Add metadata and thread_id columns to dependencies table

Schema changes:
- ALTER TABLE dependencies ADD COLUMN metadata TEXT DEFAULT '{}'
- ALTER TABLE dependencies ADD COLUMN thread_id TEXT DEFAULT ''
- CREATE INDEX idx_dependencies_thread ON dependencies(thread_id) WHERE thread_id != ''


bd init should stop running daemon to avoid stale cache

When running bd init, any running daemon continues with stale cached data, causing bd stats and other commands to show old counts.

Repro:
1. Have daemon running with 788 issues cached
2. Clean JSONL to 128 issues, delete db, run bd init
3. bd stats still shows 788 (daemon cache)
4. Must manually run bd daemon --stop

Fix: bd init should automatically stop any running daemon before reinitializing.


bd: Add town-level activity signal in PersistentPreRun

Add activity signaling to beads so Gas Town daemon can detect bd usage.

In cmd/bd/main.go PersistentPreRun, add a call to write activity to
the Gas Town daemon directory if running inside a Gas Town workspace.

The signal file is ~/gt/daemon/activity.json (or detected town root).

Format:
{
  "last_command": "bd create ...",
  "actor": "gastown/crew/max",
  "timestamp": "2025-12-26T19:30:00Z"
}

Should be best-effort (silent failure) to avoid breaking bd outside Gas Town.

Cross-rig ref: gastown gt-ws8ol (Deacon exponential backoff epic)


Update CHANGELOG.md with release notes

Add release notes for 0.32.1: MCP output control params (#667), pin field fix


Test parent task


Rename 'bond' to 'spawn' for instantiation

Rename the bd mol bond command to bd mol spawn for instantiating protos.

- Rename molBondCmd to molSpawnCmd
- Update command Use/Short/Long descriptions
- Keep 'bond' available for the new bonding feature
- Update all documentation references
- Add 'protomolecule' as easter egg alias for 'proto'


Update all code to use dependencies API for edges

Find and update all code that reads/writes:
- replies_to field -> use dependency API
- relates_to field -> use dependency API
- duplicate_of field -> use dependency API
- superseded_by field -> use dependency API

Commands affected: bd mail, bd relate, bd duplicate, bd supersede, bd show, etc.


Add backwards-compatible aliases and deprecation warnings

## Task
Ensure backwards compatibility by adding hidden aliases for all moved commands.

## Implementation

### Create aliases.go
New file to centralize alias management:
```go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"

    "github.com/spf13/cobra"
)

// Deprecated command aliases for backwards compatibility
// These will be removed in v0.XX.0

func init() {
    // migrate-* → migrate *
    addDeprecatedAlias("migrate-hash-ids", "migrate hash-ids")
    addDeprecatedAlias("migrate-issues", "migrate issues")
    addDeprecatedAlias("migrate-sync", "migrate sync")
    addDeprecatedAlias("migrate-tombstones", "migrate tombstones")

    // top-level → admin *
    addDeprecatedAlias("cleanup", "admin cleanup")
    addDeprecatedAlias("compact", "admin compact")
    addDeprecatedAlias("reset", "admin reset")

    // top-level → formula *
    addDeprecatedAlias("cook", "formula cook")
}

func addDeprecatedAlias(old, new string) {
    cmd := &cobra.Command{
        Use:    old,
        Hidden: true,
        Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
            fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "⚠  '%s' is deprecated, use '%s' instead\n", old, new)
            // Forward execution to new command
        },
    }
    rootCmd.AddCommand(cmd)
}
```

### Deprecation behavior
1. First release: Show warning, execute command
2. One release later: Show warning, still execute
3. Third release: Remove aliases entirely

## Files to create
- cmd/bd/aliases.go

## Files to modify
- cmd/bd/main.go (ensure aliases loaded)


Wait for CI

Monitor GitHub Actions for release completion.

https://github.com/steveyegge/beads/actions

Expected time: 5-10 minutes

Watch for:
- Build artifacts (all platforms)
- Test suite pass
- npm publish
- PyPI publish


Update CHANGELOG.md with release notes

Add meaningful release notes to CHANGELOG.md describing what changed in test-squash


Update local installation

Update local bd to the new version.

Option 1 - Homebrew:
```bash
brew upgrade bd
```

Option 2 - Install script:
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveyegge/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
```

Verify:
```bash
bd --version
```

Should show 0.39.0.


Merge: quartz-1767106247671

branch: polecat/quartz-1767106247671
target: main
source_issue: quartz-1767106247671
rig: beads


Implement --check flag with test runner

## Summary
Implement the `--check` flag to run `go test -short ./...` and report results.

## Implementation Details

### Location
File: `cmd/bd/preflight.go`

### Changes Required

1. **Add check execution logic** in `runPreflight()`:
```go
if check {
    runChecks(cmd)  // New function
    return
}
```

2. **Implement test runner**:
```go
func runTestCheck() CheckResult {
    cmd := exec.Command("go", "test", "-short", "./...")
    output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
    return CheckResult{
        Name:    "tests",
        Passed:  err == nil,
        Output:  string(output),
        Command: "go test -short ./...",
    }
}
```

3. **Define CheckResult struct**:
```go
type CheckResult struct {
    Name    string
    Passed  bool
    Output  string
    Command string
}
```

4. **Output format**:
```
$ bd preflight --check
✓ Tests pass
  Command: go test -short ./...

# On failure:
✗ Tests fail
  Command: go test -short ./...
  Output: [truncated test output]
```

### Testing
- Add tests in `cmd/bd/preflight_test.go`
- Test with passing tests (this repo)
- Test with intentionally failing test (mock or temp file)

### Acceptance Criteria
- [x] `--check` flag runs tests (not just prints message)
- [x] Clear pass/fail output with ✓/✗ symbols
- [x] Shows command being run
- [x] Shows output on failure (truncated if long)
- [x] Exits with non-zero code if tests fail
- [x] Works with `--json` flag for programmatic use


Fix JSON errors in label.go (label commands)

Replace ~19 direct stderr writes with FatalErrorRespectJSON() in label.go.

Commands affected:
- labelAddCmd
- labelRemoveCmd
- labelListCmd
- labelListAllCmd


Verify version consistency

Confirm all versions match 0.41.0.

```bash
grep 'Version = ' cmd/bd/version.go
jq -r '.version' .claude-plugin/plugin.json
jq -r '.version' npm-package/package.json
grep 'version = ' integrations/beads-mcp/pyproject.toml
```

All should show 0.41.0.


Add --pretty flag to bd ready

bd list has --pretty but bd ready doesn't. Should support same tree format with status/priority symbols for consistency.


Remove redundant edge fields from Issue struct

Remove from Issue struct:
- RepliesTo -> dependency with type replies-to
- RelatesTo -> dependencies with type relates-to
- DuplicateOf -> dependency with type duplicates
- SupersededBy -> dependency with type supersedes

Keep: Sender, Ephemeral (these are attributes, not relationships)


Phase 1.3: Basic TOON read/write operations

Add basic TOON read/write operations to bdt executable. Implement create, list, and show commands that use the internal/toon package for encoding/decoding to TOON format.

## Subtasks
1. Implement bdt create command - Create issues and serialize to TOON format
2. Implement bdt list command - Read issues.toon and display all issues
3. Implement bdt show command - Display single issue by ID
4. Add file I/O operations for issues.toon
5. Integrate internal/toon package (EncodeTOON, DecodeJSON)
6. Write tests for create, list, show operations

## Files to Create/Modify
- cmd/bdt/create.go - Create command
- cmd/bdt/list.go - List command
- cmd/bdt/show.go - Show command
- cmd/bdt/storage.go - File I/O helper

## Success Criteria
- bdt create "Issue title" creates and saves to issues.toon
- bdt list displays all issues in human-readable format
- bdt list --json shows JSON output
- bdt show <id> displays single issue
- Issues round-trip correctly: create → list → show
- All tests passing with >80% coverage


Consider backwards compatibility for ready() and list() return type change

PR #481 changed the return types of `ready()` and `list()` from `list[Issue]` to `list[IssueMinimal] | CompactedResult`. This is a breaking change for MCP clients.

## Impact Assessment
Breaking change affects:
- Any MCP client expecting `list[Issue]` from ready()
- Any MCP client expecting `list[Issue]` from list()
- Client code that accesses full Issue fields (description, design, acceptance_criteria, timestamps, dependencies, dependents)

## Current Behavior
- ready() returns `list[IssueMinimal] | CompactedResult`
- list() returns `list[IssueMinimal] | CompactedResult`
- show() still returns full `Issue` (good)

## Considerations
**Pros of current approach:**
- Forces clients to use show() for full details (good for context efficiency)
- Simple mental model (always use show for full data)
- Documentation warns about this

**Cons:**
- Clients expecting list[Issue] will break
- No graceful degradation option
- No migration period

## Potential Solutions
1. Add optional parameter `full_details=false` to ready/list (would increase payload)
2. Create separate tools: ready_minimal/list_minimal + ready_full/list_full
3. Accept breaking change and document upgrade path (current approach)
4. Version the MCP server and document migration guide

## Recommendation
Current approach (solution 3) is reasonable if:
- Changelog clearly documents the breaking change
- Migration guide provided to clients
- Error handling is graceful for clients expecting specific fields


Preflight: Pull latest

Ensure we're up to date with origin.

