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z", 0, false},
        {"empty deleted_at returns false", "tombstone", "", 0, false},
        {"invalid timestamp returns false", "tombstone", "not-a-date", 0, false},
        {"within TTL returns false", "tombstone", time.Now().Add(-1*time.Hour).Format(time.RFC3339), 24*time.Hour, false},
        {"beyond TTL returns true", "tombstone", time.Now().Add(-48*time.Hour).Format(time.RFC3339), 24*time.Hour, true},
    }
    // ...
}
```

## Files
- internal/merge/merge.go:255-290
- internal/merge/merge_test.go (add TestIsExpiredTombstone)


GH#486: Claude forgets beads workflow mid-session

Claude progressively reverts to TodoWrite or skips tracking despite CLAUDE.md instructions. Happens after context resets or long sessions. Need stronger prompting or hooks. See: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/issues/486


Add unit tests for parent resurrection

Test resurrection with deleted parent (should succeed), resurrection with never-existed parent (should fail gracefully), multi-level resurrection (bd-abc.1.2 with both parents missing). Verify tombstone creation and is_tombstone flag.


Add unit tests for import ordering

Test topological sort: import [child, parent] should succeed, import [parent.1.2, parent, parent.1] should sort correctly. Verify depth-based batching works. Test max depth limits.


Fix unparam unused parameter in cmd/bd/doctor.go:541

Linting issue: checkHooksQuick - path is unused (unparam) at cmd/bd/doctor.go:541:22. Error: func checkHooksQuick(path string) string {


Update documentation for bd prime and Claude integration

Update AGENTS.md, README.md, and QUICKSTART.md to document the new `bd prime` command, `bd setup claude` command, and tip system.


Widespread double JSON encoding bug in daemon mode RPC calls

Multiple CLI commands had the same double JSON encoding bug found in bd-1048. All commands that called ResolveID via RPC used string(resp.Data) instead of properly unmarshaling the JSON response. This caused IDs to retain JSON quotes ("bd-1048" instead of bd-1048), which then got double-encoded when passed to subsequent RPC calls.

Affected commands:
- bd show (3 instances)
- bd dep add/remove/tree (5 instances)
- bd label add/remove/list (3 instances)
- bd reopen (1 instance)

Root cause: resp.Data is json.RawMessage (already JSON-encoded), so string() conversion preserves quotes.

Fix: Replace all string(resp.Data) with json.Unmarshal(resp.Data, &id) for proper deserialization.

All commands now tested and working correctly with daemon mode.


Add tests for internal/autoimport package

Currently 0.0% coverage. Need tests for auto-import functionality that detects and imports updated JSONL files.


Command Set Standardization & Flag Consistency

Comprehensive improvements to bd command set based on 2025 audit findings.

## Background
See docs/command-audit-2025.md for detailed analysis.

## Goals
1. Standardize flag naming and behavior across all commands
2. Add missing flags for feature parity
3. Fix naming confusion
4. Improve consistency in JSON output

## Success Criteria
- All mutating commands support --dry-run (no --preview variants)
- bd update supports label operations
- bd search has filter parity with bd list
- Priority flags accept both int and P0-P4 format everywhere
- JSON output is consistent across all commands


Add bd reset command for clean slate restart

Implement a command to reset beads to a clean starting state.

**Context:** GitHub issue #479 - users sometimes get beads into an invalid state after updates, and there's no clean way to start fresh. The git backup/restore mechanism that protects against accidental deletion also makes it hard to intentionally reset.

**Current workaround** (from maphew):
```bash
bd daemons killall
git rm .beads/*.jsonl
git commit -m 'remove old issues'
rm .beads/*
bd init
bd onboard
```

**Desired:** A proper `bd reset` command that handles this cleanly and safely.


Add bd migrate-tombstones command

Create migration command to convert existing deletions.jsonl entries to tombstones. Support --dry-run and --verbose flags. Archive old file with .migrated suffix. Per design bd-dli.


Remove misleading placeholder 'bd merge' command from duplicates output

**Problem:**
The `bd duplicates` command suggests running a command that doesn't exist:
```
bd merge <source-ids> --into <target-id>
```

This is confusing because:
1. `bd merge` is actually a git 3-way JSONL merge driver (takes 4 file paths)
2. The suggested syntax for merging duplicate issues is not implemented
3. Line 75 in duplicates.go even has: `// TODO: performMerge implementation pending`

**Current behavior:**
- Users see suggested command that doesn't work
- No indication that feature is unimplemented
- Related to issue #349 item #2

**Proposed fix:**
Replace line 77 in cmd/bd/duplicates.go with either:

Option A (conservative):
```go
cmd := fmt.Sprintf("# TODO: Merge %s into %s (merge command not yet implemented)",
    strings.Join(sources, " "), target.ID)
```

Option B (actionable):
```go
cmd := fmt.Sprintf("# Duplicate found: %s\n# Manual merge: Close duplicates with 'bd close %s' and link to %s as 'related'",
    strings.Join(sources, " "), strings.Join(sources, " "), target.ID)
```

**Files to modify:**
- cmd/bd/duplicates.go (line ~77)


Recurring dirty state after merge conflicts - bd sync keeps failing

## Problem

`bd sync` consistently fails with merge conflicts in `.beads/beads.jsonl`, creating a loop:
1. User runs `bd sync`
2. Git merge conflict occurs
3. User resolves with `git checkout --theirs` (takes remote)
4. Daemon auto-exports database state (which has local changes)
5. JSONL becomes dirty again immediately
6. Repeat

This has been happening for **weeks** and is extremely frustrating.

## Root Cause

The recommended conflict resolution (`git checkout --theirs`) throws away local database state (comments, dependencies, closed issues). The daemon then immediately re-exports, creating a dirty state.

## Current Workaround

Manual `bd export -o .beads/beads.jsonl && git add && git commit && git push` after every failed sync.

## Example Session

```bash
$ bd sync
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in .beads/beads.jsonl

$ git checkout --theirs .beads/beads.jsonl && bd import && git add && git commit && git push
# Pushed successfully

$ git status
modified: .beads/beads.jsonl  # DIRTY AGAIN!
```

## Lost Data in Recent Session

- bd-ry1u closure (lost in merge)
- Comments on bd-08fd, bd-23a8, bd-6049, bd-87a0 (lost)
- Dependencies that existed only in local DB

## Potential Solutions

1. **Use beads-merge tool** - Implement proper 3-way JSONL merge (bd-bzfy)
2. **Smarter conflict resolution** - Detect when `--theirs` will lose data, warn user
3. **Sync validation** - Check if JSONL == DB after merge, re-export if needed
4. **Daemon awareness** - Pause auto-export during merge resolution
5. **Transaction log** - Replay local changes after merge instead of losing them

## Related Issues

- bd-bzfy (beads-merge integration)
- Possibly related to daemon auto-export behavior

## Solution Implemented

Fixed the recurring dirty state after merge conflicts by adding **sync validation** before re-exporting.

### Root Cause
Lines 217-237 in `sync.go` unconditionally re-exported DB to JSONL after every import, even when they were already in sync. This created an infinite loop:
1. User runs `bd sync` which pulls and imports remote JSONL
2. Sync unconditionally re-exports DB (which has local changes)
3. JSONL becomes dirty immediately
4. Repeat

### Fix
Added `dbNeedsExport()` function in `integrity.go` that checks:
- If JSONL exists
- If DB modification time is newer than JSONL
- If DB and JSONL issue counts match

Now `bd sync` only re-exports if DB actually has changes that differ from JSONL.

### Changes
- Added `dbNeedsExport()` in `cmd/bd/integrity.go` (lines 228-271)
- Updated `sync.go` lines 217-251 to check before re-exporting
- Added comprehensive tests in `cmd/bd/sync_merge_test.go`

### Testing
All tests pass including 4 new tests:
- `TestDBNeedsExport_InSync` - Verifies no export when synced
- `TestDBNeedsExport_DBNewer` - Detects DB modifications
- `TestDBNeedsExport_CountMismatch` - Catches divergence
- `TestDBNeedsExport_NoJSONL` - Handles missing JSONL

This prevents the weeks-long frustration of merge conflicts causing infinite dirty loops.


Refactor: extract common helpers in sync-branch hook checks

Code review of #532 fix identified duplication between checkSyncBranchHookCompatibility and checkSyncBranchHookQuick.

Suggested refactoring:
1. Extract getPrePushHookPath(path string) helper for git dir + hook path resolution
2. Extract extractHookVersion(hookContent string) helper for version parsing
3. Consider whether Warning for custom hooks is appropriate (vs OK with info message)
4. Document the intentional behavior difference between full check (Warning for custom) and quick check (OK for custom)


Post-merge hook silently fails on JSONL conflicts, poor UX

When git pull results in merge conflicts in .beads/issues.jsonl, the post-merge hook runs 'bd sync --import-only' which fails, but stderr was redirected to /dev/null. User only saw generic warning.

Fixed by capturing and displaying the actual error output, so users see 'Git conflict markers detected' message immediately.


Batch test 5


Add edge case tests for GetNextChildID parent resurrection

## Current Coverage
TestGetNextChildID_ResurrectParent tests happy path only:
- Parent exists in JSONL
- Resurrection succeeds

## Missing Test Cases

### 1. Parent Not in JSONL
- Parent doesn't exist in DB
- Parent doesn't exist in JSONL either
- Should return: "could not be resurrected from JSONL history"

### 2. JSONL File Missing
- Parent doesn't exist in DB
- No issues.jsonl file exists
- Should handle gracefully

### 3. Malformed JSONL
- Parent doesn't exist in DB
- JSONL file exists but has invalid JSON
- Should skip bad lines, continue searching

### 4. Concurrent Resurrections
- Multiple goroutines call GetNextChildID with same parent
- Only one should resurrect, others should succeed
- Test for race conditions

### 5. Deeply Nested Missing Parents
- Creating bd-abc.1.2.1 where:
  - bd-abc exists
  - bd-abc.1 missing (should fail with current fix)
- Related to bd-ar2.4

### 6. Content Hash Mismatch
- Parent in JSONL has different content_hash than expected
- Should still resurrect (content_hash is for integrity, not identity)

## Files
- internal/storage/sqlite/child_id_test.go

## Implementation
```go
func TestGetNextChildID_ResurrectParent_NotInJSONL(t *testing.T) { ... }
func TestGetNextChildID_ResurrectParent_NoJSONL(t *testing.T) { ... }
func TestGetNextChildID_ResurrectParent_MalformedJSONL(t *testing.T) { ... }
func TestGetNextChildID_ResurrectParent_Concurrent(t *testing.T) { ... }
```


sync tries to create worktree in .git file

example: bd sync --no-daemon
→ Exporting pending changes to JSONL...
→ Committing changes to sync branch 'worktree-db-fail'...
Error committing to sync branch: failed to create worktree: failed to create worktree parent directory: mkdir /var/home/matt/dev/beads/worktree-db-fail/.git: not a directory


cmd/bd test suite is absurdly slow - 279 tests taking 8+ minutes

# Problem

The cmd/bd test suite is painfully slow:
- **279 tests** in cmd/bd alone
- Full suite takes **8+ minutes** to run
- Even with the 16 slowest integration tests now tagged with `integration` build tag, the remaining tests still take forever

This makes the development loop unusable. We can't wait 8+ minutes every time we want to run tests.

# Root Cause Analysis

## 1. Sheer Volume
279 tests is too many for a single package. Even at 0.1s per test, that's 28 seconds minimum just for cmd/bd.

## 2. Each Test Creates Full Database + Temp Directories
Every test does heavy setup:
- Creates temp directory (`t.TempDir()` or `os.MkdirTemp`)
- Initializes SQLite database
- Sets up git repo in many cases
- Creates full storage layer

Example from the tests:
```go
func setupCLITestDB(t *testing.T) string {
    tmpDir := createTempDirWithCleanup(t)
    runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "init", "--prefix", "test", "--quiet")
    return tmpDir
}
```

This happens 279 times!

## 3. Tests Are Not Properly Categorized
We have three types of tests mixed together:
- **Unit tests** - should be fast, test single functions
- **Integration tests** - test full workflows, need DB/git
- **End-to-end tests** - test entire CLI commands

They're all lumped together in cmd/bd, all running every time.

# What We've Already Fixed

Added `integration` build tags to 16 obviously-slow test files:
- import_profile_test.go (performance benchmarking tests)
- export_mtime_test.go (tests with time.Sleep calls)
- cli_fast_test.go (full CLI integration tests)
- delete_test.go, import_uncommitted_test.go, sync_local_only_test.go (git integration)
- And 10 more in internal/ packages

These are now excluded from the default `go test ./...` run.

# Proposed Solutions

## Option 1: Shared Test Fixtures (Quick Win)
Create a shared test database that multiple tests can use:
```go
var testDB *sqlite.SQLiteStorage
var testDBOnce sync.Once

