DetectCycles SQL query has bug preventing cycle detection

The DetectCycles function's SQL query has a bug in the LIKE filter that prevents it from detecting cycles.

Current code (line 571):
```sql
AND p.path NOT LIKE '%' || d.depends_on_id || '→%'
```

This prevents ANY revisit to nodes, including returning to the start node to complete a cycle.

Fix:
```sql
AND (d.depends_on_id = p.start_id OR p.path NOT LIKE '%' || d.depends_on_id || '→%')
```

This allows revisiting the start node (to detect the cycle) while still preventing intermediate node revisits.

Impact: Currently DetectCycles cannot detect any cycles, but this hasn't been noticed because AddDependency prevents cycles from being created. The function would only matter if cycles were manually inserted into the database.


Address gosec security warnings (102 issues)

Security linter warnings: file permissions (0755 should be 0750), G304 file inclusion via variable, G204 subprocess launches. Many are false positives but should be reviewed.


Create cmd/bd/daemon_watcher.go (~150 LOC)

Implement FileWatcher using fsnotify to watch JSONL file and git refs. Handle platform differences (inotify/FSEvents/ReadDirectoryChangesW). Include edge case handling for file rename, event storm, watcher failure.


Git merge driver uses invalid placeholders (%L, %R instead of %A, %B)

## Problem

The beads git merge driver is configured with invalid Git placeholders:

```
git config merge.beads.driver "bd merge %A %O %L %R"
```

Git doesn't recognize `%L` or `%R` as valid merge driver placeholders. The valid placeholders are:
- `%O` = base (common ancestor)
- `%A` = current version (ours)
- `%B` = other version (theirs)

## Impact

- Affects ALL users when they have `.beads/beads.jsonl` merge conflicts
- Automatic JSONL merge fails with error: "error reading left file: failed to open file: open 7: no such file or directory"
- Users must manually resolve conflicts instead of getting automatic merge

## Root Cause

The `bd init` command (or wherever the merge driver is configured) is using non-standard placeholders. When Git encounters `%L` and `%R`, it either passes them literally or interprets them incorrectly.

## Fix

Update the merge driver configuration to:
```
git config merge.beads.driver "bd merge %A %O %A %B"
```

Where:
- 1st `%A` = output file (current file, will be overwritten)
- `%O` = base (common ancestor)
- 2nd `%A` = left/current version
- `%B` = right/other version

## Action Items

1. Fix `bd init` (or equivalent setup command) to use correct placeholders
2. Add migration/warning for existing users with misconfigured merge driver
3. Update documentation with correct merge driver setup
4. Consider adding validation when `bd init` is run


Test parent issue


Second worktree test


Migration and onboarding for multi-repo

Create migration tools, wizards, and documentation to help users adopt multi-repo workflow, with special focus on OSS contributor onboarding and team adoption scenarios.


Unit tests for FileWatcher

Test watcher detects JSONL changes. Test git ref changes trigger import. Test debounce integration. Test watcher recovery from file removal/rename.


Write Agent Mail integration guide

Comprehensive guide for setting up and using Agent Mail with Beads.

Acceptance Criteria:
- Installation instructions
- Configuration (environment variables)
- Architecture diagram
- Benefits and tradeoffs
- When to use vs not use
- Troubleshooting section
- Migration from git-only mode

File: docs/AGENT_MAIL.md

Sections:
- Quick start
- How it works
- Integration points
- Graceful degradation
- Multi-machine deployment
- FAQ


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 compact --analyze/--apply error messages to clarify direct mode requirement

**Problem:**
When users run `bd compact --analyze` with daemon running, they get:
```
Error: compact requires SQLite storage
```

This is misleading because they ARE using SQLite (via daemon), but the command needs DIRECT SQLite access.

**Current behavior:**
- Error message suggests they don't have SQLite
- No hint about using --no-daemon flag
- Related to issue #349 item #1

**Proposed fix:**
1. Update error messages in cmd/bd/compact.go lines 106-114 (analyze) and 121-137 (apply)
2. Add explicit hint: "Use --no-daemon flag to bypass daemon"
3. Change SQLite check error from "requires SQLite storage" to "failed to open database in direct mode"

**Files to modify:**
- cmd/bd/compact.go (lines ~106-137)

**Testing:**
- Run with daemon: `bd compact --analyze` should show clear error + hint
- Run with --no-daemon: `bd compact --analyze --no-daemon` should work
- Verify error message is actionable


bd init creates nested .beads directories

bd init sometimes creates .beads/.beads/ nested directories, which should never happen. This occurs fairly often and can cause confusion about which .beads directory is active. Need to add validation to detect if already inside a .beads directory and either error or use the parent .beads location.


Stealth mode global gitignore should use absolute project path

**GitHub Issue:** #538

**Problem:**
`bd init --stealth` adds `.beads/` to the global gitignore, which ignores ALL `.beads/` folders across all repositories. Users who want stealth mode in one project but open beads usage in others are blocked.

**Solution:**
Change stealth mode to use absolute paths instead of generic patterns:

**Before (current):**
```
# Beads stealth mode configuration (added by bd init --stealth)
.beads/
.claude/settings.local.json
```

**After (proposed):**
```
# Beads stealth mode: /Users/foo/work-project (added by bd init --stealth)
/Users/foo/work-project/.beads/
/Users/foo/work-project/.claude/settings.local.json
```

**Implementation:**
1. Modify `setupGlobalGitIgnore()` in `cmd/bd/init.go`
2. Get current working directory (absolute path)
3. Use absolute path patterns instead of generic ones
4. Update comment to show which project the entry is for

**Tradeoffs:**
- If project directory moves, gitignore entry becomes stale (acceptable - user can re-run `bd init --stealth`)
- Multiple stealth projects = multiple entries (works correctly)

**Testing:**
- Verify absolute path is added to global gitignore
- Verify other projects' .beads/ folders are NOT ignored
- Test with existing global gitignore file
- Test creating new global gitignore file


GetNextChildID doesn't attempt parent resurrection from JSONL history

When creating a child issue with --parent flag, GetNextChildID fails immediately if parent doesn't exist in DB, without attempting to resurrect it from JSONL history. This breaks the intended resurrection workflow and causes 'parent issue X does not exist' errors even when the parent exists in JSONL.

Related to GH #334 and #278.

Current behavior:
- GetNextChildID checks if parent exists in DB
- If not found, returns error immediately
- No resurrection attempt

Expected behavior:
- GetNextChildID should call TryResurrectParent before failing
- Parent should be restored as tombstone if found in JSONL history
- Child creation should succeed if resurrection succeeds

Impact: Users cannot create child issues for parents that were deleted but exist in JSONL history.


Update flake.nix vendorHash after dependency bumps

The Nix flake CI is failing due to stale vendorHash.

Error from CI:
```
error: hash mismatch in fixed-output derivation beads-0.24.4-go-modules.drv
```

Root cause: go.mod/go.sum was updated by dependabot (wazero, anthropic-sdk-go, etc.) but flake.nix vendorHash wasn't updated.

## Immediate Fix
Run `nix build` locally, get the correct hash from the error message, update flake.nix.

## Long-term Fix
Add a GitHub Action that auto-updates vendorHash when go.mod/go.sum changes:
1. Trigger on push to main when go.mod/go.sum changes
2. Run `nix build` to get the new hash from the error
3. Update flake.nix with the correct hash
4. Commit and push


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)


Replace Windows CI full test suite with smoke tests

## Problem

Windows CI tests consistently timeout at 30 minutes despite multiple optimization attempts:
- Split into parallel jobs (cmd vs internal) - still times out
- RAM disk for temp/cache - marginal improvement (~50%)
- RAM disk for workspace - breaks due to t.Chdir() incompatibility with ImDisk

Root cause: Windows I/O is fundamentally 20x slower than Linux:
- NTFS slow for small file operations
- Windows Defender scans every file access
- Git on Windows is 5-10x slower
- Process spawning is expensive

Linux tests complete in ~1.5 min with race detector. Windows takes 30+ min without.

## Current State

- Windows jobs have continue-on-error: true (don't block PRs)
- Tests timeout before completing, providing zero signal
- RAM disk experiments added complexity without solving the problem

## Solution: Smoke Tests Only

Replace full test suite with minimal smoke tests that verify Windows compatibility in < 2 minutes.