```bash
git pull --rebase
```

Resolve any conflicts before proceeding.


Merge: ux-1766978911613

branch: polecat/Nux-1766978911613
target: main
source_issue: ux-1766978911613
rig: beads


Split internal/storage/sqlite/queries.go (1586 lines)

Split internal/storage/sqlite/queries.go (1704 lines) into logical modules.

## Current State
queries.go is 1704 lines with mixed responsibilities:
- Issue CRUD operations
- Search/filter operations
- Delete operations (complex cascade logic)
- Helper functions (parsing, formatting)

## Proposed Split

### 1. queries.go (keep ~400 lines) - Core CRUD
```go
// Core issue operations
func (s *SQLiteStorage) CreateIssue(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) GetIssue(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) UpdateIssue(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) CloseIssue(...)
```

### 2. queries_search.go (~300 lines) - Search/Filter
```go
// Search and filtering
func (s *SQLiteStorage) SearchIssues(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) GetIssueByExternalRef(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) GetCloseReason(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) GetCloseReasonsForIssues(...)
```

### 3. queries_delete.go (~400 lines) - Delete Operations
```go
// Delete operations with cascade logic
func (s *SQLiteStorage) CreateTombstone(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) DeleteIssue(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) DeleteIssues(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) resolveDeleteSet(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) expandWithDependents(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) validateNoDependents(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) checkSingleIssueValidation(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) trackOrphanedIssues(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) collectOrphansForID(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) populateDeleteStats(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) executeDelete(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) findAllDependentsRecursive(...)
```

### 4. queries_helpers.go (~100 lines) - Utilities
```go
// Helper functions (already at top of file)
func parseNullableTimeString(...)
func parseJSONStringArray(...)
func formatJSONStringArray(...)
```

### 5. queries_rename.go (~100 lines) - ID/Prefix Operations
```go
// ID and prefix management
func (s *SQLiteStorage) UpdateIssueID(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) RenameDependencyPrefix(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) RenameCounterPrefix(...)
func (s *SQLiteStorage) ResetCounter(...)
```

## Implementation Steps

1. **Create new files** with package declaration:
   ```go
   // queries_delete.go
   package sqlite

   import (...)
   ```

2. **Move functions** - cut/paste, maintaining order within each file

3. **Update imports** - each file needs its own imports

4. **Run tests** after each file split:
   ```bash
   go test ./internal/storage/sqlite/...
   ```

5. **Run linter** to catch any issues:
   ```bash
   golangci-lint run ./internal/storage/sqlite/...
   ```

## File Organization
```
internal/storage/sqlite/
├── queries.go          # Core CRUD (~400 lines)
├── queries_search.go   # Search/filter (~300 lines)
├── queries_delete.go   # Delete cascade (~400 lines)
├── queries_helpers.go  # Utilities (~100 lines)
└── queries_rename.go   # ID operations (~100 lines)
```

## Success Criteria
- No file > 500 lines
- All tests pass
- No functionality changes
- Clear separation of concerns


Remove Cache-Related Tests

Delete or update tests that assume multi-repo caching


Deacon Patrol

Mayor's daemon patrol loop for handling callbacks, health checks, and cleanup.


Optimization: Tombstones still synced, adding overhead

Tombstoned (deleted) issues are still processed during sync, adding overhead.

## Evidence
```
Import complete: 0 created, 0 updated, 407 unchanged, 100 skipped
```
Those 100 skipped are tombstones - they're read from JSONL, parsed, then filtered out.

## Current State (Beads repo)
- 408 total issues
- 99 tombstones (24% of database)
- Every sync reads and skips these 99 entries

## Impact
- Sync time increases with tombstone count
- JSONL file size grows indefinitely
- Git history accumulates tombstone churn

## Proposed Solutions

### 1. JSONL Compaction (`bd compact`)
Periodically rewrite JSONL without tombstones:
```bash
bd compact  # Removes tombstones, rewrites issues.jsonl
```
Trade-off: Loses delete history, but that's in git anyway.

### 2. Tombstone TTL
Auto-remove tombstones older than N days during sync:
```go
if issue.Deleted && time.Since(issue.UpdatedAt) > 7*24*time.Hour {
    // Skip writing to new JSONL
}
```

### 3. Archive File
Move old closed issues to `issues-archive.jsonl`:
- Not synced regularly
- Available for historical queries
- Main JSONL stays small

### 4. Lazy Tombstone Handling
Don't write tombstones to JSONL at all - just remove the line:
- Simpler, but loses cross-clone delete propagation
- Would need different delete propagation mechanism

## Recommendation
Start with `bd compact` command - simple, explicit, user-controlled.

## Related
- gt-tnss: Analysis - Beads database size and hygiene strategy
- gt-ox67: Maintenance - Regular cleanup of closed MR/gate beads


bd list --parent: filter by parent issue

Add --parent flag to bd list to filter issues by parent.

Example:
```bash
bd list --parent=gt-h5n --status=open
```

Would show all open children of gt-h5n.

Useful for:
- Checking epic progress
- Finding swarmable work within an epic
- Molecule step listing


Add missing updated_at index on issues table

GetStaleIssues queries filter by updated_at but there's no index on this column.

**Current query (ready.go:253-254):**
```sql
WHERE status != 'closed'
  AND datetime(updated_at) < datetime('now', '-' || ? || ' days')
```

**Problem:** Full table scan when filtering stale issues.

**Solution:** Add migration to create:
```sql
CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_issues_updated_at ON issues(updated_at);
```

**Note:** The datetime() function wrapper may prevent index usage. Consider also storing updated_at as INTEGER (unix timestamp) for better index efficiency, or test if SQLite can use the index despite the function.


Add comments to 30+ silently ignored errors or fix them

Code health review found 30+ instances of error suppression using blank identifier without explanation:

Good examples (with comments):
- merge.go: _ = gitRmCmd.Run() // Ignore errors
- daemon_watcher.go: _ = watcher.Add(...) // Ignore error

Bad examples (no context):
- create.go:213: dbPrefix, _ = store.GetConfig(ctx, "issue_prefix")
- daemon_sync_branch.go: _ = daemonClient.Close()
- migrate_hash_ids.go, version_tracking.go: _ = store.Close()

Fix: Add comments explaining WHY errors are ignored, or handle them properly.


Restart beads daemon

Kill any running daemons so they pick up the new version:
```bash
bd daemons killall
```

Start fresh daemon:
```bash
bd list  # triggers daemon start
```

Verify daemon version:
```bash
bd version --daemon
```

```verify
bd version --daemon 2>&1 | grep -q '0.30.4'
```


Schema: Add message type and new fields

Add to internal/storage/sqlite/schema.go and models:

New issue_type value:
- message

New optional fields on Issue struct:
- Sender string (who sent this)
- Ephemeral bool (can be bulk-deleted)
- RepliesTo string (issue ID for threading)
- RelatesTo []string (issue IDs for knowledge graph)
- Duplicates string (canonical issue ID)
- SupersededBy string (replacement issue ID)

Update:
- internal/storage/sqlite/schema.go - add columns
- internal/models/issue.go - add fields to struct
- internal/storage/sqlite/sqlite.go - CRUD operations
- Create migration from v0.30.1

Ensure backward compatibility - all new fields optional.


Fix TestFallbackToDirectModeEnablesFlush deadlock causing 10min test timeout

## Problem

TestFallbackToDirectModeEnablesFlush in direct_mode_test.go deadlocks for 9m59s before timing out, causing the entire test suite to take 10+ minutes instead of <10 seconds.

## Root Cause

Database lock contention between test cleanup and flushToJSONL():
- Test cleanup (line 36) tries to close DB via defer
- flushToJSONL() (line 132) is still accessing DB
- Results in deadlock: database/sql.(*DB).Close() waits for mutex while GetJSONLFileHash() holds it

## Stack Trace Evidence

```
goroutine 512 [sync.Mutex.Lock, 9 minutes]:
database/sql.(*DB).Close(0x14000643790)
  .../database/sql/sql.go:927 +0x84
github.com/steveyegge/beads/cmd/bd.TestFallbackToDirectModeEnablesFlush.func1()
  .../direct_mode_test.go:36 +0xf4

While goroutine running flushToJSONL() holds DB connection via GetJSONLFileHash()
```

## Impact

- Test suite: 10+ minutes → should be <10 seconds
- ALL other tests pass in ~4 seconds
- This ONE test accounts for 99.9% of test runtime

## Related

This is the EXACT same issue documented in MAIN_TEST_REFACTOR_NOTES.md for why main_test.go refactoring was deferred - global state manipulation + DB cleanup = deadlock.

## Fix Approaches

1. **Add proper cleanup sequencing** - stop flush goroutines BEFORE closing DB
2. **Use test-specific DB lifecycle** - ensure flush completes before cleanup
3. **Mock the flush mechanism** - avoid real DB for testing this code path
4. **Add explicit timeout handling** - fail fast with clear error instead of hanging

## Files

- cmd/bd/direct_mode_test.go:36-132
- cmd/bd/autoflush.go:353 (validateJSONLIntegrity)
- cmd/bd/autoflush.go:508 (flushToJSONLWithState)

## Acceptance

- Test passes without timeout
- Test suite completes in <10 seconds
- No deadlock between cleanup and flush operations


Work on gt-8tmz.36: Validate expanded step IDs are unique...

Work on gt-8tmz.36: Validate expanded step IDs are unique. After ApplyExpansions in internal/formula/expand.go, new steps can be created that might have duplicate IDs. Add validation in ApplyExpansions to check for duplicate step IDs after expansion. If duplicates found, return an error with the duplicate IDs. Add test in expand_test.go. When done, commit and push to main.


Gate eval: Consider rate limiting for GitHub API calls

Each gate evaluation makes a network call to GitHub API via gh CLI. With many gates, this could hit API rate limits.

Future improvements:
1. Batch queries where possible
2. Add caching with TTL for recently-checked gates
3. Exponential backoff on rate limit errors

Low priority - unlikely to be an issue until we have many concurrent gates.


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


Update info.go versionChanges

Add entry to versionChanges in cmd/bd/info.go with agent-actionable changes for 0.30.7


bd close hooks: context check and notifications

Add hook system to bd close for notifications and custom actions.

## Scope (MVP)

Implement **command hooks only** for bd close. Deferred: notify, webhook types.

## Implementation

### 1. Config Schema

Add to internal/configfile/config.go:

```go
type HooksConfig struct {
    OnClose []HookEntry `yaml:"on_close,omitempty"`
}

type HookEntry struct {
    Command string `yaml:"command"`           // Shell command to run
    Name    string `yaml:"name,omitempty"`    // Optional display name
}
```

Add `Hooks HooksConfig` field to Config struct.

### 2. Hook Execution

Create internal/hooks/close_hooks.go:

```go
func RunCloseHooks(ctx context.Context, cfg *configfile.Config, issue *types.Issue) error {
    for _, hook := range cfg.Hooks.OnClose {
        cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "sh", "-c", hook.Command)
        cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(),
            "BEAD_ID="+issue.ID,
            "BEAD_TITLE="+issue.Title,
            "BEAD_TYPE="+string(issue.IssueType),
            "BEAD_PRIORITY="+strconv.Itoa(issue.Priority),
            "BEAD_CLOSE_REASON="+issue.CloseReason,
        )
        cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
        cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
        if err := cmd.Run(); err \!= nil {
            // Log warning but dont fail the close
            fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: close hook %q failed: %v\n", hook.Name, err)
        }
    }
    return nil
}
```

### 3. Integration Point

In cmd/bd/close.go, after successful close:

```go
// Run close hooks
if cfg := configfile.Load(); cfg \!= nil {
    hooks.RunCloseHooks(ctx, cfg, closedIssue)
}
```

### 4. Example Config

```yaml
# .beads/config.yaml
hooks:
  on_close:
    - name: show-next
      command: bd ready --limit 1
    - name: context-check
      command: echo "Issue $BEAD_ID closed. Check context if nearing limit."
```

## Environment Variables

| Variable | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| BEAD_ID | Issue ID (e.g., bd-abc1) |
| BEAD_TITLE | Issue title |
| BEAD_TYPE | Issue type (task, bug, feature, etc.) |
| BEAD_PRIORITY | Priority (0-4) |
| BEAD_CLOSE_REASON | Close reason if provided |

## Testing

Add test in internal/hooks/close_hooks_test.go:
- Test hook execution with mock config
- Test env vars are set correctly
- Test hook failure doesnt block close

## Files to Create/Modify

1. **Create:** internal/hooks/close_hooks.go
2. **Create:** internal/hooks/close_hooks_test.go
3. **Modify:** internal/configfile/config.go (add HooksConfig)
4. **Modify:** cmd/bd/close.go (call RunCloseHooks)
5. **Modify:** docs/CONFIG.md (document hooks config)

## Out of Scope (Future)

- notify hook type (gt mail integration)
- webhook type (HTTP POST)
- on_create, on_update hooks
- Hook timeout configuration
- Parallel hook execution


Improve test coverage for cmd/bd/setup (28.4% → 50%)

The setup package has only 28.4% test coverage. Setup commands are critical for first-time user experience.

Current coverage: 28.4%
Target coverage: 50%


Review PR #513: fix hooks install docs

Review and merge PR #513 from aspiers. This PR fixes incorrect docs for how to install git hooks - updates README to use bd hooks install instead of removed install.sh. Simple 1-line change. URL: https://github.com/anthropics/beads/pull/513


Add 0.33.2 to versionChanges in info.go

Add new entry at the TOP of versionChanges array in cmd/bd/info.go:

```go
{
    Version: "0.33.2",
    Date:    "2025-12-21",
    Changes: []string{
        // Add notable changes here
    },
},
```

Copy changes from CHANGELOG.md [Unreleased] section.


Async Gates for Agent Coordination

Agents need an async primitive for waiting on external events (CI completion, API responses, human approval). Gates are wisp issues that block until external conditions are met, managed by the Deacon.

## Core Concepts

**Gate** = wisp issue that blocks until external condition is met
- Type: gate
- Phase: wisp (never synced, ephemeral)
- Assignee: deacon/ (Deacon monitors it)
- Fields: await_type, await_id, timeout, waiters[]

**Await Types:**
- gh:run:<id> - GitHub Actions run completion
- gh:pr:<id> - PR merged/closed
- timer:<duration> - Simple delay
- human:<prompt> - Human approval required
- mail:<pattern> - Wait for mail matching pattern

## Open Questions
- Should gates live in wisp storage or main storage with wisp flag?
- Do we need a gate catalog (like molecule catalog)?
- Should waits-for dep type work with gates?


Merge: amber-1767146829144

branch: polecat/amber-1767146829144
target: main
source_issue: amber-1767146829144
rig: beads


Time-dependent worktree detection tests may be flaky


Auto-migrate database on CLI version bump

When CLI is upgraded (e.g., 0.24.0 → 0.24.1), database version becomes stale. Add auto-migration in PersistentPreRun or daemon startup. Check dbVersion != CLIVersion and run bd migrate automatically. Fixes recurring UX issue where bd doctor shows version mismatch after every CLI upgrade.


Implement core reset package (internal/reset)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Pinned issues: persistent context markers

Add ability to pin issues so they remain visible and are excluded from work-finding commands. Pinned issues serve as persistent context markers (handoffs, architectural notes, recovery instructions) that should not be claimed as work items.

Use Cases:
1. Handoff messages - Pin session handoffs so new agents always see them
2. Architecture decisions - Pin ADRs or design notes for reference
3. Recovery context - Pin amnesia-cure notes that help agents orient

Core commands: bd pin, bd unpin, bd list --pinned/--no-pinned


bd graph crashes with --no-daemon on closed issues

The `bd graph` command panics with nil pointer dereference when using `--no-daemon` flag on an issue with closed children.

**Reproduction:**
```bash
bd graph bd-qqc --no-daemon
# panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
# in main.computeDependencyCounts
```

**Stack trace:**
```
panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[signal SIGSEGV: segmentation violation code=0x2 addr=0x20 pc=0x1010bdfb0]