func getSharedTestDB(t *testing.T) storage.Storage {
    testDBOnce.Do(func() {
        // Create one DB for all tests
    })
    return testDB
}
```

**Pros**: Easy to implement, immediate speedup
**Cons**: Tests become less isolated, harder to debug failures

## Option 2: Table-Driven Tests (Medium Win)
Collapse similar tests into table-driven tests:
```go
func TestCreate(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct{
        name string
        args []string
        want string
    }{
        {"basic issue", []string{"create", "Test"}, "created"},
        {"with description", []string{"create", "Test", "-d", "desc"}, "created"},
        // ... 50 more cases
    }

    db := setupOnce(t) // Setup once, not 50 times
    for _, tt := range tests {
        t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            // test using shared db
        })
    }
}
```

**Pros**: Dramatically reduces setup overhead, tests run in parallel
**Cons**: Requires refactoring, tests share more state

## Option 3: Split cmd/bd Tests Into Packages (Big Win)
Move tests into focused packages:
- `cmd/bd/internal/clitests` - CLI integration tests (mark with integration tag)
- `cmd/bd/internal/unittests` - Fast unit tests
- Keep only essential tests in cmd/bd

**Pros**: Clean separation, easy to run just fast tests
**Cons**: Requires significant refactoring

## Option 4: Parallel Execution (Quick Win)
Add `t.Parallel()` to independent tests:
```go
func TestSomething(t *testing.T) {
    t.Parallel() // Run this test concurrently with others
    // ...
}
```

**Pros**: Easy to add, can cut time in half on multi-core machines
**Cons**: Doesn't reduce actual test work, just parallelizes it

## Option 5: In-Memory Databases (Medium Win)
Use `:memory:` SQLite databases instead of file-based:
```go
store, err := sqlite.New(ctx, ":memory:")
```

**Pros**: Faster than disk I/O, easier cleanup
**Cons**: Some tests need actual file-based DBs (export/import tests)

# Recommended Approach

**Short-term (this week)**:
1. Add `t.Parallel()` to all independent tests in cmd/bd
2. Use `:memory:` databases where possible
3. Create table-driven tests for similar test cases

**Medium-term (next sprint)**:
4. Split cmd/bd tests into focused packages
5. Mark more integration tests appropriately

**Long-term (backlog)**:
6. Consider shared test fixtures with proper isolation

# Current Status

We've tagged 16 files with `integration` build tag, but the remaining 279 tests in cmd/bd still take 8+ minutes. This issue tracks fixing the cmd/bd test performance specifically.

# Target

Get `go test ./...` (without `-short` or `-tags=integration`) down to **under 30 seconds**.

# THE REAL ROOT CAUSE (Updated Analysis)

After examining the actual test code, the problem is clear:

## Every Test Creates Its Own Database From Scratch

Look at `create_test.go`:
```go
func TestCreate_BasicIssue(t *testing.T) {
    tmpDir := t.TempDir()                          // ← Creates temp dir
    testDB := filepath.Join(tmpDir, ".beads", "beads.db")
    s := newTestStore(t, testDB)                   // ← Opens NEW SQLite connection
                                                    // ← Runs migrations
                                                    // ← Sets config
    // ... actual test (3 lines)
}

func TestCreate_WithDescription(t *testing.T) {
    tmpDir := t.TempDir()                          // ← Creates ANOTHER temp dir
    testDB := filepath.Join(tmpDir, ".beads", "beads.db")
    s := newTestStore(t, testDB)                   // ← Opens ANOTHER SQLite connection
    // ... actual test (3 lines)
}
```

**This happens 279 times!**

## These Tests Don't Need Isolation!

Most tests are just checking:
- "Can I create an issue with a title?"
- "Can I create an issue with a description?"
- "Can I add labels?"

They don't conflict with each other. They could all share ONE database!

## The Fix: Test Suites with Shared Setup

Instead of:
```go
func TestCreate_BasicIssue(t *testing.T) {
    s := newTestStore(t, t.TempDir()+"/db")  // ← Expensive!
    // test
}

func TestCreate_WithDesc(t *testing.T) {
    s := newTestStore(t, t.TempDir()+"/db")  // ← Expensive!
    // test
}
```

Do this:
```go
func TestCreate(t *testing.T) {
    // ONE setup for all subtests
    s := newTestStore(t, t.TempDir()+"/db")

    t.Run("basic_issue", func(t *testing.T) {
        t.Parallel()  // Can run concurrently - tests don't conflict
        // test using shared `s`
    })

    t.Run("with_description", func(t *testing.T) {
        t.Parallel()
        // test using shared `s`
    })

    // ... 50 more subtests, all using same DB
}
```

**Result**: 50 tests → 1 database setup instead of 50!

## Why This Works

SQLite is fine with concurrent reads and isolated transactions. These tests:
- ✅ Create different issues (no ID conflicts)
- ✅ Just read back what they created
- ✅ Don't depend on database state from other tests

They SHOULD share a database!

## Real Numbers

Current:
- 279 tests × (create dir + init SQLite + migrations) = **8 minutes**

After fix:
- 10 test suites × (create dir + init SQLite + migrations) = **30 seconds**
- 279 subtests running in parallel using those 10 DBs = **5 seconds**

**Total: ~35 seconds instead of 8 minutes!**

## Implementation Plan

1. **Group related tests** into suites (Create, List, Update, Delete, etc.)
2. **One setup per suite** instead of per test
3. **Use t.Run() for subtests** with t.Parallel()
4. **Keep tests that actually need isolation** separate (export/import tests, git operations)

This is way better than shuffling tests into folders!

## Progress Update (2025-11-21)

✅ **Completed**:
- Audited all 280 tests, created TEST_SUITE_AUDIT.md ([deleted:bd-c49])
- Refactored create_test.go to shared DB pattern ([deleted:bd-y6d])
- Proven the pattern works: 11 tests now run in 0.04s with 1 DB instead of 11

❌ **Current Reality**:
- Overall test suite: Still 8+ minutes (no meaningful change)
- Only 1 of 76 test files refactored
- Saved ~10 DB initializations out of 280

## Acceptance Criteria (REALISTIC)

This task is NOT complete until:
- [ ] All P1 files refactored (create ✅, dep, stale, comments, list, ready)
- [ ] Test suite runs in < 2 minutes
- [ ] Measured and verified actual speedup

## Next Steps

1. Refactor remaining 5 P1 files: dep_test.go, stale_test.go, comments_test.go, list_test.go, ready_test.go
2. Measure actual time improvement after each file
3. Continue with P2 files if needed to hit <2min target


Extract normalizeLabels to shared utility package

The `normalizeLabels` function appears in multiple locations with identical implementation. Extract to a shared utility package.

Current locations:
- `internal/rpc/server.go:37` (53 lines) - full implementation
- `cmd/bd/list.go:50-52` - uses the server version (needs to use new shared version)

Function purpose:
- Trims whitespace from labels
- Removes empty strings
- Deduplicates labels
- Preserves order

Target structure:
```
internal/util/
├── strings.go         # String utilities
    └── NormalizeLabels([]string) []string
```

Impact: DRY principle, single source of truth, easier to test


Add tests for tombstone edge cases

Missing test coverage for tombstone implementation:

1. Test tombstone validation (deleted_at requirement)
2. Test GetReadyWork excludes tombstones
3. Test SearchIssues behavior with tombstones
4. Integration test for creating/retrieving a tombstone via the delete command
5. Test that status=tombstone update is rejected


Auto-repair stale merge driver configs with invalid placeholders

Old bd versions (<0.24.0) installed merge driver with invalid placeholders %L %R instead of %A %B. Add detection to bd doctor --fix: check if git config merge.beads.driver contains %L or %R, auto-repair to 'bd merge %A %O %A %B'. One-time migration for users who initialized with old versions.


Enhance `bd doctor` to verify Claude Code integration

Add checks to `bd doctor` that verify Claude Code integration is properly set up when .claude/ directory or Claude environment is detected.


Audit remaining cmd/bd files for error handling consistency

Extend ERROR_HANDLING_AUDIT.md to cover: daemon_sync.go, update.go, list.go, show.go, close.go, reopen.go, dep.go, label.go, comments.go, delete.go, compact.go, config.go, validate.go and other high-usage command files


GH#488: Support claude.local.md for local-only config

Allow CLAUDE.local.md for testing bd without committing to repo or overriding shared CLAUDE.md. Not every repo wants committed AI config. See: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/issues/488


Add .beads/README.md during 'bd init' for project documentation and promotion

When 'bd init' is run, automatically generate a .beads/README.md file that:

1. Briefly explains what Beads is (AI-native issue tracking that lives in your repo)
2. Links to the main repository: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads
3. Provides a quick reference of essential commands:
   - bd create: Create new issues
   - bd list: View all issues
   - bd update: Modify issue status/details
   - bd show: View issue details
   - bd sync: Sync with git remote
4. Highlights key benefits for AI coding agents and developers
5. Encourages developers to try it out

The README should be enthusiastic and compelling to get open source contributors excited about using Beads for their AI-assisted development workflows.


Daemon crashes silently on RPC query after startup

The daemon fails to handle 'show' RPC commands when:
1) JSONL is newer than database (needs import)
2) git pull fails due to uncommitted changes

Symptoms:
- Daemon appears to run (ps shows process)
- 'bd list' and other commands work fine
- 'bd show <id>' returns "failed to read response: EOF"
- No panic or error logged in daemon.log

Root cause likely: auto-import deadlock or state corruption when import is blocked by git conflicts.

Workaround:
- Restart daemon after syncing git state (commit/push changes)
- OR use --no-daemon flag for all commands

The panic recovery added in server_lifecycle_conn.go:183 didn't catch any panics, confirming this isn't a panic-based crash.

Root cause found and fixed: Two bugs - (1) nil pointer check missing in handleShow causing panic, (2) double JSON encoding in show.go ID resolution. Both fixed. bd show now works with daemon.


Implement clone-scoped ID allocation to prevent N-way collisions

## Problem
Current ID allocation uses per-clone atomic counters (issue_counters table) that sync based on local database state. In N-way collision scenarios:
- Clone B sees {test-1} locally, allocates test-2
- Clone D sees {test-1, test-2, test-3} locally, allocates test-4
- When same content gets assigned test-2 and test-4, convergence fails

Root cause: Each clone independently allocates IDs without global coordination, leading to overlapping assignments for the same content.

## Solution
Add clone UUID to ID allocation to make every ID globally unique:

**Current format:** `test-1`, `test-2`, `test-3`
**New format:** `test-1-a7b3`, `test-2-a7b3`, `test-3-c4d9`

Where suffix is first 4 chars of clone UUID.

## Implementation

### 1. Add clone_identity table
```sql
CREATE TABLE clone_identity (
    clone_uuid TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
    created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);
```

### 2. Modify getNextIDForPrefix()
```go
func (s *SQLiteStorage) getNextIDForPrefix(ctx context.Context, prefix string) (string, error) {
    cloneUUID := s.getOrCreateCloneUUID(ctx)
    shortUUID := cloneUUID[:4]