### What to Test
1. Binary builds - go build succeeds (already separate step)
2. Binary executes - bd version works
3. Init works - bd init creates valid database
4. Basic CRUD - create, list, show, update, close
5. Path handling - Windows backslash paths work

### Proposed CI Change

Replace test-windows-cmd and test-windows-internal with single smoke test job:
- Build bd.exe
- Run: bd version
- Run: bd init --quiet --prefix smoke
- Run: bd create --title "Windows smoke test" --type task
- Run: bd list
- Run: bd show smoke-001
- Run: bd update smoke-001 --status in_progress
- Run: bd close smoke-001

### Benefits
- Completes in < 2 minutes vs 30+ minute timeouts
- Provides actual pass/fail signal
- Verifies Windows binary works
- Removes RAM disk complexity
- Single job instead of two parallel jobs

### Files to Change
- .github/workflows/ci.yml - Replace test-windows-cmd and test-windows-internal jobs

### Migration Steps
1. Remove test-windows-cmd job
2. Remove test-windows-internal job
3. Add single test-windows job with smoke tests
4. Remove continue-on-error (tests should now pass reliably)
5. Clean up RAM disk remnants from previous attempts

### Context
- Parent issue: bd-5we (Use RAM disk for Windows CI tests)
- RAM disk approach proved insufficient
- This is the pragmatic solution after extensive experimentation


Test all core bd commands in WASM for feature parity

Comprehensive testing of bd-wasm against native bd:
- Test all CRUD operations (create, update, show, close)
- Test dependency management (dep add, dep tree)
- Test sync operations (sync, import, export)
- Verify JSONL output matches native bd
- Run existing Go test suite in WASM if possible
- Benchmark performance (should be within 2x of native)


~/src/beads daemon has 'sql: database is closed' errors - zombie daemon


Audit and consolidate collision test coverage

The codebase has 2,019 LOC of collision detection tests across 3 files. Run coverage analysis to identify redundant test cases and consolidate.

Test files:
- `cmd/bd/import_collision_test.go` - 974 LOC
- `cmd/bd/autoimport_collision_test.go` - 750 LOC
- `cmd/bd/import_collision_regression_test.go` - 295 LOC

Total: 2,019 LOC of collision tests

Analysis steps:
1. Run coverage analysis
2. Identify redundant tests
3. Document findings

Consolidation strategy:
- Keep regression tests for critical bugs
- Merge overlapping table-driven tests
- Remove redundant edge case tests covered elsewhere
- Ensure all collision scenarios still tested

Expected outcome: Reduce to ~1,200 LOC (save ~800 lines) while maintaining coverage

Impact: Faster test runs, easier maintenance, clearer test intent


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


bd-hv01: Race condition with concurrent snapshot operations

## Problem
Snapshot files have no locking. Multiple processes can call captureLeftSnapshot simultaneously:

1. Process A: export → begins snapshot
2. Process B: export → begins snapshot
3. Process A: writes partial left.jsonl
4. Process B: overwrites with its left.jsonl
5. Process A: completes merge with wrong snapshot

## Impact
- Data corruption in multi-process scenarios
- Daemon + manual sync race
- Multiple git clones on same filesystem

## Fix
Use atomic file operations with process-specific temp files:
```go
func captureLeftSnapshot(jsonlPath string) error {
    _, leftPath := getSnapshotPaths(jsonlPath)
    tempPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s.%d.tmp", leftPath, os.Getpid())
    if err := copyFileSnapshot(jsonlPath, tempPath); err != nil {
        return err
    }
    return os.Rename(tempPath, leftPath) // Atomic on POSIX
}
```

## Files Affected
- cmd/bd/deletion_tracking.go:24-29 (captureLeftSnapshot)
- cmd/bd/deletion_tracking.go:31-36 (updateBaseSnapshot)


Support --reason flag in daemon mode for reopen command

The reopen.go command has a TODO at line 61 to add reason as a comment once RPC supports AddComment. Currently --reason flag is ignored in daemon mode with a warning.


Implement postinstall script for binary download

Create npm/scripts/postinstall.js that downloads platform-specific binaries:

## Platform detection
- Detect os.platform() and os.arch()
- Map to GitHub release asset names:
  - linux-amd64 → bd-linux-amd64
  - linux-arm64 → bd-linux-arm64
  - darwin-amd64 → bd-darwin-amd64
  - darwin-arm64 → bd-darwin-arm64
  - win32-x64 → bd-windows-amd64.exe

## Download logic
- Fetch from GitHub releases: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/releases/latest/download/${asset}
- Save to npm/bin/bd (or bd.exe on Windows)
- Set executable permissions (chmod +x)
- Handle errors gracefully with helpful messages

## Error handling
- Check for unsupported platforms
- Retry on network failures
- Provide manual download instructions if automated fails
- Skip download if binary already exists (for local development)


Improve CheckStaleness error handling

## Problem

CheckStaleness returns 'false' (not stale) for multiple error conditions instead of returning errors. This masks problems.

**Location:** internal/autoimport/autoimport.go:253-285

## Edge Cases That Return False

1. **Invalid last_import_time format** (line 259-262)
2. **No JSONL file found** (line 267-277)
3. **JSONL stat fails** (line 279-282)

## Fix

Return errors for abnormal conditions:

```go
lastImportTime, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, lastImportStr)
if err != nil {
    return false, fmt.Errorf("corrupted last_import_time: %w", err)
}

if jsonlPath == "" {
    return false, fmt.Errorf("no JSONL file found")
}

stat, err := os.Stat(jsonlPath)
if err != nil {
    return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot stat JSONL: %w", err)
}
```

## Impact
Medium - edge cases are rare but should be handled

## Effort
30 minutes - requires updating callers in RPC server


Doctor should exclude merge artifacts from 'multiple JSONL' warning

Doctor command warns about 'multiple JSONL files' when .base.jsonl and .left.jsonl merge artifacts exist. These are expected during/after merge operations and should be excluded from the warning.


Investigate why test issues persist in database

Test issues (bd-0do3, bd-cjxp, bd-phr2, etc.) keep appearing in ready/list output, cluttering real work. These appear to be leftover test data from test runs.

Need to investigate:
1. Why are test issues not being cleaned up after tests?
2. Are tests creating issues in the main database instead of test databases?
3. Should we add better test isolation or cleanup hooks?
4. Can we add a label/prefix to distinguish test issues from real issues?

These test issues have characteristics:
- Empty descriptions
- Generic titles like "Test issue 0", "Bug P0", "Issue to reopen with reason"
- Created around 2025-11-07 19:00-19:07
- Some assigned to test users like "alice", "bob", "testuser"

## Root Cause Analysis

**Problem**: Python MCP integration tests created test issues in production `.beads/beads.db` instead of isolated test databases.

**Evidence**:
- 29 test issues created on Nov 7, 2025 at 19:00-19:07
- Patterns: "Bug P0", "Test issue X", assignees "alice"/"bob"/"testuser"
- Git commit 0e8936b shows test issues committed to .beads/beads.jsonl
- Tests were being fixed for workspace isolation around the same time

**Why It Happened**:
1. Before commit 0e8936b, `test_client_lazy_initialization()` didn't set `BEADS_WORKING_DIR`
2. Tests fell back to discovering `.beads/` in the project root directory
3. Auto-sync committed test issues to production database

**Resolution**:
1. ✅ Closed 29 test pollution issues (bd-0do3, bd-cjxp, etc.)
2. ✅ Added `failIfProductionDatabase()` guard in Go test helpers
3. ✅ Added production pollution checks in RPC test setup
4. ✅ Created `conftest.py` with pytest safety checks for Python tests
5. ✅ Added `BEADS_TEST_MODE` env var to mark test execution
6. ✅ Tests now fail fast if they detect production database usage

**Prevention**:
- All test helper functions now verify database paths are in temp directories
- Python tests fail immediately if BEADS_DB points to production
- BEADS_TEST_MODE flag helps identify test vs production execution
- Clear error messages guide developers to use proper test isolation

**Files Modified**:
- cmd/bd/test_helpers_test.go - Added failIfProductionDatabase()
- internal/rpc/rpc_test.go - Added temp directory verification
- integrations/beads-mcp/tests/conftest.py - New file with pytest safeguards


Refactor duplicate JSONL-from-git parsing code

Both readFirstIssueFromGit() in init.go and importFromGit() in autoimport.go have similar code patterns for:
1. Running git show <ref>:<path>
2. Scanning the output with bufio.Scanner
3. Parsing JSON lines

Could be refactored to share a helper like:
- readJSONLFromGit(gitRef, path string) ([]byte, error)
- Or a streaming version: streamJSONLFromGit(gitRef, path string) (io.Reader, error)

Files:
- cmd/bd/autoimport.go:225-256 (importFromGit)
- cmd/bd/init.go:1212-1243 (readFirstIssueFromGit)

Priority is low since code duplication is minimal and both functions work correctly.


Complete and commit beads-mcp type safety improvements

Uncommitted type safety work in beads-mcp needs review and completion


getLocalSyncBranch YAML parsing is fragile

The getLocalSyncBranch() function in autoimport.go uses a simple line-by-line YAML parser that could fail on:
- Indented sync-branch: (nested in a section)
- Comments containing sync-branch:
- Multi-line values
- Values with special characters

Current implementation at autoimport.go:161-172 does:
```go
for _, line := range strings.Split(string(data), "\n") {
    line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
    if strings.HasPrefix(line, "sync-branch:") {
        value := strings.TrimPrefix(line, "sync-branch:")
        ...
    }
}
```

The reason we can't use viper's cached config is that it's initialized at process startup from the main repo's CWD, not from the current directory at runtime. This causes issues in tests where t.Chdir() changes the directory.