goroutine 1 [running]:
main.computeDependencyCounts(...)
    /Users/stevey/gt/beads/crew/emma/cmd/bd/graph.go:428
main.renderGraph(0x1400033bb80, 0x0)
    /Users/stevey/gt/beads/crew/emma/cmd/bd/graph.go:307 +0x300
```

**Location:** cmd/bd/graph.go:428 - computeDependencyCounts() not handling nil case


Merge: bd-9usz

branch: polecat/slit
target: main
source_issue: bd-9usz
rig: beads


Code Review Followup Summary: PR #481 + PR #551

## Merged PRs Summary

### PR #551: Persist close_reason to issues table
- ✅ Merged successfully
- ✅ Bug fix: close_reason now persisted in database column (not just events table)
- ✅ Comprehensive test coverage added
- ✅ Handles reopen case (clearing close_reason)

**Followup Issues Filed:**
- bd-lxzx: Document close_reason in JSONL export format
- bd-077e: Update CLI documentation for close_reason field

---

### PR #481: Context Engineering Optimizations (80-90% context reduction)
- ✅ Merged successfully
- ✅ Lazy tool discovery: discover_tools() + get_tool_info()
- ✅ Minimal issue models: IssueMinimal (~80% smaller than full Issue)
- ✅ Result compaction: Auto-compacts results >20 items
- ✅ All 28 tests passing
- ⚠ Breaking change: ready() and list() return type changed

**Followup Issues Filed:**
- bd-b318: Add integration tests for CompactedResult
- bd-4u2b: Make compaction settings configurable (THRESHOLD, PREVIEW_COUNT)
- bd-2kf8: Document CompactedResult response format in CONTEXT_ENGINEERING.md
- bd-pdr2: Document backwards compatibility considerations

---

## Overall Assessment

Both PRs are production-ready with solid implementations. All critical functionality works and tests pass. Followup issues focus on:
1. Documentation improvements (5 issues)
2. Integration test coverage (1 issue)
3. Configuration flexibility (1 issue)
4. Backwards compatibility guidance (1 issue)

No critical bugs or design issues found.

## Review Completed By
Code review process completed. Issues auto-created for tracking improvements.


bd preflight: PR readiness checks for contributors

## Vision

Encode project-specific institutional knowledge into executable checks. CONTRIBUTING.md is documentation that's read once and forgotten; `bd preflight` is documentation that runs at exactly the right moment.

## Problem Statement

Contributors face a "last mile" problem - they do the work but stumble on project-specific gotchas at PR time:
- Nix vendorHash gets stale when go.sum changes
- Beads artifacts leak into PRs (see bd-umbf for namespace solution)
- Version mismatches between version.go and default.nix
- Tests/lint not run locally before pushing
- Other project-specific checks that only surface when CI fails

These are too obscure to remember, exist in docs nobody reads end-to-end, and waste CI round-trips.

## Why beads?

Beads already has a foothold in the contributor workflow. It knows:
- Git state (staged files, branch, dirty status)
- Project structure
- The specific issue being worked on
- Project-specific configuration

## Proposed Interface

### Tier 1: Checklist Mode (v1)

    $ bd preflight
    PR Readiness Checklist:

    [ ] Tests pass: go test -short ./...
    [ ] Lint passes: golangci-lint run ./...
    [ ] No beads pollution: check .beads/issues.jsonl diff
    [ ] Nix hash current: go.sum unchanged or vendorHash updated
    [ ] Version sync: version.go matches default.nix

    Run 'bd preflight --check' to validate automatically.

### Tier 2: Check Mode (v2)

    $ bd preflight --check
    ✓ Tests pass
    ✓ Lint passes
    ⚠ Beads pollution: 3 issues in diff - are these project issues or personal?
    ✗ Nix hash stale: go.sum changed, vendorHash needs update
      Fix: sha256-KRR6dXzsSw8OmEHGBEVDBOoIgfoZ2p0541T9ayjGHlI=
    ✓ Version sync

    1 error, 1 warning. Run 'bd preflight --fix' to auto-fix where possible.

### Tier 3: Fix Mode (v3)

    $ bd preflight --fix
    ✓ Updated vendorHash in default.nix
    ⚠ Cannot auto-fix beads pollution - manual review needed

## Checks to Implement

| Check | Description | Auto-fixable |
|-------|-------------|--------------|
| tests | Run go test -short ./... | No |
| lint | Run golangci-lint | Partial (gofmt) |
| beads-pollution | Detect personal issues in diff | No (see bd-umbf) |
| nix-hash | Detect stale vendorHash | Yes (if nix available) |
| version-sync | version.go matches default.nix | Yes |
| no-debug | No TODO/FIXME/console.log | Warn only |
| clean-stage | No unintended files staged | Warn only |

## Future: Configuration

Make checks configurable per-project via .beads/preflight.yaml:

    preflight:
      checks:
        - name: tests
          run: go test -short ./...
          required: true
        - name: no-secrets
          pattern: "**/*.env"
          staged: deny
        - name: custom-check
          run: ./scripts/validate.sh

This lets any project using beads define their own preflight checks.

## Implementation Phases

### Phase 1: Static Checklist
- Implement bd preflight with hardcoded checklist for beads
- No execution, just prints what to check
- Update CONTRIBUTING.md to reference it

### Phase 2: Automated Checks
- Implement bd preflight --check
- Run tests, lint, detect stale hashes
- Clear pass/fail/warn output

### Phase 3: Auto-fix
- Implement bd preflight --fix
- Fix vendorHash, version sync
- Integrate with bd-umbf solution for pollution

### Phase 4: Configuration
- .beads/preflight.yaml support
- Make it useful for other projects using beads
- Plugin/hook system for custom checks

## Dependencies

- bd-umbf: Namespace isolation for beads pollution (blocking for full solution)

## Success Metrics

- Fewer CI failures on first PR push
- Reduced "fix nix hash" commits
- Contributors report preflight caught issues before CI


Add covering index (label, issue_id) for label queries

GetIssuesByLabel joins labels table but requires table lookup after using idx_labels_label.

**Query (labels.go:165):**
```sql
SELECT ... FROM issues i
JOIN labels l ON i.id = l.issue_id
WHERE l.label = ?
```

**Problem:** Current idx_labels_label index doesn't cover issue_id, requiring row lookup.

**Solution:** Add migration:
```sql
CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_labels_label_issue ON labels(label, issue_id);
```

This is a covering index - query can be satisfied entirely from the index without touching the labels table rows.


Add Windows code signing for bd.exe releases

## Context

Go binaries (including bd.exe) are commonly flagged by antivirus software as false positives due to heuristic detection. See docs/ANTIVIRUS.md for full details.

## Problem

Kaspersky and other AV software flag bd.exe as PDM:Trojan.Win32.Generic, causing it to be quarantined or deleted.

## Solution

Implement code signing for Windows releases using:
1. An EV (Extended Validation) code certificate
2. Integration with GoReleaser to sign Windows binaries during release

## Benefits

- Reduces false positive rates over time as the certificate builds reputation
- Provides tamper verification for users
- Improves SmartScreen trust rating on Windows
- Professional appearance for enterprise users

## Implementation Steps

1. Acquire EV code signing certificate (annual cost ~$300-500)
2. Set up signtool or osslsigncode in release pipeline
3. Update .goreleaser.yml to sign Windows binaries
4. Update checksums to include signed binary hashes
5. Document signing verification in ANTIVIRUS.md

## References

- docs/ANTIVIRUS.md - Current documentation
- bd-t4u1 - Original Kaspersky false positive report
- https://github.com/golang/go/issues/16292 - Go project discussion


Update documentation for template system

Update AGENTS.md and help text to document the new template system:

- How to create a template (epic + template label + child issues)
- How to define variables (just use {{name}} placeholders)
- How to instantiate (bd template instantiate)
- Migration from YAML workflows (if any users had custom ones)


Parallel step detection in molecules

Detect and flag parallelizable steps in molecules.

## Detection Rules
Steps can run in parallel when:
1. No Needs dependencies between them
2. Not in same sequential chain
3. Across dynamic arms (arm-ace and arm-nux can parallelize)

## Output in bd mol show
```
patrol-x7k (mol-witness-patrol)
├── inbox-check [completed]
├── survey-workers [completed]
│   ├── arm-ace [parallel group A]
│   │   ├── capture [can parallelize]
│   │   ├── assess [needs: capture]
│   │   └── execute [needs: assess]
│   └── arm-nux [parallel group A]
│       ├── capture [can parallelize]
│       └── ...
├── aggregate [gate: waits for all-children]
```

## Flags
- `bd mol show <id> --parallel` - Highlight parallel opportunities
- `bd ready --mol <id>` - List all steps that can run now

## Future: Parallel Execution Hints
For agents using Task tool subagents:
- Identify independent arms that can run simultaneously
- Suggest parallelization strategy


bd swarm status command

Add bd swarm status to show swarm state derived from beads.

## Context
This is the key command that demonstrates 'discovery over tracking'.
Swarm status is COMPUTED from:
- Epic children statuses
- Dependency structure
- Issue assignments

NOT stored separately. If beads changes, status changes.

## Implementation
1. New command: bd swarm status <swarm-mol-id>
2. Find linked epic from swarm molecule
3. Query all children of epic
4. Compute and display:
   - Ready front (unblocked, open issues)
   - In progress (in_progress status)
   - Completed (closed)
   - Blocked (has unmet dependencies)
   - Progress percentage
   - Coordinator
   - Estimated remaining (based on avg session time)

## Output Format
Ready Front Analysis: gt-epic-xxx

Completed:     ✓ gt-001 (2h ago)
Active:        ⟳ gt-002 [nux], ⟳ gt-003 [toast]
Ready:         ○ gt-004, ○ gt-005
Blocked:       ◌ gt-006 (needs 004, 005)

Progress: 1/6 complete, 2/6 active (17%)

## Reference
~/gt/docs/swarm-architecture.md - 'Ready Front Visualization'

## Acceptance
- bd swarm status <mol> shows accurate state
- State reflects current beads (not cached)
- --json output for programmatic use


Run bump-version.sh

Update all component versions atomically.

```bash
./scripts/bump-version.sh 0.99.0-test
```

This updates:
- cmd/bd/version.go
- .claude-plugin/*.json
- integrations/beads-mcp/pyproject.toml
- integrations/beads-mcp/src/beads_mcp/__init__.py
- npm-package/package.json
- Hook templates
- README.md
- CHANGELOG.md (adds date)


Rebuild local binary

Build and verify: go build -o bd ./cmd/bd && ./bd version


Merge: bd-t4sb

branch: polecat/capable
target: main
source_issue: bd-t4sb
rig: beads


Update CHANGELOG.md for 0.30.4

1. Change `## [Unreleased]` to `## [0.30.4] - 2025-12-17`
2. Add new empty `## [Unreleased]` section at top
3. Ensure all changes since 0.30.3 are documented


Respond to GitHub issue #479 with solution

Once bd reset is implemented and released, respond to GitHub issue #479.

## Response should include
- Announce the new bd reset command
- Show basic usage examples
- Link to any documentation
- Thank the user for the feedback

## Example response
```
Thanks for raising this! We've added a `bd reset` command to handle this case.

Usage:
- `bd reset` - Reset to clean state (prompts for confirmation)
- `bd reset --backup` - Create backup first
- `bd reset --hard` - Also clean up git history

This is available in version X.Y.Z.
```

## Notes
- Wait until feature is merged and released
- Consider if issue should be closed or left for user confirmation


Test Agent


Identity Configuration

Implement identity system for sender field.

Configuration sources (in priority order):
1. --identity flag on commands
2. BEADS_IDENTITY environment variable
3. .beads/config.json: {"identity": "worker-name"}
4. Default: git user.name or hostname

New config file support:
- .beads/config.json for per-repo settings
- identity field for messaging

Helper function:
- GetIdentity() string - resolves identity from sources

Update bd mail send to use GetIdentity() for sender field.


Deleted issues resurrect during bd sync (tombstones not propagating)

## Problem

When issues are deleted with bd delete --force, they get deleted from the local DB but resurrect during the next bd sync.

## Reproduction

1. Observe orphan warnings (bd-cb64c226.*, bd-cbed9619.*)
2. Delete them: bd delete bd-cb64c226.1 ... --force
3. Run bd sync
4. Orphan warnings reappear - issues were resurrected!

## Root Cause Hypothesis

The sync branch workflow (beads-sync) has the old state before deletions. When bd sync pulls from beads-sync and copies JSONL to main, the deleted issues are re-imported.

Tombstones may not be properly:
1. Written to beads-sync during export
2. Propagated during pull/merge
3. Honored during import

## Related

- bd-7b7h: chicken-and-egg sync.branch bug (same workflow)
- bd-ncwo: ID-based fallback matching to prevent ghost resurrection

## Files to Investigate

- cmd/bd/sync.go (export/import flow)
- internal/syncbranch/worktree.go (PullFromSyncBranch, copyJSONLToMainRepo)
- internal/importer/ (tombstone handling)


gt handoff deadlock at handoff.go:125

When running 'gt handoff -m "message"' after successful MR submit, go panics with 'fatal error: all goroutines are asleep - deadlock\!' at handoff.go:125. The shutdown request still appears to be sent successfully but the command crashes. Stack trace shows issue is in runHandoff select statement.


Swarm status doesn't update after task completions

During swarm bd-784c, the swarm status remained at '9% (1/11 tasks merged)' even after 5 tasks were completed and closed.

**Observed:**
```
gt swarm status bd-784c
Progress: 9% (1/11 tasks merged)
```

But bd list showed 4+ issues closed:
- bd-j3dj, bd-kkka, bd-1tkd, bd-9btu all closed

**Expected:**
Swarm status should reflect actual completion count, either by:
1. Polling issue status from beads
2. Updating when polecats close issues
3. Updating when commits are pushed to integration branch

**Impact:**
Coordinator (me) had to manually check bd list to know actual progress.


Update local installation

Update local bd to the new version.

Option 1 - Homebrew:
```bash
brew upgrade bd
```

Option 2 - Install script:
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveyegge/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
```

Verify:
```bash
bd --version
```

Should show 0.99.0-test.


bd template commands fail with daemon mode

The `bd template show` and `bd template instantiate` commands fail with 'Error loading template: no database connection' when daemon is running.