    nextNum := s.getNextCounterForPrefix(ctx, prefix)
    return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d-%s", prefix, nextNum, shortUUID), nil
}
```

### 3. Update ID parsing logic
All places that parse IDs (utils.ExtractIssueNumber, etc.) need to handle new format.

### 4. Migration strategy
- Existing IDs remain unchanged (no suffix)
- New IDs get clone suffix automatically
- Display layer can hide suffix in UI: `bd-cb64c226.3-a7b3` → `#42`

## Benefits
- **Zero collision risk**: Same content in different clones gets different IDs
- **Maintains readability**: Still sequential numbering within clone
- **No coordination needed**: Works offline, no central authority
- **Scales to 100+ clones**: 4-char hex = 65,536 unique clones

## Concerns
- ID format change may break existing integrations
- Need migration path for existing databases
- Display logic needs update to hide/show suffixes appropriately

## Success Criteria
- 10+ clone collision test passes without failures
- Existing issues continue to work (backward compatibility)
- Documentation updated with new ID format
- Migration guide for v1.x → v2.x

## Timeline
Medium-term (v1.1-v1.2), 2-3 weeks implementation

## References
- Related to bd-0dcea000 (immediate fix)
- See beads_nway_test.go for failing N-way tests


Export doesn't update last_import_hash metadata causing perpetual 'JSONL content has changed' errors

After a successful export, the daemon doesn't update last_import_hash or last_import_mtime metadata. This causes hasJSONLChanged to return true on the next export attempt, blocking with 'refusing to export: JSONL content has changed since last import'.

Related to GH #334.

Scenario:
1. Daemon exports successfully → JSONL updated, hash changes
2. Metadata NOT updated (last_import_hash still points to old hash)
3. Next mutation triggers export
4. validatePreExport calls hasJSONLChanged
5. hasJSONLChanged sees current JSONL hash != last_import_hash
6. Export blocked with 'JSONL content has changed since last import'
7. Issue stuck: can't export, can't make progress

This creates a catch-22 where the system thinks JSONL changed externally when it was the daemon itself that changed it.

Current behavior:
- Import updates metadata (import.go:310-336)
- Export does NOT update metadata (daemon_sync.go:307)
- Result: metadata becomes stale after every export


Add tests for daemon vs non-daemon parity in list filters

After bd-o43 RPC integration, we need tests to verify daemon mode behaves identically to direct mode for all new filter flags.

Test coverage needed:
- Pattern matching: --title-contains, --desc-contains, --notes-contains
- Date ranges: all 6 date filter flags (created/updated/closed after/before)
- Empty/null checks: --empty-description, --no-assignee, --no-labels
- Priority ranges: --priority-min, --priority-max
- Status normalization: --status all vs no status flag
- Date parsing: YYYY-MM-DD, RFC3339, and error cases
- Backward compat: deprecated --label flag still works

Oracle review findings (bd-o43):
- Date parsing should support multiple formats
- Status 'all' should be treated as unset
- NoLabels field was missing from RPC protocol
- Error messages should be clear and actionable

Test approach:
- Create RPC integration tests in internal/rpc/server_issues_epics_test.go
- Compare daemon client.List() vs direct store.SearchIssues() for same filters
- Verify error messages match between modes
- Test with real daemon instance, not just unit tests


Extract daemon server functions to daemon_server.go


Implement "bd daemons logs" subcommand

Add command to view daemon logs for a specific workspace. Requires daemon logging to file (may need separate issue for log infrastructure).


Add git operations for --hard reset

Implement git integration for hard reset mode.

## Operations Needed
1. `git rm -rf .beads/*.jsonl` - remove data files from index
2. `git commit -m 'beads: reset to clean state'` - commit removal
3. After re-init: `git add .beads/` and commit fresh state

## Edge Cases to Handle
- Uncommitted changes in .beads/ - warn or error
- Detached HEAD state - warn, maybe block
- Git not initialized - skip git ops, warn
- Git operations fail mid-way - clear error messaging

## Interface
```go
type GitState struct {
    IsRepo       bool
    IsDirty      bool   // uncommitted changes in .beads/
    IsDetached   bool   // detached HEAD
    Branch       string // current branch name
}

func CheckGitState(beadsDir string) (*GitState, error)
func GitRemoveBeads(beadsDir string) error
func GitCommitReset(message string) error
func GitAddAndCommit(beadsDir, message string) error
```

## Location
`internal/reset/git.go` - keep with reset package for now

Note: Codebase has no central git package. internal/compact/git.go is compact-specific.
Future refactoring could extract shared git utilities, but YAGNI for now.


bd message: Add input validation for --importance flag

The --importance flag accepts any string without validation, leading to confusing server errors.

**Location:** cmd/bd/message.go:256-258

**Fix:**
- Add flag validation for: low, normal, high, urgent
- Add shell completion support
- Validate in runMessageSend before sending

**Impact:** Better UX, prevents confusing errors


Implement bd migrate command

Add bd migrate command to move issues between repos with filtering. Should support: filtering by status/priority/labels, dry-run mode, preserving dependencies, handling source_repo field updates.


Prevent test pollution in production database

The bd-vxdr cleanup revealed test issues were created during manual testing in the production workspace (Nov 2-4, template feature development).

**Root cause:** Manual testing with `./bd create "Test issue"` pollutes the production .beads database.

**Prevention strategies:**
1. Use TEST_DB environment variable for manual testing
2. Add warning when creating issues with "Test" prefix
3. Improve developer docs about testing workflow
4. Consider adding `bd test-mode` command for isolated testing

**Implementation completed:**

1. ✅ Added warning when creating issues with "Test" prefix in production database
   - Shows yellow warning with ⚠ symbol
   - Suggests using BEADS_DB for isolated testing
   - Warning appears in create.go after title validation

2. ✅ Documented BEADS_DB testing workflow in AGENTS.md
   - Added "Testing Workflow" section in Development Guidelines
   - Includes manual testing examples with BEADS_DB
   - Includes automated testing examples with t.TempDir()
   - Clear warning about not polluting production database

3. ⚠ Decided against bd test-mode command
   - BEADS_DB already provides simple, flexible isolation
   - Additional command would add complexity without much benefit
   - Current approach follows Unix philosophy (env vars for config)

**Files modified:**
- cmd/bd/create.go - Added Test prefix warning
- AGENTS.md - Added Testing Workflow section

**Testing:**
- Verified warning appears when creating "Test" prefix issues
- Verified BEADS_DB isolation works correctly
- Built successfully with `go build`


Review and document rarely-used commands

Document use cases or consider deprecation for infrequently-used commands.

**Commands to review:**
1. bd rename-prefix - How often is this used? Document use cases
2. bd detect-pollution - Consider integrating into bd validate
3. bd migrate-hash-ids - One-time migration, keep but document as legacy

**For each command:**
- Document typical use cases
- Add examples to help text
- Consider if it should be a subcommand instead
- Add deprecation warning if appropriate

**Not changing:**
- duplicates ✓ (useful for data quality)
- repair-deps ✓ (useful for fixing broken refs)
- restore ✓ (critical for compacted issues)
- compact ✓ (performance feature)

**Deliverable:**
- Updated help text
- Documentation in ADVANCED.md
- Deprecation plan if needed


bd delete fails to find closed issues

## Steps to Reproduce
1. Close some issues with `bd close`
2. Try to delete them with `bd delete <ids> --force`
3. Get error "issues not found"

## Expected Behavior
Should delete the closed issues

## Actual Behavior
```
Error: issues not found: bd-74ee, bd-9b13, bd-72w, bd-149, bd-5iv, bd-78w
```

But `bd list --status closed --json` shows they exist.

## Root Cause
Likely the delete command is only looking for open issues, or there's a race condition with auto-import.


Investigate jujutsu VCS as potential solution for conflict-free merging

## Context
Current N-way collision resolution struggles with Git line-based merge model. When 5+ clones create issues with same ID, Git merge conflicts require manual resolution, and our collision resolver can fail during convergence rounds.

## Research Question
Could jujutsu (jj) provide better conflict handling for JSONL files?

## Jujutsu Overview
- Next-gen VCS built on libgit2
- Designed to handle conflicts as first-class citizens
- Supports conflict-free replicated data types (CRDTs) in some scenarios
- Better handling of concurrent edits
- Can work with Git repos (compatible with existing infrastructure)

## Investigation Tasks
1. JSONL Merge Behavior - How does jj handle line-by-line JSONL conflicts?
2. Integration Feasibility - Can beads use jj as backend while maintaining Git compatibility?
3. Conflict Resolution Model - Does jj conflict model map to our collision resolution?
4. Operational Transform Support - Does jj implement operational transforms?

## Deliverables
1. Technical report on jj merge algorithm for JSONL
2. Proof-of-concept: 5-clone collision test using jj instead of Git
3. Performance comparison: Git vs jj for beads workload
4. Recommendation: Adopt, experiment further, or abandon

## References
- https://github.com/martinvonz/jj
- Related to bd-e6d71828, bd-7a2b58fc


Tests take too long - unacceptable for project size

## Problem

Running `go test ./internal/importer/... -v` takes an unacceptably long time (minutes). For a project this size, tests should complete in seconds.

## Impact

- Slows down development iteration
- AI agents waste time waiting for tests
- Blocks rapid bug fixes and validation
- Poor developer experience

## Investigation Needed

- Profile which tests are slow
- Check for unnecessary sleeps, timeouts, or integration tests
- Look for tests that could be parallelized
- Consider splitting unit vs integration tests

## Goal

Test suite for a single package should complete in <5 seconds, ideally <2 seconds.

## Optimizations Applied

1. **Added t.Parallel() to CLI tests** (13 tests) - allows concurrent execution
2. **Removed unnecessary 200ms sleep** in daemon_autoimport_test.go - Execute() forces auto-import synchronously
3. **Reduced filesystem settle wait** from 100ms → 50ms on non-Windows platforms
4. **Optimized debouncer test sleeps** (9 reductions):
   - Before debounce waits: 30ms → 20ms, 20ms → 10ms
   - After debounce waits: 40ms → 35ms, 30ms → 35ms, etc.
   - Thread safety test: 100ms → 70ms
   - Sequential cycles: 50ms → 40ms (3x)
   - Cancel tests: 70-80ms → 60ms

## Results

### cmd/bd package (main improvement target):
- **Before**: 5+ minutes (timeout)
- **After**: ~18-20 seconds
- **Speedup**: ~15-18x faster

### internal/importer package:
- **After**: <1 second (0.9s)

### Full test suite (with `-short` flag):
- Most packages complete in <2s
- Total runtime constrained by sequential integration tests

## Known Issues

- TestConcurrentExternalRefImports hangs due to :memory: connection pool issue (bd-b121)
- Some sync_branch tests may need sequential execution (git worktree conflicts)


Add functional tests for FlushManager correctness verification


Auto-routing and maintainer detection

Implement intelligent routing to automatically send new issues to correct repo based on user's maintainer vs contributor status, with discovered issues inheriting parent's source_repo.


Fix default .beads/.gitignore to ignore merge artifacts (GH #274)

Updated the default .gitignore template created by `bd init` to properly ignore merge artifacts and fix overly broad patterns.

Changes:
- Added `*.db?*` pattern for database files with query strings
- Added explicit patterns for merge artifacts: beads.{base,left,right}.{jsonl,meta.json}
- Changed `!*.jsonl` to `!issues.jsonl` to avoid including merge artifact JSONL files

This fixes GitHub issue #274 reported by rscorer.


Add merge helper commands (bd sync --merge)

Add commands to merge beads branch back to main.

Tasks:
- Implement bd sync --merge command
- Implement bd sync --status command
- Implement bd sync --auto-merge (optional, for automation)
- Detect merge conflicts and provide guidance
- Show commit diff between branches
- Verify main branch is clean before merge
- Push merged changes to remote

Estimated effort: 2-3 days


Import overwrites newer local issues with older remote versions

## Problem

During git pull + import, local issues with newer updated_at timestamps get overwritten by older versions from remote JSONL.

## What Happened

Timeline:
1. 17:52 - Closed bd-df190564 and bd-b501fcc1 locally (updated_at: 2025-10-31)
2. 17:51 - Remote pushed same issues with status=open (updated_at: 2025-10-30)
3. 17:52 - Local sync pulled remote commit and imported JSONL
4. Result: Issues reverted to open despite local version being newer

## Root Cause

DetectCollisions (internal/storage/sqlite/collision.go:67-79) compares fields but doesn't check timestamps:

```go
conflictingFields := compareIssues(existing, incoming)
if len(conflictingFields) == 0 {
    result.ExactMatches = append(result.ExactMatches, incoming.ID)
} else {
    // Same ID, different content - treats as UPDATE
    result.Collisions = append(result.Collisions, &CollisionDetail{...})
}
```

Import applies incoming version regardless of which is newer.

## Expected Behavior

Import should:
1. Compare updated_at timestamps when collision detected
2. Skip update if local version is newer
3. Apply update only if remote version is newer
4. Warn on timestamp conflicts

## Solution

Add timestamp checking to DetectCollisions or importIssues:

```go
if len(conflictingFields) > 0 {
    // Check timestamps
    if !incoming.UpdatedAt.After(existing.UpdatedAt) {
        // Local is newer or same - skip update
        result.ExactMatches = append(result.ExactMatches, incoming.ID)
        continue
    }
    // Remote is newer - apply update
    result.Collisions = append(result.Collisions, &CollisionDetail{...})
}
```

## Files
- internal/storage/sqlite/collision.go
- internal/importer/importer.go

## References
- Discovered during bd-df190564, bd-b501fcc1 re-opening


Implement core reset package (internal/reset)

Create the core reset logic in internal/reset/ package.

## Responsibilities
- ResetOptions struct with all flag options
- CountImpact() - count issues/tombstones that will be deleted
- ValidateState() - check .beads/ exists, check git dirty state
- ExecuteReset() - main reset logic (without CLI concerns)
- Integrate with daemon killall

## Interface Design
```go
type ResetOptions struct {
    Hard      bool   // Include git operations (git rm, commit)
    Backup    bool   // Create backup before reset
    DryRun    bool   // Preview only, don't execute
    SkipInit  bool   // Don't re-initialize after reset
}

type ResetResult struct {
    IssuesDeleted     int
    TombstonesDeleted int
    BackupPath        string  // if backup was created
    DaemonsKilled     int
}

type ImpactSummary struct {
    IssueCount      int
    OpenCount       int
    ClosedCount     int
    TombstoneCount  int
    HasUncommitted  bool  // git dirty state
}

func Reset(opts ResetOptions) (*ResetResult, error)
func CountImpact() (*ImpactSummary, error)
func ValidateState() error
```

## IMPORTANT: CLI vs Core Separation
- `Force` (skip confirmation) is NOT in ResetOptions - that's a CLI concern
- Core always executes when called; CLI decides whether to prompt first
- Keep CLI-agnostic: no prompts, no colored output, no user interaction
- Return errors for CLI to handle with user-friendly messages
- Unit testable in isolation

## Dependencies
- Uses daemon.KillAllDaemons() from internal/daemon/
- Calls bd init logic after reset (unless SkipInit)


Remove unused global daemon infrastructure (internal/daemonrunner/)

The internal/daemonrunner/ package (1,468 LOC) contains the old global daemon implementation that is no longer used. We now use per-workspace daemons.

Deadcode analysis shows all these functions are unreachable:
- Daemon.Start, runGlobalDaemon, setupLock
- validateSingleDatabase, validateSchemaVersion
- registerDaemon, unregisterDaemon
- validateDatabaseFingerprint
- Full git client implementation (NewGitClient, HasUpstream, HasChanges, Commit, Push, Pull)
- Helper functions: isGitRepo, gitHasUpstream, gitHasChanges, gitCommit

The entire package appears unused since switching to per-workspace daemon architecture.

Files to remove:
- daemon.go (9,436 bytes)
- git.go (3,510 bytes)
- sync.go (6,401 bytes)
- fingerprint.go (2,076 bytes)
- process.go (3,332 bytes)
- rpc.go (994 bytes)
- config.go (486 bytes)
- logger.go (1,579 bytes)
- flock_*.go (platform-specific file locking)
- signals_*.go (platform-specific signal handling)
- All test files

Total cleanup: ~1,500 LOC


Add global verbosity flags (--verbose, --quiet)

Add consistent verbosity controls across all commands.

**Current state:**
- bd init has --quiet flag
- No other commands have verbosity controls
- Debug output controlled by BD_VERBOSE env var

**Proposal:**
Add persistent flags:
- --verbose / -v: Enable debug output
- --quiet / -q: Suppress non-essential output

**Implementation:**
- Add to rootCmd.PersistentFlags()
- Replace BD_VERBOSE checks with flag checks
- Standardize output levels:
  * Quiet: Errors only
  * Normal: Errors + success messages
  * Verbose: Errors + success + debug info

**Files to modify:**
- cmd/bd/main.go (add flags)
- internal/debug/debug.go (respect flags)
- Update all commands to respect quiet mode

**Testing:**
- Verify --verbose shows debug output
- Verify --quiet suppresses normal output
- Ensure errors always show regardless of mode


Review PR #512: clarify bd ready docs

Review and merge PR #512 from aspiers. This PR clarifies what bd ready does after git pull in README.md. Simple 1-line change. URL: https://github.com/anthropics/beads/pull/512


Add TestNWayCollision for 5+ clones

## Overview
Add comprehensive tests for N-way (5+) collision resolution to verify the solution scales beyond 3 clones.

## Purpose
While TestThreeCloneCollision validates the basic N-way case, we need to verify:
1. Solution scales to arbitrary N
2. Performance is acceptable with more clones
3. Convergence time is bounded
4. No edge cases in larger collision groups

## Implementation Tasks

### 1. Create TestFiveCloneCollision
File: beads_twoclone_test.go (or new beads_nway_test.go)

```go
func TestFiveCloneCollision(t *testing.T) {
    // Test with 5 clones creating same ID with different content
    // Verify all 5 clones converge after sync rounds

    t.Run("SequentialSync", func(t *testing.T) {
        testNCloneCollision(t, 5, "A", "B", "C", "D", "E")
    })

    t.Run("ReverseSync", func(t *testing.T) {
        testNCloneCollision(t, 5, "E", "D", "C", "B", "A")
    })

    t.Run("RandomSync", func(t *testing.T) {
        testNCloneCollision(t, 5, "C", "A", "E", "B", "D")
    })
}
```

### 2. Implement generalized testNCloneCollision
Generalize the 3-clone test to handle arbitrary N:

```go
func testNCloneCollision(t *testing.T, numClones int, syncOrder ...string) {
    t.Helper()

    if len(syncOrder) != numClones {
        t.Fatalf("syncOrder length (%d) must match numClones (%d)",
            len(syncOrder), numClones)
    }

    tmpDir := t.TempDir()

    // Setup remote and N clones
    remoteDir := setupBareRepo(t, tmpDir)
    cloneDirs := make(map[string]string)

    for i := 0; i < numClones; i++ {
        name := string(rune('A' + i))
        cloneDirs[name] = setupClone(t, tmpDir, remoteDir, name)
    }

    // Each clone creates issue with same ID but different content
    for name, dir := range cloneDirs {
        createIssue(t, dir, fmt.Sprintf("Issue from clone %s", name))
    }

    // Sync in specified order
    for _, name := range syncOrder {
        syncClone(t, cloneDirs[name], name)
    }

    // Final pull for convergence
    for name, dir := range cloneDirs {
        finalPull(t, dir, name)
    }

    // Verify all clones have all N issues
    expectedTitles := make(map[string]bool)
    for i := 0; i < numClones; i++ {
        name := string(rune('A' + i))
        expectedTitles[fmt.Sprintf("Issue from clone %s", name)] = true
    }

    for name, dir := range cloneDirs {
        titles := getTitles(t, dir)
        if !compareTitleSets(titles, expectedTitles) {
            t.Errorf("Clone %s missing issues: expected %v, got %v",
                name, expectedTitles, titles)
        }
    }

    t.Log("✓ All", numClones, "clones converged successfully")
}
```

### 3. Add performance benchmarks
Test convergence time and memory usage:

```go
func BenchmarkNWayCollision(b *testing.B) {
    for _, n := range []int{3, 5, 10, 20} {
        b.Run(fmt.Sprintf("N=%d", n), func(b *testing.B) {
            for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
                // Run N-way collision and measure time
                testNCloneCollisionBench(b, n)
            }
        })
    }
}
```

### 4. Add convergence time tests
Verify bounded convergence:

```go
func TestConvergenceTime(t *testing.T) {
    // Test that convergence happens within expected rounds
    // For N clones, should converge in at most N-1 sync rounds

    for n := 3; n <= 10; n++ {
        t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("N=%d", n), func(t *testing.T) {
            rounds := measureConvergenceRounds(t, n)
            maxExpected := n - 1
            if rounds > maxExpected {
                t.Errorf("Convergence took %d rounds, expected ≤ %d",
                    rounds, maxExpected)
            }
        })
    }
}
```

### 5. Add edge case tests
Test boundary conditions:
- All N clones have identical content (dedup works)
- N-1 clones have same content, 1 differs
- All N clones have unique content
- Mix of collisions and non-collisions

## Acceptance Criteria
- TestFiveCloneCollision passes with all sync orders
- All 5 clones converge to identical content
- Performance is acceptable (< 5 seconds for 5 clones)
- Convergence time is bounded (≤ N-1 rounds)
- Edge cases handled correctly
- Benchmarks show scalability to 10+ clones

## Files to Create/Modify
- beads_twoclone_test.go or beads_nway_test.go
- Add helper functions for N-clone setup

## Testing Strategy

### Test Matrix
| N Clones | Sync Orders | Expected Result |
|----------|-------------|-----------------|
| 3        | A→B→C       | Pass            |
| 3        | C→B→A       | Pass            |
| 5        | A→B→C→D→E   | Pass            |
| 5        | E→D→C→B→A   | Pass            |
| 5        | Random      | Pass            |
| 10       | Sequential  | Pass            |

### Performance Targets
- 3 clones: < 2 seconds
- 5 clones: < 5 seconds
- 10 clones: < 15 seconds

## Dependencies
- Requires bd-cbed9619.5, bd-cbed9619.4, bd-0dcea000, bd-4d7fca8a to be completed
- TestThreeCloneCollision must pass first

## Success Metrics
- All tests pass for N ∈ {3, 5, 10}
- Convergence time scales linearly (O(N))
- Memory usage reasonable (< 100MB for 10 clones)
- No data corruption or loss in any scenario


Test issue 1


Implement `bd setup claude` command for Claude Code integration

Create a `bd setup claude` command that installs Claude Code integration files (slash commands and hooks). This is idempotent and safe to run multiple times.


Add bd alias command for manual alias control

Add command for users to manually view and reassign aliases.

## Command: bd alias

### Subcommands

#### 1. bd alias list
Show all alias mappings:
```bash
$ bd alias list
#1    → bd-af78e9a2  Fix authentication bug
#2    → bd-e5f6a7b8  Add logging to daemon
#42   → bd-1a2b3c4d  Investigate jujutsu integration
#100  → bd-9a8b7c6d  (reassigned after conflict)
```

#### 2. bd alias set <alias> <hash-id>
Manually assign alias to specific issue:
```bash
$ bd alias set 42 bd-1a2b3c4d
✓ Assigned alias #42 to bd-1a2b3c4d

$ bd alias set 1 bd-af78e9a2
✗ Error: Alias #1 already assigned to bd-e5f6a7b8
Use --force to override
```

#### 3. bd alias compact
Renumber all aliases to fill gaps:
```bash
$ bd alias compact [--dry-run]

Current aliases: #1, #2, #5, #7, #100, #101
After compacting: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6

Renumbering:
  #5   → #3
  #7   → #4
  #100 → #5
  #101 → #6

Apply changes? [y/N]
```

#### 4. bd alias reset
Regenerate all aliases (sequential from 1):
```bash
$ bd alias reset [--sort-by=priority|created|id]

WARNING: This will reassign ALL aliases. Continue? [y/N]

Reassigning 150 issues by priority:
  bd-a1b2c3d4 → #1   (P0: Critical security bug)
  bd-e5f6a7b8 → #2   (P0: Data loss fix)
  bd-1a2b3c4d → #3   (P1: Jujutsu integration)
  ...
```

#### 5. bd alias find <hash-id>
Look up alias for hash ID:
```bash
$ bd alias find bd-af78e9a2
#1

$ bd alias find bd-nonexistent
✗ Error: Issue not found
```

## Use Cases

### 1. Keep Important Issues Low-Numbered
```bash
# After closing many P0 issues, compact to free low numbers
bd alias compact

# Or manually set
bd alias set 1 bd-<critical-bug-hash>
```

### 2. Consistent Aliases Across Clones
```bash
# After migration, coordinator assigns canonical aliases
bd alias reset --sort-by=id
git add .beads/aliases.jsonl
git commit -m "Canonical alias assignments"
git push

# Other clones pull and adopt
git pull
bd import  # Alias conflicts resolved automatically
```

### 3. Debug Alias Conflicts
```bash
# See which aliases were reassigned
bd alias list | grep "#100"
```

## Flags

### Global
- `--dry-run`: Preview changes without applying
- `--force`: Override existing alias assignments

### bd alias reset
- `--sort-by=priority`: Assign by priority (P0 first)
- `--sort-by=created`: Assign by creation time (oldest first)
- `--sort-by=id`: Assign by hash ID (lexicographic)

## Implementation

File: cmd/bd/alias.go
```go
func aliasListCmd() *cobra.Command {
    return &cobra.Command{
        Use:   "list",
        Short: "List all alias mappings",
        Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
            aliases := storage.GetAllAliases()
            for _, a := range aliases {
                fmt.Printf("#%-4d → %s  %s\n",
                    a.Alias, a.IssueID, a.Title)
            }
        },
    }
}

func aliasSetCmd() *cobra.Command {
    return &cobra.Command{
        Use:   "set <alias> <hash-id>",
        Short: "Manually assign alias to issue",
        Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(2),
        Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
            alias, _ := strconv.Atoi(args[0])
            hashID := args[1]

            force, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("force")
            if err := storage.SetAlias(alias, hashID, force); err != nil {
                fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: %v\n", err)
                os.Exit(1)
            }
            fmt.Printf("✓ Assigned alias #%d to %s\n", alias, hashID)
        },
    }
}
```

## Files to Create
- cmd/bd/alias.go

## Testing
- Test alias list output
- Test alias set with/without force
- Test alias compact removes gaps
- Test alias reset with different sort orders
- Test alias find lookup


bd message: Add HTTP client timeout to prevent hangs

HTTP client in `sendAgentMailRequest` uses default http.Post with no timeout.

**Location:** cmd/bd/message.go:181

**Problem:**
- Can hang indefinitely if server is unresponsive
- No way to cancel stuck requests
- Poor UX in flaky networks

**Fix:**
```go
client := &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second}
resp, err := client.Post(url, "application/json", bytes.NewReader(reqBody))
```

**Impact:** Production reliability and security issue


Update python-agent example with Agent Mail integration

Modify examples/python-agent/agent.py to use Agent Mail adapter at 4 integration points.

Acceptance Criteria:
- Import and initialize adapter
- Check inbox before find_ready_work()
- Reserve issue before claim_task()
- Notify on status changes
- Release reservation on complete_task()
- Works identically when Agent Mail disabled
- No changes required to core Beads CLI

File: examples/python-agent/agent.py


Update documentation for hash IDs and aliases

Update all documentation to explain hash-based IDs and aliasing system.

## Files to Update

### 1. README.md
Add section explaining hash IDs:
```markdown
## Issue IDs

Beads uses **hash-based IDs** for collision-free distributed issue tracking:

- **Hash ID**: `bd-af78e9a2` (8-char SHA256 prefix, immutable, globally unique)
- **Alias**: `#42` (sequential number, mutable, human-friendly)

### Using IDs
```bash
bd show bd-af78e9a2   # Use hash ID
bd show #42           # Use alias
bd show 42            # Use alias (shorthand)
```

### Why Hash IDs?
- **Collision-free**: Work offline without ID conflicts
- **Distributed**: No coordination needed between clones
- **Git-friendly**: Different IDs = different JSONL lines, fewer merge conflicts

### Aliases
Aliases are workspace-local shortcuts for hash IDs. They're:
- Automatically assigned on issue creation
- Reassigned deterministically on sync (if conflicts)
- Can be manually controlled with `bd alias` commands
```

### 2. AGENTS.md
Update agent workflow:
```markdown
## Hash-Based IDs (v2.0+)

Beads v2.0 uses hash-based IDs to eliminate collision problems:

**When creating issues**:
```bash
bd create "Fix bug" -p 1
# → Creates bd-af78e9a2 with alias #1
```

**When referencing issues**:
- In text: Use hash IDs (stable): "See bd-af78e9a2 for details"
- In CLI: Use aliases (readable): `bd update #42 --status done`

**After sync**:
- Alias conflicts resolved automatically (content-hash ordering)
- No ID collisions possible
- No remapping needed

**Migration from v1.x**:
```bash
bd migrate --hash-ids  # One-time migration
```
```

### 3. QUICKSTART.md (if exists)
Show alias usage in examples:
```bash
# Create issue (gets hash ID + alias)
bd create "Fix authentication bug" -p 1
# → Created bd-af78e9a2 (alias: #1)

# Reference by alias
bd show #1
bd update #1 --status in_progress
bd close #1 --reason "Fixed"
```

### 4. ADVANCED.md
Add section on hash ID internals:
```markdown
## Hash ID Generation

Hash IDs are generated deterministically:

```go
SHA256(title || description || timestamp || workspace_id)[:8]
```

**Collision probability**:
- 8 hex chars = 2^32 space = ~4 billion IDs
- Birthday paradox: 50% collision probability at ~65,000 issues
- For typical projects (<10,000 issues), collision risk is negligible

**Collision detection**:
If a hash collision occurs (extremely rare), beads:
1. Detects on insert (UNIQUE constraint)
2. Appends random suffix: `bd-af78e9a2-a1b2`
3. Retries insert

## Alias Conflict Resolution

When multiple clones assign same alias to different issues:

**Strategy**: Content-hash ordering (deterministic)
- Sort conflicting issue IDs lexicographically
- Lowest hash ID keeps the alias
- Others reassigned to next available aliases

**Example**:
```
Clone A: Assigns #42 to bd-a1b2c3d4
Clone B: Assigns #42 to bd-e5f6a7b8
After sync: bd-a1b2c3d4 keeps #42 (lower hash)
            bd-e5f6a7b8 gets #100 (next available)
```
```

### 5. MIGRATION.md (new file)
```markdown
# Migrating to Hash-Based IDs (v2.0)

## Overview
Beads v2.0 introduces hash-based IDs to eliminate collision problems. This is a **breaking change** requiring migration.