Options:
1. Accept the limitation (sync-branch must be top-level, unquoted)
2. Use a proper YAML library (gopkg.in/yaml.v3) to parse just this value
3. Refactor config package to support re-initialization per directory


Support Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (glibc compatibility issue)

Starting at v0.22, precompiled binaries require GLIBC 2.32+ which is not available on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa). Ubuntu 20.04 has GLIBC 2.31.

Error:
```
bd: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.34' not found (required by bd)
bd: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.32' not found (required by bd)
```

Current workarounds:
1. Upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04+
2. Build from source: `go build -o bd ./cmd/bd/`

Root cause: Go 1.24+ runtime requires newer glibc. CGO is already disabled in .goreleaser.yml.

Possible solutions:
- Pin Go version to 1.21 or 1.22 for releases
- Use Docker/cross-compile with older build environment
- Provide separate build for older distros
- Document minimum requirements clearly

Decision: Document minimum requirements in README instead of pinning Go version.

Rationale:
- Ubuntu 20.04 LTS standard support ended April 2025 (already EOL)
- Pinning Go prevents security fixes, performance improvements, and new features
- Users on EOL distros can upgrade OS or build from source
- Added Requirements section to README with clear glibc 2.32+ requirement


mergePriority: negative priorities not handled consistently


GH#510: Document sync-branch worktree behavior

User confused about beads creating worktree on main branch. Need docs explaining sync-branch worktree mechanism. See: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/issues/510


Export deduplication breaks when JSONL and export_hashes table diverge

## Problem

The export deduplication feature (timestamp-only skipping) breaks when the JSONL file and export_hashes table get out of sync, causing exports to skip issues that aren't actually in the file.

## Symptoms

- `bd export` reports "Skipped 128 issue(s) with timestamp-only changes"
- JSONL file only has 38 lines but DB has 149 issues
- export_hashes table has 149 entries
- Auto-import doesn't trigger (hash matches despite missing data)
- Two repos on same commit show different issue counts

## Root Cause

shouldSkipExport() in autoflush.go compares current issue hash with stored export_hashes entry. If they match, it skips export assuming the issue is already in the JSONL.

This assumption fails when:
1. Git operations (pull, reset, checkout) change JSONL without clearing export_hashes
2. Manual JSONL edits or corruption
3. Import operations that modify DB but don't update export_hashes
4. Partial exports that update export_hashes but don't complete

## Impact

- **Critical data loss risk**: Issues appear to be tracked but aren't persisted to git
- Breaks multi-repo sync (root cause of today's debugging session)
- Auto-import fails to detect staleness (hash matches despite missing data)
- Silent data corruption (no error messages, just missing issues)

## Reproduction

1. Have DB with 149 issues, all in export_hashes table
2. Truncate JSONL to 38 lines (simulate git reset or corruption)
3. Run `bd export` - it skips 128 issues
4. JSONL still has only 38 lines but export thinks it succeeded

## Current Workaround

```bash
sqlite3 .beads/beads.db "DELETE FROM export_hashes"
bd export -o .beads/beads.jsonl
```

## Proposed Solutions

**Option 1: Verify JSONL integrity before skipping**
- Count lines in JSONL, compare with export_hashes count
- If mismatch, clear export_hashes and force full export
- Safe but adds I/O overhead

**Option 2: Hash-based JSONL validation**
- Store hash of entire JSONL file in metadata
- Before export, check if JSONL hash matches
- If mismatch, clear export_hashes
- More efficient, detects any JSONL corruption

**Option 3: Disable timestamp-only deduplication**
- Remove the feature entirely
- Always export all issues
- Simplest and safest, but creates larger git commits

**Option 4: Clear export_hashes on git operations**
- Add post-merge hook to clear export_hashes
- Clear on any import operation
- Defensive approach but may over-clear

## Recommended Fix

Combination of Options 2 + 4:
1. Store JSONL file hash in metadata after export
2. Check hash before export, clear export_hashes if mismatch
3. Clear export_hashes on import operations
4. Add `bd validate` check for JSONL/export_hashes sync

## Files Involved

- cmd/bd/autoflush.go (shouldSkipExport)
- cmd/bd/export.go (export with deduplication)
- internal/storage/sqlite/metadata.go (export_hashes table)

## Recovery Session (2025-10-29 21:30)

### What Happened
- Created 14 new hash ID issues (bd-f8b764c9 through bd-f8b764c9.1)
- bd sync appeared to succeed
- Canonical repo (~/src/beads): 162 issues in DB + JSONL ✓
- Secondary repo (fred/beads): Only 145 issues vs 162 in canonical ✗
- Both repos on same git commit but different issue counts!

### Bug Manifestation During Recovery

1. **Initial state**: fred/beads had 145 issues, 145 lines in JSONL, 145 export_hashes entries

2. **After git reset --hard origin/main**:
   - JSONL: 162 lines (from git)
   - DB: 150 issues (auto-import partially worked)
   - Auto-import failed with UNIQUE constraint error

3. **After manual import --resolve-collisions**:
   - DB: 160 issues
   - JSONL: Still 162 lines
   - export_hashes: 159 entries

4. **After bd export**:
   - **JSONL reduced to 17 lines!** ← The bug in action
   - export_hashes: 159 entries (skipped exporting 142 issues)
   - Silent data loss - no error message

5. **After clearing export_hashes and re-export**:
   - JSONL: 159 lines (missing 3 issues still)
   - DB: 159 issues
   - Still diverged from canonical

### The Bug Loop
Once export_hashes and JSONL diverge:
- Export skips issues already in export_hashes
- But those issues aren't actually in JSONL
- This creates corrupt JSONL with missing issues
- Auto-import can't detect the problem (file hash matches what was exported)
- Data is lost with no error messages

### Recovery Solution
Couldn't break the loop with export alone. Had to:
1. Copy .beads/beads.db from canonical repo
2. Clear export_hashes
3. Full re-export
4. Finally converged to 162 issues

### Key Learnings

1. **The bug is worse than we thought**: It can create corrupt exports (17 lines instead of 162!)

2. **Auto-import can't save you**: Once export is corrupt, auto-import just imports the corrupt data

3. **Silent failure**: No warnings, no errors, just missing issues

4. **Git operations trigger it**: git reset, git pull, etc. change JSONL without clearing export_hashes

5. **Import operations populate export_hashes**: Even manual imports update export_hashes, setting up future export failures

### Immediate Action Required

**DISABLE EXPORT DEDUPLICATION NOW**

This feature is fundamentally broken and causes data loss. Should be disabled until properly fixed.

Quick fix options:
- Set environment variable to disable feature
- Comment out shouldSkipExport check
- Always clear export_hashes before export
- Add validation that DB count == JSONL line count before allowing export

### Long-term Fix

Need Option 2 + 4 from proposed solutions:
1. Store JSONL file hash after every successful export
2. Before export, verify JSONL hash matches expected
3. If mismatch, log WARNING and clear export_hashes
4. Clear export_hashes on every import operation
5. Add git post-merge hook to clear export_hashes
6. Add `bd validate` command to detect divergence


bd show --json doesn't include dependency type field

Fix GitHub issue #202. The JSON output from bd show and bd list commands should include the dependency type field (and optionally created_at, created_by) to match internal storage format and enable better tooling integration.

PR #203 updated with cleaner implementation: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/pull/203

## Final Implementation

Cleanest possible approach - no internal helper methods needed:

**Design:**
- `GetDependenciesWithMetadata()` / `GetDependentsWithMetadata()` - canonical implementations with full SQL query
- `GetDependencies()` / `GetDependents()` - thin wrappers that strip metadata for backward compat
- `scanIssuesWithDependencyType()` - shared helper for scanning rows with dependency type

**Benefits:**
- Single source of truth - the `...WithMetadata()` methods ARE the implementation
- Eliminated ~139 lines of duplicated SQL and scanning code
- All tests passing (14 dependency-related tests)
- Backward compatible
- dependency_type field appears correctly in JSON output

**Note on scan helpers:**
The duplication between `scanIssues()` and `scanIssuesWithDependencyType()` is necessary because they handle different SQL result shapes (16 vs 17 columns). This is justified as they serve fundamentally different purposes based on query structure.


Add index usage verification test for external_ref lookups

Currently we test that idx_issues_external_ref index exists, but we don't verify that it's actually being used by the query planner.