**Reproduction:**
```bash
bd daemon --start
bd template show bd-qqc  # Error: no database connection
bd template show bd-qqc --no-daemon  # Works
```

**Expected:** Template commands should work with daemon like other commands.

**Workaround:** Use `--no-daemon` flag.

**Location:** Likely in cmd/bd/template.go - daemon RPC path not implemented for template operations.


Tests fail due to .beads directory discovery escaping temp dirs

Multiple tests fail when run from within the beads repo tree:

- TestFindBeadsDir (autoimport_test.go)
- TestFindBeadsDir_ParentDirectory (autoimport_test.go)
- TestFindDatabasePathEnvVar (beads_test.go)
- TestFindDatabasePathInTree (beads_test.go)
- TestIsConfiguredWithDB (syncbranch_test.go)

Root cause: Tests create temp directories and call functions that walk upward to find .beads directories. When tests run inside the beads repo, the walk escapes the temp dir and finds /Users/stevey/gt/beads/mayor/rig/.beads instead.

Fix approaches:
1. Set BEADS_DB env var in tests to prevent discovery
2. Use t.Setenv() with BEADS_DISCOVERY_ROOT or similar
3. Add a stop-at-git-root behavior
4. Mock the discovery function in tests


Remove Storage Cache from Server Struct

Eliminate cache fields and use s.storage directly


Test Parent Epic


Code Review Round 2: Beads Refactoring

Second pass code review of Beads codebase. Found 10 HIGH/MEDIUM priority issues.

**HIGH (P2):**
- bd-6dnt: Duplicated IssueDetails struct (4 definitions)
- bd-vqh9: init.go is 1928 lines
- bd-it19: show.go is 1592 lines

**MEDIUM (P3):**
- bd-qobn: 20+ global variables in main.go
- bd-0e02: Inconsistent error handling patterns
- bd-g6m5: Mixed daemon/direct mode logic
- bd-qe7j: Incomplete TODOs in formula/types.go
- bd-4sxh: Issue struct ~100 fields
- bd-yuxq: 262 uses of interface{}
- bd-jbqx: Repeated validation patterns


Code smell: show.go is 1592 lines - needs splitting

cmd/bd/show.go is 1592 lines mixing data fetching, transformation, output formatting, and thread reconstruction.

**Problem:**
- Too large to understand and maintain
- Poor separation of concerns
- Hard to test individual components

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Extract formatting into show_formatter.go
- [ ] Extract thread reconstruction into show_threads.go
- [ ] Each file under 500 lines
- [ ] No functionality changes
- [ ] Tests pass


Agent bead prefix mismatch: gt- vs bd- for beads polecat agents

When spawning polecats in beads rig, gt sling tries to create agent beads with gt-beads-polecat-* prefix, but beads requires bd- prefix. Warning: 'issue ID gt-beads-polecat-obsidian does not match configured prefix bd'. Agent beads should use the rig's configured prefix.


bd dep add: Auto-resolve cross-rig IDs using routes.jsonl

Currently, adding a dependency to an issue in another rig requires verbose external reference syntax:

```bash
# This fails - can't resolve bd-* from gastown context
bd dep add gt-xyz bd-abc

# This works but is verbose
bd dep add gt-xyz external:beads:bd-abc
```

The town-level routing (~/gt/.beads/routes.jsonl) already knows how to map prefixes to rigs:
```json
{"prefix": "gt-", "path": "gastown/mayor/rig"}
{"prefix": "bd-", "path": "beads/mayor/rig"}
```

Enhancement: When `bd dep add` encounters an ID with a foreign prefix, it should:
1. Check routes.jsonl for the prefix mapping
2. Auto-resolve to external:<project>:<id> internally
3. Allow the simpler `bd dep add gt-xyz bd-abc` syntax

This would make cross-rig dependencies much more ergonomic.


Consolidate maintenance commands into bd doctor --fix

Per rsnodgrass in GH#692:
> "The biggest improvement to beads from an ergonomics perspective would be to prune down commands. We have a lot of 'maintenance' commands that probably should just be folded into 'bd doctor --fix' automatically."

Current maintenance commands that could be consolidated:
- clean - Clean up temporary git merge artifacts
- cleanup - Delete closed issues and prune expired tombstones
- compact - Compact old closed issues
- detect-pollution - Detect and clean test issues
- migrate-* (5 commands) - Various migration utilities
- repair-deps - Fix orphaned dependency references
- validate - Database health checks

Proposal:
1. Make `bd doctor` the single entry point for health checks
2. Add `bd doctor --fix` to auto-fix common issues
3. Deprecate (but keep working) individual commands
4. Add `bd doctor --all` for comprehensive maintenance

This would reduce cognitive load for users - they just need to remember 'bd doctor'.

Note: This is higher impact but also higher risk - needs careful design to avoid breaking existing workflows.


Update local installations.

Update local installations.

```bash
# Upgrade Homebrew
brew upgrade steveyegge/beads/bd

# Or install from source
./scripts/bump-version.sh 0.37.0 --install

# Install MCP locally
pip install -e integrations/beads-mcp

# Restart daemons
pkill -f "bd daemon" || true
```

Verify: `bd --version` shows 0.37.0

instantiated_from: bd-mol-xga
step: update-local


Restart running daemons

Kill and restart any running bd daemons to pick up new version: pkill -f 'bd daemon' && bd daemon --start


Add bd agent state command for ZFC-compliant state reporting

Add command for agents to write their own state to agent beads.

```bash
bd agent state <agent-id> <state>
# Example: bd agent state gt-mayor running
# States: idle | running | stuck | stopped | dead
```

Implementation:
1. Lookup agent bead by ID (type=agent)
2. Update agent_state field in description
3. Update last_activity timestamp
4. Trigger bd sync if configured

Also add:
- bd agent heartbeat <agent-id> - just updates last_activity
- bd agent show <agent-id> - show agent bead details

This is the ZFC-compliant way for agents to self-report state.

Cross-ref: gt-p2vyo in gastown


Optimize GetReadyWork performance - 752ms on 10K database (target: <50ms)

# Performance Analysis (10K Issue Database)

Analyzed using CPU profiles from benchmark suite on Apple M2 Pro.

## Operation Performance

| Operation                        | Time    | Allocations | Memory |
|----------------------------------|---------|-------------|--------|
| bd ready (GetReadyWork)          | ~752ms  | 167,466     | 16MB   |
| bd list (SearchIssues no filter) | ~11.6ms | 89,214      | 5.8MB  |
| bd list (SearchIssues filtered)  | ~9.2ms  | 62,365      | 3.5MB  |
| bd create (CreateIssue)          | ~2.6ms  | 146         | 8.6KB  |
| bd update (UpdateIssue)          | ~0.32ms | 364         | 15KB   |
| bd close (UpdateIssue)           | ~0.32ms | 364         | 15KB   |

**Target: <50ms for all operations on 10K database**

**Current issue: GetReadyWork is 15x over target (752ms vs 50ms)**

## Root Cause

GetReadyWork (internal/storage/sqlite/ready.go:90-128) uses recursive CTE to propagate blocking:
- 65x slower than SearchIssues
- Recalculates entire blocked issue tree on every call
- Algorithm:
  1. Find directly blocked issues via 'blocks' dependencies
  2. Recursively propagate blockage to descendants (max depth: 50)
  3. Exclude all blocked issues from results

## CPU Profile Analysis

- Database syscalls (pthread_cond_signal, syscall6): ~75%
- SQLite engine overhead: inherent to recursive CTE
- Application code (query construction): <1%

**Bottleneck is the recursive CTE query execution, not application code.**

## Optimization Recommendations

### High Impact (Likely to achieve <50ms target)

1. **Cache blocked issue calculation**
   - Add `blocked_issues` table updated on dependency changes
   - Trade write complexity for read speed (ready called >> dependency changes)
   - Eliminates recursive CTE on every read

2. **Add/verify database indexes**
   ```sql
   CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_dependencies_blocked
     ON dependencies(issue_id, type, depends_on_id);
   CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_issues_status
     ON issues(status);
   ```

### Medium Impact

3. **Reduce allocations** (167K allocations for GetReadyWork)
   - Profile `scanIssues()` for object pooling opportunities
   - Reuse slice capacity for repeated calls

### Low Impact (Not recommended)
- Query optimization for CRUD operations (already <3ms)
- Connection pooling tuning (not showing in profiles)

## Verification

Run benchmarks to validate optimization:
```bash
make bench-quick
go tool pprof -http=:8080 internal/storage/sqlite/bench-cpu-*.prof
```

Profile files automatically generated in `internal/storage/sqlite/`.


Document BEADS_DIR pattern for multi-agent workspaces (Gas Town)

Gas Town and similar multi-agent systems need to configure separate beads databases per workspace/rig, distinct from any project-level beads.

## Use Case

In Gas Town:
- Each 'rig' (managed project) has multiple agents (polecats, refinery, witness)
- All agents in a rig should share a single beads database at the rig level
- This should be separate from any .beads/ the project itself uses
- The BEADS_DIR env var enables this

## Documentation Needed

1. Add a section to docs explaining BEADS_DIR for multi-agent setups
2. Example: setting BEADS_DIR in agent startup scripts/hooks
3. Clarify interaction with project-level .beads/ (BEADS_DIR takes precedence)

## Current Support

Already implemented in internal/beads/beads.go:FindDatabasePath():
- BEADS_DIR env var is checked first (preferred)
- BEADS_DB env var still supported (deprecated)
- Falls back to .beads/ search in tree

Just needs documentation for the multi-agent workspace pattern.


Crew worker emma in beads - human-managed persistent workspace.

role_type: crew
rig: beads
agent_state: idle
hook_bead: null
role_bead: gt-crew-role
cleanup_status: null


Refactor mol.go: split 1200+ line file into subcommands

## Problem

cmd/bd/mol.go has grown to 1200+ lines with all molecule subcommands in one file.