## Migration Steps

### 1. Backup
```bash
cp -r .beads .beads.backup
git commit -am "Pre-migration backup"
```

### 2. Run Migration
```bash
# Dry run first
bd migrate --hash-ids --dry-run

# Apply migration
bd migrate --hash-ids
```

### 3. Commit Changes
```bash
git add .beads/issues.jsonl
git commit -m "Migrate to hash-based IDs (v2.0)"
git push origin main
```

### 4. Coordinate with Collaborators
All clones must migrate before syncing:
1. Notify team: "Migrating to v2.0 on [date]"
2. All collaborators pull latest
3. All run `bd migrate --hash-ids`
4. All push changes
5. Resume normal work

## Rollback
```bash
# Restore backup
mv .beads.backup .beads
bd export  # Regenerate JSONL
git checkout .beads/issues.jsonl
```

## FAQ

**Q: Can I mix v1.x and v2.0 clones?**
A: No. All clones must be on same version.

**Q: Will my old issue IDs work?**
A: No, but aliases preserve the numbers: bd-1c63eb84 → #1

**Q: What happens to links like "see bd-cb64c226.3"?**
A: Migration updates all text references automatically.
```

### 6. CHANGELOG.md
```markdown
## v2.0.0 (YYYY-MM-DD)

### Breaking Changes
- **Hash-based IDs**: Issues now use collision-free hash IDs (bd-af78e9a2)
  instead of sequential IDs (bd-1c63eb84, bd-9063acda)
- **Aliasing system**: Human-friendly aliases (#42) for hash IDs
- **Migration required**: Run `bd migrate --hash-ids` to convert v1.x databases

### Added
- `bd alias` command for manual alias control
- `bd migrate --hash-ids` migration tool
- Alias conflict resolution (deterministic, content-hash ordering)

### Removed
- ID collision detection and resolution (~2,100 LOC)
- `bd import --resolve-collisions` flag (no longer needed)

### Benefits
- ✅ Zero ID collisions in distributed workflows
- ✅ Simpler codebase (-1,350 net LOC)
- ✅ Better git merge behavior
- ✅ True offline-first operation
```

## Testing
- Build docs locally (if using doc generator)
- Check all links work
- Verify examples are correct
- Spellcheck

## Files to Create/Modify
- README.md (hash ID section)
- AGENTS.md (workflow updates)
- ADVANCED.md (internals)
- MIGRATION.md (new)
- CHANGELOG.md (v2.0 entry)
- docs/ (any other docs)


bd cleanup fails with CHECK constraint on status/closed_at mismatch

## Problem

Running bd cleanup --force fails with:

Error: failed to create tombstone for bd-okh: sqlite3: constraint failed: CHECK constraint failed: (status = 'closed') = (closed_at IS NOT NULL)

## Root Cause

The database has a CHECK constraint ensuring closed issues have closed_at set and non-closed issues do not. When bd cleanup tries to convert a closed issue to a tombstone, this constraint fails.

## Impact

- bd cleanup --force cannot complete
- 722 closed issues cannot be cleaned up
- Blocks routine maintenance

## Investigation Needed

1. Check the bd-okh record in the database
2. Determine if this is data corruption or a bug in tombstone creation

## Proposed Solutions

1. If data corruption: Add a bd doctor --fix check that repairs status/closed_at mismatches
2. If code bug: Fix the tombstone creation to properly handle the constraint

## Files to Investigate

- internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go - DeleteIssue / tombstone creation
- Schema CHECK constraint definition

## Acceptance Criteria

- Identify root cause (data vs code bug)
- bd cleanup --force completes successfully
- bd doctor detects status/closed_at mismatches


Manual task


Implement `bd setup cursor` for Cursor IDE integration

Create a `bd setup cursor` command that integrates Beads workflow into Cursor IDE via .cursorrules file. Unlike Claude Code (which has hooks), Cursor uses a static rules file to provide context to its AI.


bd-hv01: Deletion tracking production readiness

Epic to track all improvements and fixes needed to make the deletion tracking implementation ([deleted:bd-hv01]) production-ready.

The core 3-way merge algorithm is sound, but there are critical issues around atomicity, error handling, and edge cases that need to be addressed before this can be safely used in production.

Critical path (P1):
- Non-atomic snapshot operations
- Brittle JSON string comparison
- Silent partial deletion failures
- Race conditions in concurrent scenarios

Follow-up work (P2-P3):
- Test coverage for edge cases and multi-repo mode
- Performance optimizations
- Code refactoring and observability

Related commit: 708a81c


bd doctor: per-fix confirmation mode

Add an interactive mode where users can approve/reject each fix individually rather than all-or-nothing. Currently --fix prompts once for all fixes. This would give users more control over which repairs to apply, especially useful when some fixes may have side effects.


bd info shows 'auto_start_disabled' even when daemon is crashed/missing


bd doctor: add --dry-run flag to preview fixes without applying

Currently bd doctor --fix applies all fixes. Add a --dry-run flag to preview what would be fixed without making changes. This helps users understand the impact before committing to repairs.


Test database naming


Fix N-way collision convergence

Epic to fix the N-way collision convergence problem documented in n-way-collision-convergence.md.

## Problem Summary
The current collision resolution implementation works correctly for 2-way collisions but does not converge for 3-way (and by extension N-way) collisions. TestThreeCloneCollision demonstrates this with reproducible failures.

## Root Causes Identified
1. Pairwise resolution doesn't scale - each clone makes local decisions without global context
2. DetectCollisions modifies state during detection (line 83-86 in collision.go)
3. No remapping history - can't track transitive remap chains (test-1 → test-2 → test-3)
4. Import-time resolution is too late - happens after git merge

## Solution Architecture
Replace pairwise resolution with deterministic global N-way resolution using:
- Content-addressable identity (content hashing)
- Global collision resolution (sort all versions by hash)
- Read-only detection phase (separate from modification)
- Idempotent imports (content-first matching)

## Success Criteria
- TestThreeCloneCollision passes without skipping
- All clones converge to identical content after final pull
- No data loss (all issues present in all clones)
- Works for N workers (test with 5+ clones)
- Idempotent imports (importing same JSONL multiple times is safe)

## Implementation Phases
See child issues for detailed breakdown of each phase.


Update documentation after code health cleanup

Update all documentation to reflect code structure changes after cleanup phases complete.

Documentation to update:
1. **AGENTS.md** - Update file structure references
2. **CONTRIBUTING.md** (if exists) - Update build/test instructions
3. **Code comments** - Update any outdated references
4. **Package documentation** - Update godoc for reorganized packages

New documentation to add:
1. **internal/util/README.md** - Document shared utilities
2. **internal/debug/README.md** - Document debug logging
3. **internal/rpc/README.md** - Document new file organization
4. **internal/storage/sqlite/migrations/README.md** - Migration system docs

Impact: Keeps documentation in sync with code


Backend task


Extract daemon config functions to daemon_config.go


RPC diagnostics: BD_RPC_DEBUG timing logs

Add lightweight diagnostic logging for RPC connection attempts:
- BD_RPC_DEBUG=1 prints to stderr:
  - Socket path being dialed
  - Socket exists check result
  - Dial start/stop time
  - Connection outcome
- Improve bd daemon --status messaging when lock not held

This helps field triage of connection issues without verbose daemon logs.


Implement content-first idempotent import

## Overview
Phase 4: Refactor import to be content-first and idempotent, ensuring importing same JSONL multiple times always converges correctly.

## Current Problem
Current import is ID-first:
1. Look up by ID
2. If exists, update
3. If not exists, create

This causes issues when:
- Same content arrives with different IDs (renames not detected)
- Multiple rounds of import needed for convergence
- Import order affects final state

## Solution
Make import content-first and idempotent:
1. Hash all incoming and existing issues
2. Match by content hash first (detect renames)
3. Handle ID conflicts second (using global resolution)
4. Ensure importing same data multiple times = no-op

## Implementation Tasks

### 1. Refactor ImportIssues to be content-first
File: internal/importer/importer.go

```go
func ImportIssues(ctx context.Context, dbPath string, store storage.Storage,
    issues []*types.Issue, opts Options) (*Result, error) {

    result := &Result{...}

    sqliteStore, needCloseStore, err := getOrCreateStore(ctx, dbPath, store)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    if needCloseStore {
        defer func() { _ = sqliteStore.Close() }()
    }

    // Phase 1: Compute content hashes for all incoming issues
    for _, issue := range issues {
        issue.ContentHash = issue.ComputeContentHash()
    }

    // Phase 2: Build content hash maps
    incomingByHash := buildHashMap(issues)
    dbIssues, _ := sqliteStore.SearchIssues(ctx, "", types.IssueFilter{})
    dbByHash := buildHashMap(dbIssues)
    dbByID := buildIDMap(dbIssues)

    // Phase 3: Content-first matching
    var newIssues []*types.Issue
    var idConflicts []*CollisionDetail

    for hash, incoming := range incomingByHash {
        if existing, found := dbByHash[hash]; found {
            // Same content exists
            if existing.ID == incoming.ID {
                // Exact match - idempotent case
                result.Unchanged++
            } else {
                // Same content, different ID - rename detected
                // Delete old ID, keep new ID (incoming is canonical)
                if err := handleRename(ctx, sqliteStore, existing, incoming); err != nil {
                    return nil, err
                }
                result.Updated++
            }
        } else {
            // New content - check for ID collision
            if existingWithID, found := dbByID[incoming.ID]; found {
                // ID exists but different content - collision
                idConflicts = append(idConflicts, &CollisionDetail{
                    ID:            incoming.ID,
                    IncomingIssue: incoming,
                    ExistingIssue: existingWithID,
                })
            } else {
                // Truly new issue
                newIssues = append(newIssues, incoming)
            }
        }
    }

    // Phase 4: Resolve ID conflicts using global algorithm
    if len(idConflicts) > 0 {
        if !opts.ResolveCollisions {
            return nil, fmt.Errorf("collision detected")
        }

        idMapping, err := sqlite.ResolveNWayCollisions(ctx, sqliteStore,
            idConflicts, issues)
        if err != nil {
            return nil, err
        }

        if err := applyIDMapping(ctx, sqliteStore, idMapping); err != nil {
            return nil, err
        }

        result.IDMapping = idMapping
        result.Collisions = len(idConflicts)
    }

    // Phase 5: Create new issues
    if len(newIssues) > 0 {
        if err := sqliteStore.CreateIssues(ctx, newIssues, "import"); err != nil {
            return nil, err
        }
        result.Created = len(newIssues)
    }

    // Phase 6: Import dependencies, labels, comments (existing logic)
    // ...

    return result, nil
}
```

### 2. Implement helper functions

```go
// buildHashMap creates a map of content hash → issue
func buildHashMap(issues []*types.Issue) map[string]*types.Issue {
    result := make(map[string]*types.Issue)
    for _, issue := range issues {
        result[issue.ContentHash] = issue
    }
    return result
}

// buildIDMap creates a map of ID → issue
func buildIDMap(issues []*types.Issue) map[string]*types.Issue {
    result := make(map[string]*types.Issue)
    for _, issue := range issues {
        result[issue.ID] = issue
    }
    return result
}

// handleRename handles content match with different IDs
func handleRename(ctx context.Context, s *SQLiteStorage,
    existing *types.Issue, incoming *types.Issue) error {

    // Delete old ID
    if err := s.DeleteIssue(ctx, existing.ID); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete old ID %s: %w", existing.ID, err)
    }

    // Create with new ID
    if err := s.CreateIssue(ctx, incoming, "import-rename"); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("failed to create renamed issue %s: %w",
            incoming.ID, err)
    }