Proposed solution:
- Add test using EXPLAIN QUERY PLAN
- Verify that 'SEARCH TABLE issues USING INDEX idx_issues_external_ref' appears in plan
- Ensures O(1) lookup performance is maintained

Related: bd-1022
Files: internal/storage/sqlite/external_ref_test.go:260


Add edge case tests for export metadata updates

## Current Coverage
TestExportUpdatesMetadata tests basic happy path only.

## Missing Test Cases

### 1. Multi-Repo Mode
- Export with multi-repo configuration
- Verify metadata updated for ALL JSONL files
- Critical gap (related to bd-ar2.2)

### 2. computeJSONLHash Failure
- JSONL file deleted/inaccessible after export
- Should log warning, not crash
- Verify behavior on next export

### 3. SetMetadata Failures
- Database write-protected
- Disk full
- Should log warnings, continue

### 4. os.Stat Failure
- JSONL file deleted after export, before stat
- Should handle gracefully (mtime just not updated)

### 5. Concurrent Exports
- Two daemon instances export simultaneously
- Verify metadata doesn't get corrupted
- Race condition test

### 6. Clock Skew
- System time goes backward between exports
- Verify mtime handling still works

### 7. Partial Export Failure
- Multi-repo mode: some exports succeed, some fail
- What metadata should be updated?

### 8. Large JSONL Files
- Performance test with large files (10k+ issues)
- Verify hash computation doesn't timeout

## Files
- cmd/bd/daemon_sync_test.go

## Implementation Priority
1. Multi-repo test (P1 - related to critical issue)
2. Failure handling tests (P2)
3. Performance/edge cases (P3)


Speed up main_test.go - tests hang indefinitely due to nil rootCtx

## Problem

main_test.go tests are hanging indefinitely, making them unusable and blocking development.

## Root Cause

Tests that call flushToJSONL() or autoImportIfNewer() hang forever because:
- rootCtx is nil in test environment (defined in cmd/bd/main.go:67)
- flushToJSONL() uses rootCtx for DB operations (autoflush.go:503)
- When rootCtx is nil, DB calls timeout/hang indefinitely

## Affected Tests (10+)

- TestAutoFlushOnExit
- TestAutoFlushJSONLContent
- TestAutoFlushErrorHandling
- TestAutoImportIfNewer
- TestAutoImportDisabled
- TestAutoImportWithUpdate
- TestAutoImportNoUpdate
- TestAutoImportMergeConflict
- TestAutoImportConflictMarkerFalsePositive
- TestAutoImportClosedAtInvariant

## Proof

```bash
# Before fix: TestAutoFlushJSONLContent HANGS (killed after 2+ min)
# After adding rootCtx init: Completes in 0.04s
# Speedup: ∞ → 0.04s
```

## Solution

See MAIN_TEST_OPTIMIZATION_PLAN.md for complete fix plan.

**Quick Fix (5 min)**: Add to each hanging test:
```go
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
defer cancel()
oldRootCtx := rootCtx
rootCtx = ctx
defer func() { rootCtx = oldRootCtx }()
```

**Full Optimization (40 min total)**:
1. Fix rootCtx (5 min) - unblocks tests
2. Reduce sleep durations 10x (2 min) - saves ~280ms
3. Use in-memory DBs (10 min) - saves ~1s
4. Share test fixtures (15 min) - saves ~1.2s
5. Fix skipped debounce test (5 min)

## Expected Results

- Tests go from hanging → <5s total runtime
- Keep critical integration test coverage
- Tests caught real bugs: bd-270, bd-206, bd-160

## Files

- Analysis: MAIN_TEST_REFACTOR_NOTES.md
- Solution: MAIN_TEST_OPTIMIZATION_PLAN.md
- Tests: cmd/bd/main_test.go (18 tests, 1322 LOC)

## Priority

P1 - Blocking development, tests unusable in current state


Beads commands operate on stale database without warning

All beads read operations should validate database is in sync with JSONL before proceeding.

**Current Behavior:**
- Commands can query/read from stale database
- Only mutation operations (like 'bd sync') check if JSONL is newer
- User gets incorrect results without realizing database is out of sync

**Expected Behavior:**
- All beads commands should have pre-flight check for database freshness
- If JSONL is newer than database, refuse to operate with error: "Database out of sync. Run 'bd import' first."
- Same safety check that exists for 'bd sync' should apply to ALL operations

**Impact:**
- Users make decisions based on incomplete/outdated data
- Silent failures lead to confusion (e.g., thinking issues don't exist when they do)
- Similar to running git commands on stale repo without being warned to pull

**Example:**
- Searched for bd-g9eu issue file: not found
- Issue exists in .beads/issues.jsonl (in git)
- Database was stale, but no warning was given
- Led to incorrect conclusion that issue was already closed/deleted

## Implementation Complete

**Phase 1: Created staleness check (cmd/bd/staleness.go)**
- ensureDatabaseFresh() function checks JSONL mtime vs last_import_time
- Returns error with helpful message when database is stale
- Auto-skips in daemon mode (daemon has auto-import)

**Phase 2: Added to all read commands**
- list, show, ready, status, stale, info, duplicates, validate
- Check runs before database queries in direct mode
- Daemon mode already protected via checkAndAutoImportIfStale()

**Phase 3: Code Review Findings**
See follow-up issues:
- bd-XXXX: Add warning when staleness check errors
- bd-YYYY: Improve CheckStaleness error handling
- bd-ZZZZ: Refactor redundant daemon checks (low priority)

**Testing:**
- Build successful: go build ./cmd/bd
- Binary works: ./bd --version
- Ready for manual testing

**Next Steps:**
1. Test with stale database scenario
2. Implement review improvements
3. Close issue when tests pass


Consider using types.Status in merge package for type safety

The merge package uses string for status comparison (e.g., result.Status == closed, issue.Status == StatusTombstone). The types package defines Status as a type alias with validation. While the merge package needs its own Issue struct for JSONL flexibility, it could import and use types.Status for constants to get compile-time type checking. Current code: if left == closed || right == closed. Could be: if left == string(types.StatusClosed). This is low priority since string comparison works correctly. Files: internal/merge/merge.go:44, 488, 501-521


Fix TestTwoCloneCollision timeout


bd cleanup should also prune expired tombstones

## Problem

`bd cleanup` deletes closed issues (converting them to tombstones) but does NOT prune expired tombstones. Users expect 'cleanup' to do comprehensive cleanup.

## Current Behavior

1. `bd cleanup --force` → converts closed issues to tombstones
2. Expired tombstones (>30 days) remain in issues.jsonl
3. User must separately run `bd compact` to prune tombstones
4. `bd doctor` warns about expired tombstones: 'Run bd compact to prune'

## Expected Behavior

`bd cleanup` should also prune expired tombstones from issues.jsonl.

## Impact

With v0.30.0 making tombstones the default migration path, this UX gap becomes more visible. Users cleaning up their database shouldn't need to know about a separate `bd compact` command.

## Proposed Solution

Call `pruneExpiredTombstones()` at the end of the cleanup command (same function used by compact). Report results:

```
✓ Deleted 15 closed issue(s)
✓ Pruned 3 expired tombstone(s) (older than 30 days)
```

## Files to Modify

- `cmd/bd/cleanup.go` - Add call to pruneExpiredTombstones after deleteBatch
- May need to move pruneExpiredTombstones to shared location if not already accessible

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] `bd cleanup --force` prunes expired tombstones after deleting closed issues
- [ ] `bd cleanup --dry-run` shows what tombstones would be pruned
- [ ] JSON output includes tombstone prune results


Run final validation and cleanup checks

Final validation pass to ensure all cleanup objectives met and no regressions introduced.

Validation checklist:
1. Dead code verification: `go run golang.org/x/tools/cmd/deadcode@latest -test ./...`
2. Test coverage: `go test -cover ./...`
3. Build verification: `go build ./cmd/bd/`
4. Linting: `golangci-lint run`
5. Integration tests
6. Metrics verification
7. Git clean check

Final metrics to report:
- LOC removed: ~____
- Files deleted: ____
- Files created: ____
- Test coverage: ____%
- Build time: ____ (before/after)
- Test run time: ____ (before/after)

Impact: Confirms all cleanup objectives achieved successfully

## Validation Results

**Dead Code:** ✅ Found and removed 1 unreachable function (`DroppedEventsCount`)
**Tests:** ✅ All pass
**Coverage:**
- Main: 39.6%
- cmd/bd: 20.2%
- Created follow-up issues (bd-85487065 through bd-bc2c6191) to improve coverage

**Build:** ✅ Clean
**Linting:** 73 issues (up from 34 baseline)
- Increase due to unused functions from refactoring
- Need cleanup in separate issue

**Integration Tests:** ✅ All pass
**Metrics:** 56,464 LOC across 193 Go files
**Git:** 2 files modified (deadcode fix + auto-synced JSONL)

## Follow-up Issues Created
- bd-85487065: Add tests for internal/autoimport (0% coverage)
- bd-0dcea000: Add tests for internal/importer (0% coverage)
- bd-4d7fca8a: Add tests for internal/utils (0% coverage)
- bd-6221bdcd: Improve cmd/bd coverage (20.2% -> target higher)
- bd-bc2c6191: Improve internal/daemon coverage (22.5% -> target higher)


Add circular dependency detection to bd doctor

Added cycle detection as Check #10 in bd doctor command. Uses same recursive CTE query as DetectCycles() to find circular dependencies. Reports error status with count and fix suggestion if cycles found.


Registry has cross-process race condition

The global daemon registry (~/.beads/registry.json) can be corrupted when multiple daemons from different workspaces write simultaneously.