## Current State
- mol.go: 1218 lines (bond, spawn, run, distill, catalog, show, etc.)
- Hard to navigate, review, and maintain

## Proposed Structure
Split into separate files by subcommand:
```
cmd/bd/
├── mol.go           # Root command, shared helpers
├── mol_bond.go      # bd mol bond
├── mol_spawn.go     # bd mol spawn
├── mol_run.go       # bd mol run
├── mol_distill.go   # bd mol distill
├── mol_catalog.go   # bd mol catalog
├── mol_show.go      # bd mol show
└── mol_test.go      # Tests (already separate)
```

## Benefits
- Easier code review
- Better separation of concerns
- Simpler navigation
- Each subcommand self-contained


Polecat sessions terminate unexpectedly during work

During swarm bd-784c, polecat sessions (Toast, Nux) terminated mid-task without completing their work.

**Observed:**
- Polecats were actively working (edits in progress, tests running)
- Sessions suddenly showed 'not running' in gt polecat status
- tmux sessions existed but were empty/reset
- Work was partially complete (some commits made, issue still open)

**Timeline example:**
1. Toast working on bd-1tkd, making edits
2. Check status 30s later - session empty, state shows 'idle'
3. Had to re-sling to restart

**Impact:**
- Lost work progress
- Required manual intervention to restart
- Unclear if work was saved/committed

**Possible causes:**
- Session timeout?
- Claude Code crash?
- Resource limit?

**Suggestion:**
- Add session health monitoring
- Auto-restart on unexpected termination
- Log session exit reasons


bd-beads-polecat-obsidian

bd-beads-polecat-obsidian

role_type: polecat
rig: beads
agent_state: spawning
hook_bead: null
role_bead: gt-polecat-role
cleanup_status: null
active_mr: null


Test prefix bd-


beads-release

Beads release workflow - from version bump to verified release.

This formula orchestrates a complete release cycle:
1. Preflight checks (clean git, up to date)
2. Documentation updates (CHANGELOG, info.go)
3. Version bump (all components)
4. Git operations (commit, tag, push)
5. CI verification (GitHub Actions)
6. Artifact verification (GitHub, npm, PyPI)
7. Local installation update
8. Daemon restart

## Usage

```bash
bd wisp create beads-release --var version=0.37.0
```

Or assign to a polecat:
```bash
gt sling beads/polecats/p1 --formula beads-release --var version=0.37.0
```


Merge: garnet-1767138539231

branch: polecat/garnet-1767138539231
target: main
source_issue: garnet-1767138539231
rig: beads


test pin


Code cleanup: Search for leftover debugging code

Scan the beads codebase for debugging artifacts that should be removed before release:

## Patterns to search for:
- `fmt.Printf` debugging statements (vs proper logging)
- `// DEBUG`, `// TODO: remove`, `// TEMP` comments
- `log.Printf` that should use structured logging
- Hardcoded test values or paths
- `panic()` calls that should be proper error handling
- Commented-out code blocks
- `time.Sleep` debugging delays

## Files to check:
- cmd/bd/*.go
- internal/**/*.go

## Acceptance:
- Remove or convert all debugging artifacts
- Ensure no test pollution in production code


Merge: bd-401h

branch: polecat/rictus
target: main
source_issue: bd-401h
rig: beads


bd repair command: fix orphaned foreign key refs


Test actor direct


Install 0.30.4 MCP server locally

Upgrade the MCP server (after PyPI publish):
```bash
pip install --upgrade beads-mcp
# OR if using uv:
uv tool upgrade beads-mcp
```

Verify:
```bash
pip show beads-mcp | grep Version
```

```verify
pip show beads-mcp 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'Version: 0.30.4'
```


Verify PyPI package

Confirm PyPI package published.

```bash
pip index versions beads-mcp 2>/dev/null | head -3
```

Or check: https://pypi.org/project/beads-mcp/

Should show 0.39.0.


Ghost resurrection: remote status:closed wins during git merge

During bd sync, the 3-way git merge sometimes keeps remote's status:closed instead of local's status:tombstone. This causes ghost issues to resurrect even when tombstones exist.

Root cause: Git 3-way merge doesn't understand tombstone semantics. If base had closed, local changed to tombstone, and remote has closed, git might keep remote's version.

The early tombstone check in importer.go only prevents CREATION when tombstones exist in DB. But if applyDeletionsFromMerge hard-deletes the tombstones before import runs (because they're not in the merged result), the check doesn't help.

Potential fixes:
1. Make tombstones 'win' in the beads merge driver (internal/merge/merge.go)
2. Don't hard-delete tombstones in applyDeletionsFromMerge if they're in the DB
3. Export tombstones to a separate file that's not subject to merge

Ghost issues: bd-cb64c226.*, bd-cbed9619.*


Merge: jade-mjtlsejo

branch: polecat/jade-mjtlsejo
target: main
source_issue: jade-mjtlsejo
rig: beads


Crew worker grip in beads - human-managed persistent workspace.

role_type: crew
rig: beads
agent_state: idle
hook_bead: null
role_bead: gt-crew-role
cleanup_status: null


Test refile command

Testing bd refile


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


Add test files for internal/storage

The internal/storage package has no test files at all. This package provides the storage interface abstraction.

Current coverage: N/A (no test files)
Target: Add basic interface tests


Integrate detect-pollution into bd doctor

## Task
Move `bd detect-pollution` → `bd doctor --check=pollution`

## Current state
- detect-pollution already shows deprecation hint pointing to doctor
- Doctor command exists with multiple checks

## Implementation

### 1. Update doctor.go
- Add pollution check to the doctor checks
- Add `--check=pollution` flag option
- Integrate detect-pollution logic

### 2. Update detect_pollution.go
- Mark as hidden (deprecated)
- Forward to doctor --check=pollution
- Keep for one release cycle

### 3. Update docs
- Remove detect-pollution from any command lists
- Update doctor docs to include pollution check

## Files to modify
- cmd/bd/doctor.go
- cmd/bd/detect_pollution.go


Technical debt: Scattered TODOs should be tracked as issues

Multiple TODO comments exist in the codebase that should be tracked as proper issues:

1. cmd/bd/migrate_hash_ids.go:24 - 'Consider integrating into bd doctor migration detection'
2. cmd/bd/migrate_tombstones.go:72 - Same
3. cmd/bd/migrate_sync.go:16 - Same
4. cmd/bd/migrate_issues.go:15 - Same
5. cmd/bd/create.go:164 - 'Switch to target repo for multi-repo support'
6. cmd/bd/create.go:208 - 'Add RPC method to get config in daemon mode'
7. cmd/bd/daemon_logger.go:131 - 'Remove this once all callers are updated'
8. cmd/bd/mol_stale.go:67 - 'Add RPC endpoint for stale check'
9. cmd/bd/sync_test.go:444 - 'Refactor to use direct import logic'
10. cmd/bd/jira.go:633 - 'In a full implementation, fetch Jira issue and compare timestamps'
11. internal/formula/types.go:170,174,179,186,210 - Multiple 'Not yet implemented' TODOs
12. internal/importer/importer_test.go:1010 - 'Test hangs due to database deadlock'

Consider:
1. Running 'grep -r TODO' periodically to find new ones
2. Adding a lint rule to discourage inline TODOs
3. Converting each to a bd issue with proper tracking

Location: Various files across codebase


Improve test coverage for internal/export (37.1% → 60%)

The export package has only 37.1% test coverage. Export functionality needs good coverage to ensure data integrity.

Current coverage: 37.1%
Target coverage: 60%


Implement Jira issue timestamp comparison for sync

In cmd/bd/jira.go:633, there's a TODO for a full implementation that would fetch the Jira issue and compare timestamps to detect conflicts during sync.

File: cmd/bd/jira.go:633


Cross-rig external dependency support

Support dependencies on issues in other rigs/repos.

## Use Case

Gas Town issues often depend on Beads issues (and vice versa). Currently we use labels like `external:beads/bd-xxx` as documentation, but:
- `bd blocked` doesn't recognize external deps
- `bd ready` doesn't filter them out
- No way to query cross-rig status

## Proposed UX

### Adding external deps
```bash
# New syntax for bd dep add
bd dep add gt-a07f external:beads:bd-kwjh

# Or maybe cleaner
bd dep add gt-a07f --external beads:bd-kwjh
```

### Showing blocked status
```bash
bd blocked
# → gt-a07f blocked by external:beads:bd-kwjh (unverified)

# With optional cross-rig query
bd blocked --resolve-external
# → gt-a07f blocked by external:beads:bd-kwjh (closed) ← unblocked!
```

### Storage
Could use:
- Special dependency type: `type: external`
- Label convention: `external:rig:id`
- New field: `external_deps: ["beads:bd-kwjh"]`

## Implementation Notes

Cross-rig queries would need:
- Known rig locations (config or discovery)
- Read-only beads access to external rigs
- Caching to avoid repeated queries

For MVP, just recognizing external deps and marking them as 'unverified' blockers would be valuable.


Phase 1.2: Separate bdt executable - Initial structure

Create minimal bdt command structure completely separate from bd. Must not share code, config, or database.

## Subtasks
1. Create cmd/bdt/ directory with main.go
2. Implement bdt version, help, and status commands
3. Configure separate database location: $HOME/.bdt/ (not $HOME/.beads/)
4. Create separate issues file: issues.toon (not issues.jsonl)
5. Update build system:
   - Makefile: Add bdt target
   - .goreleaser.yml: Add bdt binary config

## Files to Create
- cmd/bdt/main.go - Entry point
- cmd/bdt/version.go - Version handling
- cmd/bdt/help.go - Help text (separate from bd)

## Success Criteria
- `make build` produces both `bd` and `bdt` executables
- `bdt version` shows distinct version output from bd
- `bdt --help` shows distinct help text
- bdt uses $HOME/.bdt/ directory (verify with `bdt info`)
- bd and bdt completely isolated (no shared imports beyond stdlib)


Add computed .parent field to JSON output for convenience

Currently parent is only in dependencies[]. Add a top-level .parent field to JSON/JSONL output that extracts the parent-child dependency for easier querying.