    // Update references from old ID to new ID
    idMapping := map[string]string{existing.ID: incoming.ID}
    return updateReferences(ctx, s, idMapping)
}
```

### 3. Add idempotency tests

Test cases:
1. Import same JSONL twice → second import reports all Unchanged
2. Import, modify DB, import again → reports Updated
3. Import with rename, import again → idempotent
4. Import with collision resolution, import again → idempotent

### 4. Update handleCollisions to use new flow
Current handleCollisions in importer.go needs to be updated to:
- Use content-first matching
- Call new ResolveNWayCollisions
- Apply results using ApplyCollisionResolution

## Acceptance Criteria
- Import matches by content hash before checking IDs
- Importing same JSONL multiple times is idempotent (reports Unchanged)
- Rename detection works (same content, different ID)
- ID conflicts resolved using global algorithm
- Result.Unchanged correctly tracks idempotent imports
- TestThreeCloneCollision passes
- All existing import tests still pass

## Testing Strategy

### Unit Tests
- buildHashMap correctly indexes by content hash
- buildIDMap correctly indexes by ID
- handleRename deletes old, creates new, updates references

### Integration Tests
- Import same data twice → idempotent
- Import renamed issue → handled correctly
- Import with collision → resolved globally
- Final pull after 3-way collision → all clones converge

### Property Tests
- Idempotency: Import(x); Import(x) ≡ Import(x)
- Commutativity: Import(a); Import(b) ≡ Import(b); Import(a) (for non-colliding issues)
- Convergence: After N rounds of sync, all clones identical

## Files to Modify
- internal/importer/importer.go (major refactor of ImportIssues)
- internal/importer/importer_test.go (new tests)
- cmd/bd/import_bug_test.go (update for new behavior)

## Dependencies
- Requires bd-cbed9619.5 (ContentHash field)
- Requires bd-cbed9619.4 (read-only detection)
- Requires bd-cbed9619.3 (global resolution)

## Risk Mitigation
Major refactor of import logic. Recommend:
1. Comprehensive tests before modifying
2. Feature flag to enable/disable
3. Keep old import code path for rollback
4. Test with all existing import tests
5. Manual testing with real repositories

## Success Metrics
After this phase:
- TestThreeCloneCollision should PASS
- All clones converge after final pull
- Import is demonstrably idempotent
- No data loss in N-way scenarios


Add bd init --contributor wizard

Interactive wizard for OSS contributor setup. Guides user through: fork workflow setup, separate planning repo configuration, auto-detection of fork relationships, examples of common OSS workflows.


Make MCP compaction settings configurable (COMPACTION_THRESHOLD, PREVIEW_COUNT)

Currently COMPACTION_THRESHOLD (20) and PREVIEW_COUNT (5) are hardcoded constants at the module level. This prevents users from tuning context engineering behavior.

## Current State
```python
COMPACTION_THRESHOLD = 20  # Compact results with more than 20 issues
PREVIEW_COUNT = 5          # Show first 5 issues in preview
```

## Problems
1. No way for MCP clients to request different preview sizes
2. No way to disable compaction for debugging
3. No way to adapt to different context window sizes
4. Values are not documented in tool schema

## Recommended Solution
Add environment variables or MCP tool parameters:
- `BEADS_MCP_COMPACTION_THRESHOLD` env var (default: 20)
- `BEADS_MCP_PREVIEW_COUNT` env var (default: 5)
- Optional `compact_threshold` and `preview_size` parameters to list/ready tools

## Implementation Notes
- Keep current defaults for backward compatibility
- Read from environment at server initialization
- Document in CONTEXT_ENGINEERING.md
- Add tests verifying env var behavior


Create examples for common workflows

Add examples/ subdirectories: OSS contributor workflow, team branch workflow, multi-phase development, multiple personas (architect/implementer). Each with README and sample configs.


Testing & Validation

Ensure reliability through comprehensive testing.

Completed comprehensive Agent Mail test coverage analysis and implementation.

**Test Coverage Summary:**
- 66 total tests across 5 files
- 51 unit tests for HTTP adapter (0.02s)
- 15 integration tests for multi-agent scenarios (~55s total)

**New Tests Added:**
Created `test_multi_agent_coordination.py` (4 tests, 11s) covering:
1. Fairness: 10 agents competing for 5 issues → exactly 1 claim per issue
2. Notifications: End-to-end message delivery between agents
3. Handoff: Clean reservation transfer from agent1 to agent2
4. Idempotency: Double reserve/release by same agent

**Coverage Quality:**
✅ Collision prevention (race conditions)
✅ Graceful degradation (7 failure modes)
✅ TTL/expiration behavior
✅ Multi-agent coordination
✅ JSONL consistency
✅ HTTP error handling
✅ Authorization and configuration

**Intentionally Skipped:**
- Path traversal (validated elsewhere)
- Retry policies (nice-to-have)
- HTTPS/TLS (out of scope)
- Slow tests (50+ agents, soak tests)

See `tests/integration/AGENT_MAIL_TEST_COVERAGE.md` for details.

All tests pass. Agent Mail integration is well-tested and reliable for multi-agent scenarios.


Add unit tests for config modes

Test all four orphan_handling modes: strict (fails), resurrect (creates tombstone), skip (logs warning), allow (imports orphan). Verify error messages and logging output for each mode.


Document sandbox workarounds for GH #353

Add documentation for sandbox troubleshooting and new flags.

**Tasks:**
1. Create or update TROUBLESHOOTING.md with sandbox section
2. Document new flags in CLI reference
3. Add comment to GH #353 with immediate workarounds

**Content needed:**
- Symptoms of daemon lock issues in sandboxed environments
- Usage guide for --sandbox, --force, and --allow-stale flags
- Step-by-step troubleshooting for Codex users
- Examples of each escape hatch

**Files to update:**
- docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md (create if needed)
- docs/CLI_REFERENCE.md or README.md
- GitHub issue #353

**References:**
- docs/GH353_INVESTIGATION.md (lines 240-276)


Add tests for DetectCycles to improve coverage from 29.6%

DetectCycles currently has 29.6% coverage. Need comprehensive tests for:
- Simple cycles (A->B->A)
- Complex multi-node cycles
- Acyclic graphs (should not detect cycles)
- Self-loops
- Multiple independent cycles
- Edge cases (empty graph, single node)


CRITICAL: git-history-backfill purges entire database when JSONL reset

When a clone gets reset (git reset --hard origin/main), the git-history-backfill logic incorrectly adds ALL issues to the deletions manifest, then sync purges the entire database.\n\nFix adds safety guard: never delete more than 50% of issues via git-history-backfill. If threshold exceeded, abort with warning message.


Implement auto-merge functionality in duplicates command

The duplicates.go file has a TODO at line 95 to implement the performMerge function for automatic duplicate merging. Currently it just prints a warning message. This would automate the merge process instead of just suggesting commands.


Test npm package installation locally

Verify npm package works before publishing:

## Local testing
- Run npm pack in npm/ directory
- Install tarball globally: npm install -g beads-bd-0.21.5.tgz
- Test basic commands:
  - bd --version
  - bd init --quiet --prefix test
  - bd create "Test issue" -p 1 --json
  - bd list --json
  - bd sync

## Test environments
- macOS (darwin-arm64 and darwin-amd64)
- Linux (ubuntu docker container for linux-amd64)
- Windows (optional, if available)

## Validation
- Binary downloads during postinstall
- All bd commands work identically to native
- No permission issues
- Proper error messages on failure


bd-hv01: Brittle string comparison breaks with JSON field reordering

## Problem
deletion_tracking.go:125 uses string comparison to detect unchanged issues:

```go
if leftLine, existsInLeft := leftIndex[id]; existsInLeft && leftLine == baseLine {
    deletions = append(deletions, id)
}
```

This breaks if:
- JSON field order changes (legal in JSON)
- Timestamps updated by import/export
- Whitespace/formatting changes
- Floating point precision varies

## Example Failure
```json
// baseLine
{"id":"bd-1","priority":1,"status":"open"}
// leftLine (same data, different order)
{"id":"bd-1","status":"open","priority":1}
```
These are semantically identical but string comparison fails.

## Fix
Parse and compare JSON semantically:
```go
func jsonEquals(a, b string) bool {
    var objA, objB map[string]interface{}
    json.Unmarshal([]byte(a), &objA)
    json.Unmarshal([]byte(b), &objB)
    return reflect.DeepEqual(objA, objB)
}
```

## Files Affected
- cmd/bd/deletion_tracking.go:125
- cmd/bd/deletion_tracking.go:134-170 (buildIDToLineMap)


Add path normalization to getMultiRepoJSONLPaths()

From bd-xo6b code review: getMultiRepoJSONLPaths() does not handle non-standard paths correctly.

Problems:
- No tilde expansion: ~/repos/foo treated as literal path
- No absolute path conversion: ../other-repo breaks if working directory changes
- No duplicate detection: If Primary=. and Additional=[.], same JSONL processed twice
- No empty string handling: Empty paths create invalid /.beads/issues.jsonl

Impact:
Config with tilde or relative paths will fail

Fix needed:
1. Use filepath.Abs() for all paths
2. Add tilde expansion via os.UserHomeDir()
3. Deduplicate paths (use map to track seen paths)
4. Filter out empty strings
5. Validate paths exist and are readable

Files:
- cmd/bd/deletion_tracking.go:333-358 (getMultiRepoJSONLPaths function)


Short tests taking 13+ minutes (performance regression)


Document sync.require_confirmation_on_mass_delete config option


Missing test: base is tombstone, both left and right are live

The tombstone merge tests do not cover the case where the base version is a tombstone but both left and right have resurrected/live versions. This scenario could occur if: 1) Clone A deletes an issue, 2) Clone B and Clone C both sync from A (getting tombstone), 3) Both B and C independently recreate an issue with same ID. The current code would likely fall through to standard mergeIssue() which may not be correct. Need to add test and verify behavior. Files: internal/merge/merge_test.go, internal/merge/merge.go:347-387


Add bd hooks install command to embed git hooks in binary

Currently git hooks are installed via `examples/git-hooks/install.sh`, which only exists in the beads source repo. Users who install bd via installer/homebrew/npm can't easily install hooks.

**Proposal:**
Add `bd hooks install` command that:
- Embeds hook scripts in the bd binary (using go:embed)
- Installs them to .git/hooks/ in current repo
- Backs up existing hooks
- Makes them executable

**Commands:**
- `bd hooks install` - Install all hooks
- `bd hooks uninstall` - Remove hooks
- `bd hooks list` - Show installed hooks status

**Benefits:**
- Works for all bd users, not just source repo users
- More discoverable (shows in bd --help)
- Consistent with bd workflow
- Can version hooks with bd releases


GH#524: Package for Windows (winget)

Request to publish beads on winget for easy Windows installation. See: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/issues/524


Refactor: deduplicate FindJSONLInDir and FindJSONLPath

## Background

After fixing bd-tqo, we now have two nearly identical functions for finding the JSONL file:
- `autoimport.FindJSONLInDir(dbDir string)` in internal/autoimport/autoimport.go
- `beads.FindJSONLPath(dbPath string)` in internal/beads/beads.go

Both implement the same logic:
1. Prefer issues.jsonl
2. Fall back to beads.jsonl for legacy support
3. Skip deletions.jsonl and merge artifacts
4. Default to issues.jsonl if nothing found

## Problem

Code duplication means bug fixes need to be applied in multiple places (as we just experienced with bd-tqo).

## Proposed Solution

Extract shared logic to a utility package that both can import. Options:
1. Create `internal/jsonlpath` package with the core logic
2. Have `autoimport` import `beads` and call `FindJSONLPath` (but APIs differ slightly)
3. Move to `internal/utils` if appropriate

Need to verify no import cycles would be created.

## Affected Files
- internal/autoimport/autoimport.go
- internal/beads/beads.go


RPC fast-fail: stat socket before dial, cap timeouts to 200ms

Eliminate 5s delay when daemon socket is missing by:
1. Add os.Stat(socketPath) check before dialing in TryConnect
2. Return (nil, nil) immediately if socket doesn't exist
3. Set default dial timeout to 200ms in TryConnect
4. Keep TryConnectWithTimeout for explicit health/status checks (1-2s)

This prevents clients from waiting through full timeout when no daemon is running.


Implement bd stale command to find abandoned/forgotten issues

Add bd stale command to surface issues that haven't been updated recently and may need attention.

Use cases:
- In-progress issues with no recent activity (may be abandoned)
- Open issues that have been forgotten
- Issues that might be outdated or no longer relevant

Query logic should find non-closed issues where updated_at exceeds a time threshold.

Should support:
- --days N flag (default 30-90 days)
- --status filter (e.g., only in_progress)
- --json output for automation

References GitHub issue #184 where user expected this command to exist.


Propagate context through command handlers

Thread context from signal-aware parent through all command handlers.

## Context
Part of context propagation work. Builds on bd-rtp (signal-aware contexts).

## Current State
Many command handlers create their own context.Background() locally instead of receiving context from parent.

## Implementation
1. Add context parameter to command handler functions
2. Pass context from cobra command Run/RunE closures
3. Update all storage operations to use propagated context

## Example Pattern
```go
// Before
Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
    ctx := context.Background()
    store.GetIssues(ctx, ...)
}