**Root cause:**
- Registry uses an in-process mutex but no file-level locking
- Register() and Unregister() release the mutex between read and write
- Multiple daemon processes can interleave their read-modify-write cycles

**Evidence:**
Found registry.json with double closing bracket: `]]` instead of `]`

**Fix options:**
1. Use file locking (flock/fcntl) around the entire read-modify-write cycle
2. Use atomic write pattern (write to temp file, rename)
3. Both (belt and suspenders)

**Files:**
- internal/daemon/registry.go:46-64 (readEntries)
- internal/daemon/registry.go:67-87 (writeEntries)
- internal/daemon/registry.go:90-108 (Register - the race window)


Add date and priority filters to bd search

Add filter parity with bd list for consistent querying.

**Missing filters to add:**
- --priority, --priority-min, --priority-max
- --created-after, --created-before
- --updated-after, --updated-before
- --closed-after, --closed-before
- --empty-description, --no-assignee, --no-labels
- --desc-contains, --notes-contains

**Files to modify:**
- cmd/bd/search.go
- internal/rpc/protocol.go (SearchArgs)
- internal/storage/storage.go (Search method)

**Testing:**
- All filter combinations
- Date format parsing
- Daemon and direct mode


Add richer query capabilities to bd list

Current bd list filters are limited to basic field matching (status, priority, type, assignee, label). This forces users to resort to piping through jq for common queries.

Missing query capabilities:
- Pattern matching: --title-contains, --desc-contains
- Date ranges: --created-after, --updated-before, --closed-after
- Empty/null checks: --empty-description, --no-assignee, --no-labels
- Numeric ranges: --priority-min, --priority-max
- Complex boolean logic: --and, --or operators
- Full-text search: --search across all text fields
- Negation: --not-status, --exclude-label

Example use cases:
- Find issues with empty descriptions
- Find stale issues not updated in 30 days
- Find high-priority bugs with no assignee
- Search for keyword across title/description/notes

Implementation approach:
- Add query builder pattern to storage layer
- Support --query DSL for complex queries
- Keep simple flags for common cases
- Add --json output for programmatic use

## Progress Update

**Completed:**
- ✅ Extended IssueFilter struct with new fields (pattern matching, date ranges, empty/null checks, priority ranges)
- ✅ Updated SQLite SearchIssues implementation
- ✅ Added CLI flags to list.go
- ✅ Added parseTimeFlag helper
- ✅ Comprehensive tests added - all passing

**Remaining:**
- ⚠ RPC layer needs updating (internal/rpc/protocol.go ListArgs)
- ⚠ Daemon handler needs to forward new filters
- ⚠ End-to-end testing with daemon mode
- 📝 Documentation updates

**Files Modified:**
- internal/types/types.go
- internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go
- cmd/bd/list.go
- cmd/bd/list_test.go

**Next Steps:**
1. Update RPC protocol
2. Update daemon handler
3. Test with daemon mode
4. Update docs


GH#483: Pre-commit hook should not fail when .beads exists but bd sync fails

Pre-commit hook exit 1 on bd sync --flush-only failure blocks commits even when user removed beads but .beads dir reappears. Should warn not fail. See: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/issues/483


GH#505: Add bd reset command to wipe database

Users struggle to fully reset beads (local + remote). Need bd reset command with safety confirmation. Currently requires manual hook/dir removal. See: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/issues/505


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) { ... }
```


bd export should detect and prevent stale database exports

## Problem

When `bd export` is run with a stale database (older than issues.jsonl), it silently overwrites the JSONL file with stale data, causing data loss.

## What Happened (vc project)

1. Agent A created 4 new issues and exported to issues.jsonl (commit 99a9d58)
2. Agent A closed an issue and exported again (commit 58b4613) - JSONL now has 4 epics
3. Agent B had stale database (from before step 1)
4. Agent B worked on unrelated issue and exported (commit 0609233)
5. Agent B's export **overwrote issues.jsonl**, removing the 4 epics created by Agent A
6. Required manual recovery by re-exporting from Agent A's correct database

## Expected Behavior

`bd export` should detect that the database is stale and either:
- **Refuse to export** with error message explaining the issue
- **Warn prominently** and require explicit --force flag to override
- **Auto-import first** to sync database before exporting

## How to Detect Staleness

Compare modification times (similar to VC's ValidateDatabaseFreshness):
1. Check .db, .db-wal, .db-shm timestamps (use newest for WAL mode)
2. Check issues.jsonl timestamp
3. If JSONL is newer by >1 second: database is stale

## Suggested Fix

Add staleness check in `bd export`:

```go
func Export(dbPath, jsonlPath string, force bool) error {
    // Check if database is stale
    if !force {
        if err := checkDatabaseFreshness(dbPath, jsonlPath); err != nil {
            return fmt.Errorf("database is stale: %w\n" +
                "Run 'bd import %s' first to sync, or use --force to override",
                err, jsonlPath)
        }
    }

    // Proceed with export...
}
```

## Impact

- **Severity**: High (silent data loss)
- **Frequency**: Happens in multi-agent workflows when agents don't sync
- **Workaround**: Manual recovery (re-export from correct database)

## References

- VC issue tracker: commits 58b4613 -> 0609233 -> c41c638
- VC has similar check: `storage.ValidateDatabaseFreshness()`
- Tolerance: 1 second (handles filesystem timestamp precision)

Fixed with ID-based comparison instead of just count. Now detects:
1. DB has fewer issues than JSONL (count check)
2. DB has different issues than JSONL (ID comparison)

Both scenarios now properly refuse export unless --force is used.

Implementation uses getIssueIDsFromJSONL() to build a set of IDs from JSONL, then checks if any JSONL IDs are missing from DB. Shows specific missing issue IDs in error message.


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-cbed9619.3, bd-dcd6f14b 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


Add --body-file flag to bd create for reading descriptions from files

## Problem

Creating issues with long/complex descriptions via CLI requires shell escaping gymnastics:

```bash
# Current workaround - awkward heredoc quoting
bd create --title="..." --description="$(cat <<'EOF'
...markdown...
EOF
)"

# Often fails with quote escaping errors in eval context
# Agents resort to writing temp files then reading them
```

## Proposed Solution

Add `--body-file` and `--description-file` flags to read description from a file, matching `gh` CLI pattern.

```bash
# Natural pattern that aligns with training data
cat > /tmp/desc.md << 'EOF'
...markdown content...
EOF

bd create --title="..." --body-file=/tmp/desc.md
```

## Implementation

### 1. Add new flags to `bd create`

```go
createCmd.Flags().String("body-file", "", "Read description from file (use - for stdin)")
createCmd.Flags().String("description-file", "", "Alias for --body-file")
```

### 2. Flag precedence

- If `--body-file` or `--description-file` is provided, read from file
- If value is `-`, read from stdin
- Otherwise fall back to `--body` or `--description` flag
- If neither provided, description is empty (current behavior)

### 3. Error handling

- File doesn't exist → clear error message
- File not readable → clear error message
- stdin specified but not available → clear error message

## Benefits

✅ **Matches training data**: `gh issue create --body-file file.txt` is a common pattern
✅ **No shell escaping issues**: File content is read directly
✅ **Works with any content**: Markdown, special characters, quotes, etc.
✅ **Agent-friendly**: Agents already write complex content to temp files
✅ **User-friendly**: Easier for humans too when pasting long descriptions

## Related Commands

Consider adding similar support to:
- `bd update --body-file` (for updating descriptions)
- `bd comment --body-file` (if/when we add comments)

## Examples