Example:
```bash
# Current (works but verbose):
bd show <id> --json | jq '.[0].dependencies[] | select(.dependency_type == "parent-child") | .id'

# Desired:
bd show <id> --json | jq '.[0].parent'
```

Low priority enhancement.


bd doctor should recommend bd prime migration for existing repos

bd doctor should detect old beads integration patterns and recommend migrating to bd prime approach.

## Current behavior
- bd doctor checks if Claude hooks are installed globally
- Doesn't check project-level integration (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md)
- Doesn't recommend migration for repos using old patterns

## Desired behavior
bd doctor should detect and suggest:

1. **Old slash command pattern detected**
   - Check for /beads:* references in AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md
   - Suggest: These slash commands are deprecated, use bd prime hooks instead

2. **No agent documentation**
   - Check if AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md exists
   - Suggest: Run 'bd onboard' or 'bd setup claude' to document workflow

3. **Old MCP-only pattern**
   - Check for instructions to use MCP tools but no bd prime hooks
   - Suggest: Add bd prime hooks for better token efficiency

4. **Migration path**
   - Show: 'Run bd setup claude to add SessionStart/PreCompact hooks'
   - Show: 'Update AGENTS.md to reference bd prime instead of slash commands'

## Example output

⚠ Warning: Old beads integration detected in CLAUDE.md
  Found: /beads:* slash command references (deprecated)
  Recommend: Migrate to bd prime hooks for better token efficiency
  Fix: Run 'bd setup claude' and update CLAUDE.md

💡 Tip: bd prime + hooks reduces token usage by 80-99% vs slash commands
  MCP mode: ~50 tokens vs ~10.5k for full MCP scan
  CLI mode: ~1-2k tokens with automatic context recovery

## Benefits
- Helps existing repos adopt new best practices
- Clear migration path for users
- Better token efficiency messaging


gt sling --create fails to create polecat before resolving pane

gt sling --create tries to resolve pane BEFORE creating the polecat, causing failure.

Expected: gt sling gt-xyz gastown/newcat --create should:
1. Create polecat if not exists
2. Start session
3. Hook work
4. GUPP triggers autonomous execution

Actual: Fails with 'getting pane for gt-gastown-newcat: exit status 1'

Location: internal/cmd/sling.go - need to reorder operations


Add bd reset command for clean slate restart

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

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

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

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


Implement bd close --continue flag

Auto-advance to next step in molecule when closing an issue. Referenced by gt-um6q, gt-lz13. Needed for molecule navigation workflow.


Add display guards for large molecules in bd mol current

When molecule has >100 steps, show summary instead of list.

Changes:
1. Count children first
2. If count > 100: show summary + pointer to bd mol progress
3. Add --range flag for viewing specific step ranges
4. Add --limit flag for capping output


Merge: obsidian-1767138468820

branch: polecat/obsidian-1767138468820
target: main
source_issue: obsidian-1767138468820
rig: beads


Sync race: rebase-based divergence recovery resurrects tombstones

## Problem
When two repos sync simultaneously, tombstones can be resurrected:

1. Repo A deletes issue (creates tombstone), pushes to sync branch
2. Repo B (with 'closed' status) exports and tries to push
3. Push fails (non-fast-forward)
4. fetchAndRebaseInWorktree does git rebase
5. Git rebase applies B's 'closed' patch on top of A's 'tombstone'
6. TEXT-level rebase doesn't invoke beads merge driver
7. 'closed' overwrites 'tombstone' = resurrection

## Root Cause
CommitToSyncBranch uses git rebase for divergence recovery, but rebase is text-level, not content-level. The proper content-level merge in PullFromSyncBranch handles tombstones correctly, but it runs AFTER the problematic push.

## Proposed Fix
Option 1: Don't push in CommitToSyncBranch - let PullFromSyncBranch handle merge+push
Option 2: Replace git rebase with content-level merge in fetchAndRebaseInWorktree
Option 3: Reorder sync steps: Export → Pull/Merge → Commit → Push

## Workaround Applied
Excluded tombstones from orphan detection warnings (commit 1e97d9cc).

See also: bd-3852 (Add orphan detection migration)


Fix TestRunSync_Timeout failing on macOS

The hooks timeout test fails because exec.CommandContext doesn't properly terminate child processes of shell scripts on macOS. The test creates a hook that runs 'sleep 60' with a 500ms timeout, but it waits the full 60 seconds.

Options to fix:
- Use SysProcAttr{Setpgid: true} to create process group and kill the group
- Skip test on darwin with build tag
- Use a different approach for timeout testing

Location: internal/hooks/hooks_test.go:220-253


Phase 1.2 follow-up: Clarify format storage

Phase 1.2 created the bdt executable structure but issues.toon is currently stored in JSONL format, not TOON format.

This is intentional for now:
- Phase 1.2 (bd-jv4w): Just infrastructure - separate binary, separate directory
- Phase 1.3 (bd-j0tr): Implement actual TOON encoding/writing

For now, keep as-is: filename '.toon' signals intent, content is JSONL (interim format). Phase 1.3 will switch to actual TOON.


Add tests for mol spawn --attach

Code review (bd-obep) found no tests for the spawn --attach functionality.

**Test cases needed:**
1. Basic attach - spawn proto with one --attach
2. Multiple attachments - spawn with --attach A --attach B
3. Attach types - verify sequential vs parallel bonding
4. Error case: attaching non-proto (missing template label)
5. Variable aggregation - vars from primary + attachments combined
6. Dry-run output includes attachment info

**Implementation notes:**
- Tests should use in-memory storage
- Create test protos, spawn with attachments, verify dependency structure
- Check that sequential uses 'blocks' type, parallel uses 'parent-child'


Witness should auto-nuke idle polecats, not escalate

When witness detects an idle polecat with no work, it escalates to Mayor asking what to do.

Expected: Witness should nuke idle polecats automatically if:
1. No work hooked
2. No uncommitted/unpushed changes (cleanup_status=clean)
3. Idle for >threshold (e.g., 5 minutes)

Only escalate if polecat has unsaved work that needs recovery.

Current behavior creates unnecessary mail noise for the Mayor.


Fix G304 potential file inclusion in cmd/bd/tips.go:259

Linting issue: G304: Potential file inclusion via variable (gosec) at cmd/bd/tips.go:259:18. Error: if data, err := os.ReadFile(settingsPath); err == nil {


Version Bump: test-squash

Release checklist for version test-squash. This molecule ensures all release steps are completed properly.


gt mail send: support reading message body from stdin

Currently gt mail send -m requires the message as a command-line argument, which causes shell escaping issues with backticks, quotes, and special characters.

Add support for reading message body from stdin:
- gt mail send addr -s 'Subject' --stdin  # Read body from stdin
- echo 'body' | gt mail send addr -s 'Subject' -m -  # Convention: -m - means stdin

This would allow:
cat <<'EOF' | gt mail send addr -s 'Subject' --stdin
Message with `backticks` and 'quotes' safely
EOF

Without this, agents struggle to send handoff messages containing code snippets.


Move pour/ephemeral under bd mol subcommand

For consistency, bd pour and bd ephemeral should become bd mol pour and bd mol ephemeral:

Current:
  bd mol list                  # Available protos
  bd mol show <id>             # Proto details
  bd pour <proto>              # Create mol ← sticks out
  bd ephemeral <proto>         # Create ephemeral ← sticks out
  bd mol bond <proto> <parent> # Attach to existing mol
  bd mol squash <id>           # Condense to digest
  bd mol burn <id>             # Discard

Proposed:
  bd mol list
  bd mol show <id>
  bd mol pour <proto>          # Moved under mol
  bd mol ephemeral <proto>     # Moved under mol
  bd mol bond <proto> <parent>
  bd mol squash <id>
  bd mol burn <id>

All molecule operations should be under bd mol for discoverability and consistency.


Merge: topaz-1767083484329

branch: polecat/topaz-1767083484329
target: main
source_issue: topaz-1767083484329
rig: beads


Add tests for helper functions (GetDirtyIssueHash, GetAllDependencyRecords, export hashes)

Several utility functions have 0% coverage:
- GetDirtyIssueHash (dirty.go)
- GetAllDependencyRecords (dependencies.go)
- GetExportHash, SetExportHash, ClearAllExportHashes (hash.go)

These are lower priority but should have basic coverage.


Push release v0.33.2 to remote

Push the commit and tag:

```bash
git push && git push --tags
```

Verify on GitHub that the tag appears in releases.


Merge: bd-rgyd

branch: polecat/Splitter
target: main
source_issue: bd-rgyd
rig: beads


Routing bypassed in daemon mode

## Bug

Prefix-based routing (routes.jsonl) only works in direct mode. When the daemon is running, it bypasses routing logic because:

1. Daemon mode resolves IDs via RPC (`daemonClient.ResolveID`)
2. Daemon uses its own store, which only knows about local beads
3. The routing logic in `resolveAndGetIssueWithRouting` is only called in direct mode

## Reproduction

```bash
# With daemon running:
cd ~/gt
bd show gt-1py3y  # Fails - daemon can't find it

# With daemon bypassed:
bd --no-daemon show gt-1py3y  # Works - uses routing
```

## Fix Options

### Option A: Client-side routing detection (Recommended)
Before calling daemon RPC, check if the ID prefix matches a route to a different beads dir. If so, use direct mode with routing for that ID.

```go
// In show.go, before daemon mode:
if daemonClient != nil && needsRouting(id) {
    // Fall back to direct mode for this ID
    result, err := resolveAndGetIssueWithRouting(ctx, store, id)
    ...
}
```

### Option B: Daemon-side routing
Add routing support to the daemon RPC server. More complex - daemon would need to:
- Load routes.jsonl on startup
- Open connections to multiple databases
- Route requests based on ID prefix

### Option C: Hybrid
Daemon returns "not found + prefix hint", client retries with routing.

## Recommendation

Option A is simplest. The client already has routing logic; just use it when we detect a routed prefix.


Test hooked styling


Test actor flag


Test cross-rig issue creation

Testing --rig flag from town root


Tier 1: Ephemeral repo routing

Add routing.ephemeral config option to route ephemeral=true issues to separate location.