// After
Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
    // ctx comes from parent signal-aware context
    store.GetIssues(ctx, ...)
}
```

## Files to Update
- All cmd/bd/*.go command handlers
- Ensure context flows from main -> cobra -> handlers -> storage

## Benefits
- Commands respect cancellation signals
- Consistent context handling
- Enables timeouts and deadlines

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] All command handlers use propagated context
- [ ] No new context.Background() calls in command handlers
- [ ] Context flows from signal handler to storage layer


Remove Cache-Related Tests

Delete or update tests that assume multi-repo caching


Consider extracting error handling helpers

Evaluate creating FatalError() and WarnError() helpers as suggested in ERROR_HANDLING.md to reduce boilerplate and enforce consistency. Prototype in a few files first to validate the approach.


Platform tests: Linux, macOS, Windows

Test event-driven mode on all platforms. Verify inotify (Linux), FSEvents (macOS), ReadDirectoryChangesW (Windows). Test fallback behavior on each.


Add bd init --team wizard

Interactive wizard for team workflow setup. Guides user through: branch workflow configuration, shared repo setup, team member onboarding, examples of team collaboration patterns.


Second worktree test


Refactor daemon.go into internal/daemonrunner

Extract daemon runtime from daemon.go (1,565 lines) into internal/daemonrunner with focused modules: config.go, daemon.go, process.go, rpc_server.go, sync.go, git.go. Keep cobra command thin.


Update AGENTS.md and README.md with "bd daemons" documentation

Document the new "bd daemons" command and all subcommands in AGENTS.md and README.md. Include examples and troubleshooting guidance.


Add tests for bd init --contributor wizard

Write integration tests for the contributor wizard:
- Test fork detection logic
- Test planning repo creation
- Test config setup
- Test with/without upstream remote
- Test with SSH vs HTTPS origins


Fix hasJSONLChanged to support per-repo metadata keys

## Problem
After bd-ar2.2, we store metadata with per-repo keys like `last_import_hash:<path>`, but `hasJSONLChanged` and `validatePreExport` still only check global keys.

## Impact
- Multi-repo mode won't benefit from bd-ymj fix
- validatePreExport will fail incorrectly or pass incorrectly
- Metadata updates are written but never read

## Location
- cmd/bd/integrity.go:97 (hasJSONLChanged)
- cmd/bd/integrity.go:138 (validatePreExport)

## Solution
Update hasJSONLChanged to accept optional keySuffix parameter:
```go
func hasJSONLChanged(ctx context.Context, store storage.Storage, jsonlPath string, keySuffix string) bool {
    // Build metadata keys with optional suffix
    hashKey := "last_import_hash"
    mtimeKey := "last_import_mtime"
    if keySuffix != "" {
        hashKey += ":" + keySuffix
        mtimeKey += ":" + keySuffix
    }
    // ... rest of function
}
```

Update all callers to pass correct keySuffix.


Create shared insert/event/dirty helpers

Create issues.go (insertIssue/insertIssues), events.go (recordCreatedEvent/recordCreatedEvents), dirty.go (markDirty/markDirtyBatch). Refactor single and bulk create paths to use these.


Add error handling test for cmd.Help() in search command

Test coverage gap identified by automated analysis (vc-217).

**Original Issue:** [deleted:bd-da96-baseline-lint]

In cmd/bd/search.go:39, the return value of cmd.Help() is not checked, flagged by errcheck linter.

Add test to verify:
- Error handling when cmd.Help() fails (e.g., output redirection fails)
- Proper error propagation to caller
- Command still exits gracefully on help error

This ensures the search command handles help errors properly and doesn't silently ignore failures.

_This issue was automatically created by AI test coverage analysis._


Auto-recovery mode (bd sync --auto-recover)

Add bd sync --auto-recover flag that: detects problematic sync state, backs up .beads/issues.db with timestamp, rebuilds DB from JSONL atomically, verifies consistency, reports what was fixed. Provides safety valve when sync integrity fails.


Design hash ID generation algorithm

Design and specify the hash-based ID generation algorithm.

## Requirements
- Deterministic: same inputs → same ID
- Collision-resistant: ~2^32 space for 8-char hex
- Fast: <1μs per generation
- Includes timestamp for uniqueness
- Includes creator/workspace for distributed uniqueness

## Proposed Algorithm
```go
func GenerateIssueID(title, desc string, created time.Time, workspaceID string) string {
    h := sha256.New()
    h.Write([]byte(title))
    h.Write([]byte(desc))
    h.Write([]byte(created.Format(time.RFC3339Nano)))
    h.Write([]byte(workspaceID))
    hash := hex.EncodeToString(h.Sum(nil))
    return "bd-" + hash[:8]  // 8-char prefix = 2^32 space
}
```

## Open Questions
1. 8 chars (2^32) or 16 chars (2^64) for collision resistance?
2. Include priority/type in hash? (Pro: more entropy. Con: immutable)
3. How to handle workspace ID generation? (hostname? UUID?)
4. What if title+desc change? (Answer: ID stays same - hash only used at creation)

## Deliverables
- Design doc: docs/HASH_ID_DESIGN.md
- Collision probability analysis
- Performance benchmarks
- Prototype implementation in internal/types/id_generator.go


Fix multi-round convergence for N-way collisions

## Problem

N-way collision resolution is working (IDs get remapped correctly), but clones don't fully converge after a single final pull. Each clone is missing some issues that other clones have.

From TestFiveCloneCollision results:
- Clone A has: A, B
- Clone B has: A, B
- Clone C has: A, B, C
- Clone D has: A, B, C, D
- Clone E has: A, B, C, E

**Expected**: All clones should have A, B, C, D, E after final pull.

## Root Cause

The current sync workflow does:
1. Each clone syncs in order (resolving collisions locally)
2. Final pull to get all changes

But the final pull itself may need import with collision resolution, which creates new commits. These new commits aren't propagated to other clones, so they remain incomplete.

## Proposed Solution

**Option 1: Multi-round final sync**
- After final pull, do additional sync rounds until all clones converge
- Check convergence by comparing issue counts or content hashes
- Maximum N rounds for N clones

**Option 2: Iterative pull-import-push**
- Each clone: pull → import with --resolve-collisions → push
- Repeat until no new changes
- Guaranteed convergence but may create commit spam

**Option 3: Fix auto-import to be truly idempotent**
- Ensure importing same JSONL multiple times produces no new commits
- May require smarter content-based deduplication

## Acceptance Criteria

- TestFiveCloneCollision passes without t.Skip
- All N clones have all N issues after convergence
- Convergence happens in bounded rounds (≤ N)
- No data loss or duplication
- Works for arbitrary N (tested with 5, 10 clones)

## Impact

This is the final blocker for bd-cbed9619 epic completion.


Test parent issue


Implement transaction retry logic for SQLITE_BUSY

BEGIN IMMEDIATE fails immediately on SQLITE_BUSY instead of retrying with exponential backoff.

Location: internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go:223-225

Problem:
- Under concurrent write load, BEGIN IMMEDIATE can fail with SQLITE_BUSY
- Current implementation fails immediately instead of retrying
- Results in spurious failures under normal concurrent usage

Solution: Implement exponential backoff retry:
- Retry up to N times (e.g., 5)
- Backoff: 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, 160ms
- Check for context cancellation between retries
- Only retry on SQLITE_BUSY/database locked errors

Impact: Spurious failures under concurrent write load

Effort: 3 hours


Migration tool for existing users

Ensure smooth migration for existing users to separate branch workflow.

Tasks:
- Add bd migrate --separate-branch command
- Detect existing repos, migrate cleanly
- Preserve git history
- Add rollback mechanism
- Test migration on beads' own repo (dogfooding)
- Communication plan (GitHub discussion, docs)
- Version compatibility checks

Estimated effort: 2-3 days


Handle unchecked errors (errcheck - 683 issues)

683 unchecked error returns, mostly in tests (Close, Rollback, RemoveAll). Many already excluded in config but still showing up.

Fixed all errcheck warnings in production code:
- Enabled errcheck linter (was disabled)
- Set tests: false in .golangci.yml to focus on production code
- Fixed 27 total errors in production code using Oracle guidance:
  * Database patterns: defer func() { _ = rows.Close() }() and defer func() { _ = tx.Rollback() }()
  * Best-effort closers: _ = store.Close(), _ = client.Close()
  * Proper error handling for file writes, fmt.Scanln(), os.Remove()
- All tests pass
- Only 2 "unused" linter warnings remain (not errcheck)


Code Health & Technical Debt Cleanup

Comprehensive codebase cleanup to remove dead code, refactor monolithic files, deduplicate utilities, and improve maintainability. Based on ultrathink code health analysis conducted 2025-10-27.

Goals:
- Remove ~1,500 LOC of dead/unreachable code
- Split 2 monolithic files (server.go 2,273 LOC, sqlite.go 2,136 LOC) into focused modules
- Deduplicate scattered utility functions (normalizeLabels, BD_DEBUG checks)
- Consolidate test coverage (2,019 LOC of collision tests)
- Improve code navigation and reduce merge conflicts

Impact: Reduces codebase by ~6-8%, improves maintainability, faster CI/CD

Estimated Effort: 11 days across 4 phases


Update GetStatistics to report tombstone count separately

Per bd-2m7 design: 'Should tombstones appear in bd stats? Recommendation: Yes, as separate counter: 5 deleted (tombstones)'

Currently GetStatistics counts tombstones in TotalIssues without distinguishing them.

Location: internal/storage/sqlite/events.go:114-121

Add to Statistics struct and query:
- DeletedIssues (tombstone count)
- Exclude tombstones from TotalIssues or document that it includes them


Fix row iterator resource leak in recursive dependency queries

Critical resource leak in findAllDependentsRecursive() where rows.Close() is called AFTER early return on error, never executing.

Location: internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go:1131-1136

Problem:
- rows.Close() placed after return statement
- On scan error, iterator never closed
- Can exhaust SQLite connections under moderate load

Fix: Move defer rows.Close() to execute on all code paths

Impact: Connection exhaustion during dependency traversal