```bash
# From file
bd create --title="Add new feature" --body-file=feature.md

# From stdin
echo "Quick description" | bd create --title="Bug fix" --body-file=-

# With other flags
bd create \
  --title="Security issue" \
  --type=bug \
  --priority=0 \
  --body-file=security-report.md \
  --label=security
```

## Testing

- Test with normal files
- Test with stdin (`-`)
- Test with non-existent files (error handling)
- Test with binary files (should handle gracefully)
- Test with empty files (valid - empty description)
- Test that `--description-file` and `--body-file` are equivalent aliases


bd init --contributor should configure sync.remote=upstream for fork workflows

When running `bd init --contributor` in a fork workflow (where `upstream` remote points to the original repo), the wizard should configure beads to sync from `upstream/main` rather than `origin/main`.

**Current behavior:**
- Contributor mode detects the fork setup (upstream remote exists)
- Sets up planning repo and auto-routing
- Does NOT configure sync remote
- `bd sync` on feature branches shows "No upstream configured, using --from-main mode" and syncs from `origin/main`

**Expected behavior:**
- Contributor mode should also set `sync.remote = upstream` (or similar config)
- `bd sync` should pull beads from `upstream/main` (source of truth)

**Why this matters:**
- The fork's `origin/main` may be behind `upstream/main`
- Contributors want the latest issues from the source repo
- Code PRs go: local -> origin -> upstream, but beads should come FROM upstream

**Suggested fix:**
Add to `runContributorWizard()` after detecting fork:
```go
if isFork {
    store.SetConfig(ctx, "sync.remote", "upstream")
}
```


Add integration tests for CompactedResult in MCP server

The CompactedResult model is used for list operations when results exceed COMPACTION_THRESHOLD (20 items), but there are no integration tests verifying the actual MCP server behavior with large result sets.

## What's Missing
- Integration test that mocks a large result set (>20 issues) and verifies CompactedResult is returned
- Verification that preview_count matches PREVIEW_COUNT (5)
- Verification that total_count reflects actual result size
- Test that compaction threshold is configurable (currently hardcoded COMPACTION_THRESHOLD=20)

## Why This Matters
The compaction logic is critical for preventing context overflow with large lists. Without integration tests, we can't verify it works correctly with the actual MCP protocol.

## Suggested Implementation
Create test_mcp_compaction.py with:
1. test_list_with_large_result_set_returns_compacted_result()
2. test_ready_work_respects_compaction_threshold()
3. test_compacted_result_structure_is_valid()


Improve clean vs cleanup command naming/documentation

Clarify the difference between bd clean and bd cleanup to reduce user confusion.

**Current state:**
- bd clean: Remove temporary artifacts (.beads/bd.sock, logs, etc.)
- bd cleanup: Delete old closed issues from database

**Options:**
1. Rename for clarity:
   - bd clean → bd clean-temp
   - bd cleanup → bd cleanup-issues

2. Keep names but improve help text and documentation

3. Add prominent warnings in help output

**Preferred approach:** Option 2 (improve documentation)
- Update short/long descriptions in commands
- Add examples to help text
- Update README.md
- Add cross-references in help output

**Files to modify:**
- cmd/bd/clean.go
- cmd/bd/cleanup.go
- README.md or ADVANCED.md


Fix bd --version and bd completion to work without database


Publish official devcontainer configuration

Devcontainer configuration implemented. Manual testing required in actual devcontainer environment (Codespaces or VSCode Remote Containers). All code changes complete, tests pass, linting clean.


Batch test 2


Document Claude Code for Web SessionStart hook

Create documentation for using bd in Claude Code for Web:

## Documentation locations
- README.md - Add Claude Code for Web section
- Create docs/CLAUDE_CODE_WEB.md with detailed instructions

## SessionStart hook example
```json
{
  "sessionStart": {
    "script": "npm install -g @beads/bd && bd init --quiet --prefix bd || true"
  }
}
```

## Documentation should cover
- How to configure SessionStart hook in .claude/settings.json
- Verification: Check bd is installed (bd --version)
- Basic workflow in Claude Code for Web
- Troubleshooting common issues
- Note about network restrictions and why npm approach works

## Examples
- Creating issues in web sandbox
- Syncing with git in web environment
- Using MCP server (if applicable)


Add 'bd status' command for issue database overview

Implement a bd status command that provides a quick snapshot of the issue database state, similar to how git status shows working tree state.

Expected output: Show summary including counts by state (open, in-progress, blocked, closed), recent activity (last 7 days), and quick overview without needing multiple queries.

Example output showing issue counts, recent activity stats, and pointer to bd list for details.

Proposed options: --all (show all issues), --assigned (show issues assigned to current user), --json (JSON format output)

Use cases: Quick project health check, onboarding for new contributors, integration with shell prompts or CI/CD, daily standup reference


Switch from deletions manifest to inline tombstones

Replace the current deletions.jsonl manifest with inline tombstone records in issues.jsonl.

## Problem Statement

The current deletions manifest approach has several issues:

1. **Wild poisoning** - A stale clone's deletions manifest can poison fresh databases when synced
2. **Two-level merge inconsistency** - Git content merge and beads snapshot merge use different bases
3. **SyncJSONLToWorktree overwrites** - Blindly copies local JSONL to worktree, losing remote issues
4. **3-day TTL too aggressive** - Deletions expire before dormant branches get merged

## Proposed Solution: Inline Tombstones

Instead of a separate deletions.jsonl file, embed deletion records directly in issues.jsonl:

```json
{"id":"beads-abc","status":"tombstone","title":"Original title","deleted_at":"2025-12-01T...","deleted_by":"user","expires_at":"2025-12-31T..."}
```

### Benefits

1. **Single source of truth** - No separate manifest to sync/merge
2. **Participates in normal 3-way merge** - Deletion conflicts resolved same as other fields
3. **Atomic with issue data** - Can't have orphaned deletions or missing tombstones
4. **Preserves metadata** - Can optionally keep title/type for audit trail

### Design Decisions Needed

1. **TTL duration** - 30 days default? Configurable via config.yaml?
2. **Tombstone content** - Minimal (just ID + timestamps) vs. full issue preservation?
3. **Migration path** - How to handle existing deletions.jsonl files?
4. **Status value** - Use "tombstone" or "deleted"? (tombstone clearer, deleted more intuitive)
5. **Merge semantics** - Does tombstone always win, or use updated_at like other fields?

### Migration Strategy

1. On import, convert deletions.jsonl entries to tombstones in JSONL
2. Deprecate but still read deletions.jsonl for backward compatibility
3. Stop writing to deletions.jsonl after N versions

## Related Issues

- GitHub #464: Beads deletes issues (fresh clone sync problem)
- bd-2e0: Add TTL to deletions manifest entries (current 3-day TTL)
- bd-53c: bd sync corrupts issues.jsonl in multi-clone environments


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


GH#245: Windows MCP subprocess timeout for git rev-parse

User reports git detection timing out on Windows in MCP server, but CLI works fine.

Path: C:\Users\chris\Documents\DEV_R\quarto-cli
Error: Git repository detection timed out after 5s
Works fine in CLI: `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` succeeds

Hypothesis: subprocess.run() with asyncio.to_thread() may have Windows-specific issues or the MCP runtime environment may not have proper PATH/git access.

Potential fixes:
1. Add subprocess shell=True on Windows
2. Increase timeout further for Windows
3. Add better error logging to capture subprocess stderr
4. Skip git resolution entirely on timeout and just use provided path


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)


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


Fix autoimport tests for content-hash collision scoring

## Overview
Three autoimport tests are failing after bd-cbed9619.4 because they expect behavior based on the old reference-counting collision resolution, but the system now uses deterministic content-hash scoring.

## Failing Tests
1. `TestAutoImportMultipleCollisionsRemapped` - expects local versions preserved
2. `TestAutoImportAllCollisionsRemapped` - expects local versions preserved
3. `TestAutoImportCollisionRemapMultipleFields` - expects specific collision resolution behavior

## Root Cause
These tests were written when ScoreCollisions used reference counting to determine which version to keep. Now it uses content-hash comparison (introduced in commit 2e87329), which produces different but deterministic results.

## Example
Old behavior: Issue with more references would be kept
New behavior: Issue with lexicographically lower content hash is kept

## Solution
Update each test to:
1. Verify the new content-hash based behavior is correct
2. Check that the remapped issue (not necessarily local/remote) has the expected content
3. Ensure dependencies are preserved on the correct remapped issue

## Acceptance Criteria
- All three autoimport tests pass
- Tests verify content-hash determinism (same collision always resolves the same way)
- Tests check dependency preservation on remapped issues
- Test documentation explains content-hash scoring expectations

## Files to Modify
- `cmd/bd/autoimport_collision_test.go`

## Testing
Run: `go test ./cmd/bd -run "TestAutoImport.*Collision" -v`


YABB: Spurious issue updates during normal operations

Issue bd-627d was updated during config refactoring session without any actual changes to it. Only timestamps and content_hash changed.

Observed: Running various bd commands (list, create, etc.) caused bd-627d updated_at to change from 14:14 to 14:31.

Expected: Issues should only be updated when explicitly modified.

This causes:
- Dirty JSONL after every session
- False conflicts in git
- Confusing git history

Likely culprit: Daemon auto-import/export cycle or database migration touching all issues.

Investigated thoroughly - unable to reproduce. The import logic has IssueDataChanged() checks before calling UpdateIssue (importer/importer.go:458). All tests pass. May have been fixed by recent refactorings. Closing as cannot reproduce - please reopen with specific repro steps if it occurs again.


Tombstone import creates duplicate entries when deletions.jsonl has entries already in JSONL

In the tombstone import logic (bd-dve), when a non-tombstone issue is in both JSONL and deletions.jsonl, we:
1. Skip the issue (line 149-155)
2. Create a tombstone from deletions.jsonl (lines 161-171)

This means if the JSONL contains issue 'bd-abc' (non-tombstone) and deletions.jsonl also has 'bd-abc', we skip the JSONL version but then add a tombstone version from deletions.jsonl. This is intentional but the skipped issue count may be confusing.

Consider: should we track converted-to-tombstone separately from skipped-deleted in the Result struct?


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


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.


Fix Homebrew warning about Ruby file location

Homebrew warning: Found Ruby file outside steveyegge/beads tap formula directory.
Warning points to: /opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/steveyegge/homebrew-beads/bd.rb
It should likely be inside a Formula/ directory or similar structure expected by Homebrew taps.


bd config set succeeds but doesn't persist to config.toml

Commands like `bd config set daemon.auto_push true` return "Set daemon.auto_push = true" but the config file is never created and `bd info --json | jq '.config'` returns null.

**Steps to reproduce:**
1. Run `bd config set daemon.auto_push true`
2. See success message: "Set daemon.auto_push = true"
3. Check `cat .beads/config.toml` → file doesn't exist
4. Check `bd info --json | jq '.config'` → returns null

**Expected:**
- .beads/config.toml should be created with the setting
- bd info should show the config value

**Impact:**
Users can't enable auto-push/auto-commit via CLI as documented in AGENTS.md


Fix bd doctor to recommend issues.jsonl as canonical (not beads.jsonl)


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.


Issue 2


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


Feature with design

This is a description


Extract batch operations to batch_ops.go

Move validateBatchIssues, generateBatchIDs, bulkInsertIssues, bulkRecordEvents, bulkMarkDirty, CreateIssues to batch_ops.go


Default to YES for git hooks and merge driver installation

Currently bd init prompts user to install git hooks and merge driver, but setup is incomplete if user declines. Change to install by default unless --skip-hooks or --skip-merge-driver flags are passed. Better safe defaults. If installation fails, warn user and suggest bd doctor --fix.


Blocked issue


Polecats get stuck on interactive shell prompts (cp/mv/rm -i)

During swarm operations, polecats frequently get stuck waiting for interactive prompts from shell commands like:
- cp prompting 'overwrite file? (y/n)'
- mv prompting 'overwrite file? (y/n)'
- rm prompting 'remove file?'

This happens because macOS aliases or shell configs may have -i flags set by default.

Root cause: Claude Code runs commands that trigger interactive confirmation prompts, but cannot respond to them, causing the agent to hang indefinitely.

Observed in: Multiple polecats during GH issues swarm (Dec 2024)
- Derrick, Roustabout, Prospector, Warboy all got stuck on y/n prompts

Suggested fixes:
1. AGENTS.md should instruct agents to always use -f flag with cp/mv/rm
2. Polecat startup could set shell aliases to use non-interactive versions
3. bd prime hook could include guidance about non-interactive commands
4. Consider detecting stuck prompts and auto-recovering


Add Claude Code web installation docs to README

GH #439 reported installation issues in Claude Code web environment. The go install fallback works, but users need guidance. Add a section to README documenting the workaround: go install + PATH export.


Update LINTING.md with current baseline

After cleanup, document the remaining acceptable baseline in LINTING.md so we can track regression.


Implement topological sort for import ordering

Refactor upsertIssues() to sort issues by hierarchy depth before batch creation. Ensures parents are created before children, fixing latent bug where parent-child pairs in same batch can fail if ordered wrong. Sort by dot count, create in depth-order batches (0→1→2→3).


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


SearchIssues N+1 query causes context timeout with GetLabels

scanIssues() calls GetLabels in a loop for every issue, causing N+1 queries and context deadline exceeded errors when used with short timeouts or in-memory databases. This is especially problematic since SearchIssues already supports label filtering via SQL WHERE clauses.


Extract database search logic into helper function

The logic for finding a database in a beads directory is duplicated:
- FindDatabasePath() BEADS_DIR section (beads.go:141-169)
- findDatabaseInTree() (beads.go:248-280)

Both implement the same search order:
1. Check config.json first (single source of truth)
2. Fall back to canonical beads.db
3. Search for *.db files, filtering backups and vc.db

Refactoring suggestion:
Extract to a helper function like:
  func findDatabaseInBeadsDir(beadsDir string) string

Benefits:
- Single source of truth for database search logic
- Easier to maintain and update search order
- Reduces code duplication

Related to [deleted:bd-e16b] implementation.


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


Centralize error handling patterns in storage layer

80+ instances of inconsistent error handling across sqlite.go with mix of %w, %v, and no wrapping.

Location: internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go (throughout)

Problem:
- Some use fmt.Errorf("op failed: %w", err) - correct wrapping
- Some use fmt.Errorf("op failed: %v", err) - loses error chain
- Some return err directly - no context
- Hard to debug production issues
- Can't distinguish error types

Solution: Create internal/storage/sqlite/errors.go:
- Define sentinel errors (ErrNotFound, ErrInvalidID, etc.)
- Create wrapDBError(op string, err error) helper
- Convert sql.ErrNoRows to ErrNotFound
- Always wrap with operation context

Impact: Lost error context; inconsistent messages; hard to debug

Effort: 5-7 hours


Replace BEADS_DB with BEADS_DIR environment variable

Implement BEADS_DIR as a replacement for BEADS_DB to point to the .beads directory instead of the database file directly.

Rationale:
- With --no-db mode, there's no .db file to point to
- The .beads directory is the logical unit (contains config.yaml, db files, jsonl files)
- More intuitive: point to the beads directory not the database file

Implementation:
1. Add BEADS_DIR environment variable support
2. Maintain backward compatibility with BEADS_DB
3. Priority order: BEADS_DIR > BEADS_DB > auto-discovery
4. If BEADS_DIR is set, look for config.yaml in that directory to find actual database path
5. Update documentation and migration guide

Files to modify:
- beads.go (FindDatabasePath function)
- cmd/bd/main.go (initialization)
- Documentation (CLI_REFERENCE.md, TROUBLESHOOTING.md, etc.)
- MCP integration (integrations/beads-mcp/src/beads_mcp/config.py)

Testing:
- Ensure BEADS_DB still works (backward compatibility)
- Test BEADS_DIR with both db and --no-db modes
- Test priority order when both are set
- Update integration tests

Related to GitHub issue #179


Split test suites: fast vs. integration

Reorganize tests into separate packages/files for fast unit tests vs slow integration tests.

Benefits:
- Clear separation of concerns
- Easier to run just fast tests during development
- Can parallelize CI jobs better

Files to organize:
- beads_hash_multiclone_test.go (slow integration tests)
- beads_integration_test.go (medium-speed integration tests)
- Other test files (fast unit tests)


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.


Issue 1


Make two-clone workflow actually work (no hacks)

TestTwoCloneCollision proves beads CANNOT handle two independent clones filing issues simultaneously. This is the basic collaborative workflow and it must work cleanly.

Test location: beads_twoclone_test.go

The test creates two git clones, both file issues with same ID (test-1), --resolve-collisions remaps clone B's to test-2, but after sync:
- Clone A has test-1="Issue from clone A", test-2="Issue from clone B"
- Clone B has test-1="Issue from clone B", test-2="Issue from clone A"

The TITLES are swapped! Both clones have 2 issues but with opposite title assignments.

We've tried many fixes (per-project daemons, auto-sync, lamport hashing, precommit hooks) but nothing has made the test pass.

Goal: Make the test pass WITHOUT hacks. The two clones should converge to identical state after sync.

**Major progress achieved!** The two-clone workflow now converges correctly.

**What was fixed:**
--3d844c58: Implemented content-hash based rename detection
- bd-64c05d00.1: Fixed test to compare content not timestamps
- Both clones now converge to identical issue databases
- test-1 and test-2 have correct titles in both clones
- No more title swapping!

**Current status (VERIFIED):**
✅ Acceptance criteria 1: TestTwoCloneCollision passes (confirmed Oct 28)
✅ Acceptance criteria 2: Both clones converge to identical issue database (content matches)
✅ Acceptance criteria 3: No manual conflict resolution required (automatic)
✅ Acceptance criteria 4: Git status clean
✅ Acceptance criteria 5: bd ready output identical (timestamps are expected difference)

**ALL ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA MET!** This issue is complete and can be closed.


## Problem

bd cleanup deletes closed issues (converting them to tombstones) but does NOT prune expired tombstones. Users expect 'cleanup' to do comprehensive cleanup.

## Current Behavior

1. bd cleanup --force converts closed issues to tombstones
2. Expired tombstones (>30 days) remain in issues.jsonl
3. User must separately run bd compact to prune tombstones
4. bd doctor warns about expired tombstones: Run bd compact to prune

## Expected Behavior

bd cleanup should also prune expired tombstones from issues.jsonl.

## Impact

With v0.30.0 making tombstones the default migration path, this UX gap becomes more visible. Users cleaning up their database should not need to know about a separate bd compact command.

## Proposed Solution

Call pruneExpiredTombstones() at the end of the cleanup command (same function used by compact).

## Files to Modify

- cmd/bd/cleanup.go - Add call to pruneExpiredTombstones after deleteBatch

## Acceptance Criteria

- bd cleanup --force prunes expired tombstones after deleting closed issues
- bd cleanup --dry-run shows what tombstones would be pruned
- JSON output includes tombstone prune results


getLocalSyncBranch silently ignores YAML parse errors

In autoimport.go:170-172, YAML parsing errors are silently ignored. If a user has malformed YAML in config.yaml, sync-branch will just silently be empty with no feedback.

Recommendation: Add debug logging since this function is only called during auto-import, and debugging silent failures is painful.

Add: debug.Logf("Warning: failed to parse config.yaml: %v", err)


Add tombstone doctor checks

Add bd doctor checks for: unmigrated deletions.jsonl, stale deletions.jsonl in Phase 3, tombstones expiring soon. Per design bd-dli.


Backend task


bd-hv01: Refactor snapshot management into dedicated module

Problem: Snapshot logic is scattered across deletion_tracking.go. Would benefit from abstraction with SnapshotManager type.

Benefits: cleaner separation of concerns, easier to test in isolation, better encapsulation, could add observability/metrics.

Suggested improvements: add magic constants, track merge statistics, better error messages.

Files: cmd/bd/deletion_tracking.go (refactor into new snapshot_manager.go)


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)


Fix G104 errors unhandled in internal/storage/sqlite/queries.go:1186

Linting issue: G104: Errors unhandled (gosec) at internal/storage/sqlite/queries.go:1186:2. Error: rows.Close()


Database pollution in ~/src/dave/vc: 895 issues vs canonical 310

~/src/dave/vc/.beads/beads.db has 895 total issues (675 open, 149 closed), but canonical ~/src/vc/.beads/vc.db has only 310 issues (230 open). This is 585 extra issues - likely pollution from other repositories.

Need to:
1. Identify which issues are polluted (use detect-pollution)
2. Compare issue IDs between dave/vc and canonical vc databases
3. Determine pollution source (beads repo? other repos?)
4. Clean up polluted database
5. Root cause: why did pollution occur?

Investigation findings so far:
- Polluted DB (~/src/dave/vc/.beads/beads.db): 241 issues (180 open, 43 closed)
- Canonical DB (~/src/vc/.beads/vc.db): 310 issues (230 open, 62 closed)
- Contradiction: Polluted has FEWER issues, not more (241 < 310, diff of 69)
- Only 1 unique ID in polluted: vc-55fi
- All source_repo fields are set to "." in both databases
- Issue description claims 895 issues in polluted vs 310 canonical - numbers don't match current state
- Possible: Pollution was already partially cleaned, or issue description refers to different database?


Add bd doctor --fix flag to automatically repair issues

Implement a --fix flag for bd doctor that can automatically repair detected issues.

Requirements:
- Add --fix flag to bd doctor command
- Show all fixable issues and prompt for confirmation before applying fixes
- Organize fix implementations under doctor/fix/<type_of_fix>.go
- Each fix type should have its own file (e.g., doctor/fix/hooks.go, doctor/fix/sync.go)
- Display what will be fixed and ask user to confirm (Y/n) before proceeding
- Support fixing issues like:
  - Missing or broken git hooks
  - Sync problems with remote
  - File permission issues
  - Any other auto-repairable issues doctor detects

Implementation notes:
- Maintain separation between detection (existing doctor code) and repair (new fix code)
- Each fix should be idempotent and safe to run multiple times
- Provide clear output about what was fixed
- Log any fixes that fail with actionable error messages


Add label-based filtering to bd ready command

Allow filtering ready work by labels to help organize work by sprint, week, or category.

Example usage:
  bd ready --label week1-2
  bd ready --label frontend,high-priority

This helps teams organize work into batches and makes it easier for agents to focus on specific categories of work.

Implementation notes:
- Add --label flag to ready command
- Support comma-separated labels (AND logic)
- Should work with existing ready work logic (unblocked issues)


Enforce daemon singleton per workspace with file locking

Agent in ~/src/wyvern discovered 4 simultaneous daemon processes running, causing infinite directory recursion (.beads/.beads/.beads/...). Each daemon used relative paths and created nested .beads/ directories.

Root cause: No singleton enforcement. Multiple `bd daemon` processes can start in same workspace.

Expected: One daemon per workspace (each workspace = separate .beads/ dir with bd.sock)
Actual: Multiple daemons can run simultaneously in same workspace

Note: Separate git clones = separate workspaces = separate daemons (correct). Git worktrees share .beads/ and have known limitations (documented, use --no-daemon).

## Fix Summary

Successfully prevented the nested .beads/.beads/ recursion bug by implementing two safeguards:

1. **Path Canonicalization in FindDatabasePath()** (beads.go):
   - Added filepath.Abs() + filepath.EvalSymlinks() to normalize all database paths
   - Prevents relative path edge cases that create nested directories
   - Ensures all daemons see the same canonical path

2. **Nested Directory Detection** (daemon_lifecycle.go):
   - Added explicit check for ".beads/.beads" pattern in setupDaemonLock()
   - Fails fast with clear error message if nested structure detected
   - Provides user hints about proper usage

## Root Cause

The daemon lock (added Oct 22, 2025) correctly prevents simultaneous daemons in the SAME workspace. However, when BEADS_DB used a relative path (e.g., ".beads/beads.db") from inside the .beads directory, FindDatabasePath() would resolve it to a nested path creating a separate workspace:
- First daemon: /workspace/.beads/beads.db
- Second daemon from .beads/: /workspace/.beads/.beads/beads.db ← Different lock file!

## Testing

All acceptance criteria passed:
✅ 1. Second daemon start fails with "daemon already running" error
✅ 2. Killing daemon releases lock, new daemon can start
✅ 3. No infinite .beads/ recursion possible (tested nested BEADS_DB path)
✅ 4. Works with auto-start mechanism

The fix addresses the edge case while maintaining the existing lock mechanism's correctness.


Optimize test suite performance - cut runtime by 50%+

## Problem
Test suite takes ~20.8 seconds, with 95% of time spent in just 2 tests:
- TestHashIDs_MultiCloneConverge: 11.08s (53%)
- TestHashIDs_IdenticalContentDedup: 8.78s (42%)

Both tests in beads_hash_multiclone_test.go perform extensive Git operations (bare repos, multiple clones, sync rounds).

## Goal
Cut total test time by at least 50% (to ~10 seconds or less).

## Analysis
Tests already have some optimizations:
- --shared --depth=1 --no-tags for fast cloning
- Disabled hooks, gc, fsync
- Support -short flag

## Impact
- Faster development feedback loop
- Reduced CI costs and time
- Better developer experience


Repair Commands & AI-Assisted Tooling

Add specialized repair tools to reduce agent repair burden:
1. Git merge conflicts in JSONL
2. Duplicate issues from parallel work
3. Semantic inconsistencies
4. Orphaned references

See ~/src/fred/beads/repair_commands.md for full design doc.

Reduces agent repair time from 5-10 minutes to <30 seconds per repair.


Export deduplication breaks when JSONL and export_hashes table diverge

## Problem

The export deduplication feature (timestamp-only skipping) breaks when the JSONL file and export_hashes table get out of sync, causing exports to skip issues that aren't actually in the file.

## Symptoms

- `bd export` reports "Skipped 128 issue(s) with timestamp-only changes"
- JSONL file only has 38 lines but DB has 149 issues
- export_hashes table has 149 entries
- Auto-import doesn't trigger (hash matches despite missing data)
- Two repos on same commit show different issue counts

## Root Cause

shouldSkipExport() in autoflush.go compares current issue hash with stored export_hashes entry. If they match, it skips export assuming the issue is already in the JSONL.

This assumption fails when:
1. Git operations (pull, reset, checkout) change JSONL without clearing export_hashes
2. Manual JSONL edits or corruption
3. Import operations that modify DB but don't update export_hashes
4. Partial exports that update export_hashes but don't complete

## Impact

- **Critical data loss risk**: Issues appear to be tracked but aren't persisted to git
- Breaks multi-repo sync (root cause of today's debugging session)
- Auto-import fails to detect staleness (hash matches despite missing data)
- Silent data corruption (no error messages, just missing issues)

## Reproduction

1. Have DB with 149 issues, all in export_hashes table
2. Truncate JSONL to 38 lines (simulate git reset or corruption)
3. Run `bd export` - it skips 128 issues
4. JSONL still has only 38 lines but export thinks it succeeded

## Current Workaround

```bash
sqlite3 .beads/beads.db "DELETE FROM export_hashes"
bd export -o .beads/beads.jsonl
```

## Proposed Solutions

**Option 1: Verify JSONL integrity before skipping**
- Count lines in JSONL, compare with export_hashes count
- If mismatch, clear export_hashes and force full export
- Safe but adds I/O overhead

**Option 2: Hash-based JSONL validation**
- Store hash of entire JSONL file in metadata
- Before export, check if JSONL hash matches
- If mismatch, clear export_hashes
- More efficient, detects any JSONL corruption

**Option 3: Disable timestamp-only deduplication**
- Remove the feature entirely
- Always export all issues
- Simplest and safest, but creates larger git commits

**Option 4: Clear export_hashes on git operations**
- Add post-merge hook to clear export_hashes
- Clear on any import operation
- Defensive approach but may over-clear

## Recommended Fix

Combination of Options 2 + 4:
1. Store JSONL file hash in metadata after export
2. Check hash before export, clear export_hashes if mismatch
3. Clear export_hashes on import operations
4. Add `bd validate` check for JSONL/export_hashes sync

## Files Involved

- cmd/bd/autoflush.go (shouldSkipExport)
- cmd/bd/export.go (export with deduplication)
- internal/storage/sqlite/metadata.go (export_hashes table)