## Changes Required

1. Add `routing.ephemeral` config option (default: empty = disabled)
2. Update routing logic in `determineRepo()` to check ephemeral flag
3. Update `bd create` to respect ephemeral routing
4. Update import/export for multi-location support
5. Ephemeral repo can be:
   - Separate git repo (~/.beads-ephemeral)
   - Non-git directory (just filesystem)
   - Same repo, different branch (future)

## Config

```bash
bd config set routing.ephemeral "~/.beads-ephemeral"
```

## Acceptance Criteria

- `bd create "test" --ephemeral` creates in ephemeral repo when configured
- `bd list` shows issues from both repos
- Ephemeral repo never synced to remote


Add daemon-side delete operation tests

Follow-up epic for PR #626: Add comprehensive test coverage for delete operations at the daemon/RPC layer. PR #626 successfully added storage layer tests but identified gaps in daemon-side delete operations and RPC integration testing.

## Scope
Tests needed for:
1. deleteViaDaemon (cmd/bd/delete.go:21) - RPC client-side deletion command
2. Daemon RPC delete handler - Server-side deletion via daemon
3. createTombstone wrapper (cmd/bd/delete.go:335) - Tombstone creation wrapper
4. deleteIssue wrapper (cmd/bd/delete.go:349) - Direct deletion wrapper

## Coverage targets
- Delete via RPC daemon (both success and error paths)
- Cascade deletion through daemon
- Force deletion through daemon
- Dry-run mode validation
- Tombstone creation and verification
- Error handling and edge cases


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

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


Add comprehensive filters to bd export

Enhance bd export with filtering options for selective exports.

**Currently only has:**
- --status

**Add filters:**
- --label, --label-any
- --assignee
- --type
- --priority, --priority-min, --priority-max
- --created-after, --created-before
- --updated-after, --updated-before

**Use case:**
- Export only open issues: bd export --status open
- Export high-priority bugs: bd export --type bug --priority-max 1
- Export recent issues: bd export --created-after 2025-01-01

**Files to modify:**
- cmd/bd/export.go
- Reuse filter logic from list.go


Merge: bd-indn

branch: polecat/rictus
target: main
source_issue: bd-indn
rig: beads


Review changes since last release

Understand what's being released.

```bash
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline
```

Categorize changes:
- Features (feat:)
- Fixes (fix:)
- Breaking changes
- Documentation


Digest: beads-release

Successfully released beads v0.42.0 - GitHub, npm, PyPI all verified


Fix G104 errors unhandled in internal/storage/sqlite/queries.go:1181

Linting issue: G104: Errors unhandled (gosec) at internal/storage/sqlite/queries.go:1181:4. Error: rows.Close()


Push to main

Push the release commit to origin.

```bash
git push origin main
```

If rejected, someone else pushed. Pull, rebase, try again.


Update CHANGELOG header

Change [Unreleased] to [{{version}}] - {{date}} and add new empty [Unreleased] section above it.


Run tests and linting

Run the full test suite and linter:

```bash
TMPDIR=/tmp go test -short ./...
golangci-lint run ./...
```

Fix any failures. Linting warnings acceptable (see LINTING.md).


Fix bd sync race condition with daemon causing dirty working directory

After bd sync completes with sync.branch mode, subsequent bd commands or daemon file watcher would see a hash mismatch and trigger auto-import, which then schedules re-export, dirtying the working directory.

**Root cause:**
1. bd sync exports JSONL with NEW content (hash H1)
2. bd sync updates jsonl_content_hash = H1 in DB
3. bd sync restores JSONL from HEAD (OLD content, hash H0)
4. Now: file hash = H0, DB hash = H1 (MISMATCH)
5. Daemon or next CLI command sees mismatch, imports from OLD JSONL
6. Import triggers re-export → file is dirty

**Fix:**
After restoreBeadsDirFromBranch(), update jsonl_content_hash to match the restored file's hash. This ensures daemon and CLI see file hash = DB hash → no spurious import/export cycle.

Related: bd-c83r (multiple daemon prevention)


Work on beads-rs0: Namepool configuration for themed pole...

Work on beads-rs0: Namepool configuration for themed polecat names. See bd show beads-rs0 for full details.


bd sync fails with orphaned issues and duplicate ID conflict

After fixing the deleted_at TEXT column scanning bug (commit 18b1eb2), bd sync still fails with two issues:

1. Orphan Detection Warning: 12 orphaned child issues whose parents no longer exist (bd-cb64c226.* and bd-cbed9619.*)

2. Import Failure: UNIQUE constraint failed for bd-360 - this tombstone exists in both DB and JSONL

Error: "Import failed: error creating depth-0 issues: bulk insert issues: failed to insert issue bd-360: sqlite3: constraint failed: UNIQUE constraint failed: issues.id"

Fix options:
- Delete orphaned child issues with bd delete
- Resolve bd-360 duplicate (in deletions.jsonl vs tombstone in DB)
- Reset sync branch: git branch -f beads-sync main && git push --force-with-lease origin beads-sync

Fixed tombstone constraint violation bug. When deleting closed issues, the CHECK constraint (status = 'closed') = (closed_at IS NOT NULL) was violated because CreateTombstone didn't clear closed_at. Fix: set closed_at = NULL in tombstone creation SQL.

The sync data corruption (orphaned issues in beads-sync branch) requires manual cleanup: reset sync branch with 'git branch -f beads-sync main && git push --force-with-lease origin beads-sync'


Migrate sort.Slice to slices.SortFunc

Go 1.21+ provides slices.SortFunc which is cleaner and slightly faster than sort.Slice.

Found 15+ instances of sort.Slice in:
- cmd/bd/autoflush.go
- cmd/bd/count.go
- cmd/bd/daemon_sync.go
- cmd/bd/doctor.go
- cmd/bd/export.go
- cmd/bd/import.go
- cmd/bd/integrity.go
- cmd/bd/jira.go
- cmd/bd/list.go
- cmd/bd/migrate_hash_ids.go
- cmd/bd/rename_prefix.go
- cmd/bd/show.go

Example migration:
```go
// Before
sort.Slice(issues, func(i, j int) bool {
    return issues[i].Priority < issues[j].Priority
})

// After
slices.SortFunc(issues, func(a, b *types.Issue) int {
    return cmp.Compare(a.Priority, b.Priority)
})
```

Benefits:
- Cleaner 3-way comparison
- Slightly better performance
- Modern idiomatic Go


bd ready resolves external dependencies

Extend bd ready to check external blocked_by references:

1. Parse external:<project>:<capability> from blocked_by
2. Look up project path from external_projects config
3. Check if target project has provides:<capability> label on a closed issue
4. If not satisfied, issue is blocked

Example output:
```bash
bd ready
# gt-xyz: blocked by external:beads:mol-run-assignee (not provided)
# gt-abc: ready
```

Depends on: bd-om4a (external: prefix), bd-66w1 (config)

Part of cross-project dependency system.
See: gastown/docs/cross-project-deps.md


Test issue for pin --for

Testing the pin --for flag


Merge: jasper-1767083473604

branch: polecat/jasper-1767083473604
target: main
source_issue: jasper-1767083473604
rig: beads


Make merge requests ephemeral wisps instead of permanent issues

## Problem

Merge requests (MRs) are currently created as regular beads issues (type: merge-request). This means they:
- Sync to JSONL and propagate via git
- Accumulate in the issue database indefinitely
- Clutter `bd list` output with closed MRs
- Create permanent records for inherently transient artifacts

MRs are process artifacts, not work products. They exist briefly while code awaits merge, then their purpose is fulfilled. The git merge commit and GitHub PR (if applicable) provide the permanent audit trail - the beads MR is redundant.

## Proposed Solution

Make MRs ephemeral wisps that exist only during the merge process:

1. **Create MRs as wisps**: When a polecat completes work and requests merge, create the MR in `.beads-wisp/` instead of `.beads/`

2. **Refinery visibility**: This works because all clones within a rig share the same database:
   ```
   beads/              ← Rig root
   ├── .beads/         ← Permanent issues (synced to JSONL)
   ├── .beads-wisp/    ← Ephemeral wisps (NOT synced)
   ├── crew/dave/      ← Uses rig's shared DB
   ├── polecats/*/     ← Uses rig's shared DB
   └── refinery/       ← Uses rig's shared DB
   ```
   The refinery can see wisp MRs immediately - same SQLite database.

3. **On merge completion**: Burn the wisp (delete without digest). The git merge commit IS the permanent record. No digest needed since:
   - Digest wouldn't be smaller than the MR itself (~200-300 bytes either way)
   - Git history provides complete audit trail
   - GitHub PR (if used) provides discussion/approval record

4. **On merge rejection/abandonment**: Burn the wisp. Optionally notify the source polecat via mail.

## Benefits

- **Clean JSONL**: MRs never pollute the permanent issue history
- **No accumulation**: Wisps are burned on completion, no cleanup needed
- **Correct semantics**: Wisps are for "operational ephemera" - MRs fit perfectly
- **Reduced sync churn**: Fewer JSONL updates, faster `bd sync`
- **Cleaner queries**: `bd list` shows work items, not process artifacts

## Implementation Notes

### Where MRs are created

Currently MRs are created by the witness or polecat when work is ready for merge. This code needs to:
- Set `wisp: true` on the MR issue
- Or use a dedicated wisp creation path

### Refinery changes

The refinery queries for pending MRs to process. It needs to:
- Query wisp storage as well as (or instead of) permanent storage
- Use `bd mol burn` or equivalent to delete processed MRs

### What about cross-rig MRs?

If an MR needs to be visible outside the rig (e.g., external collaborators):
- They would see the GitHub PR anyway
- Or we could create a permanent "merge completed" notification issue
- But this is likely unnecessary - MRs are internal coordination

### Migration

Existing MRs in permanent storage:
- Can be cleaned up with `bd cleanup` or manual deletion
- Or left to age out naturally
- No migration of open MRs needed (they'll complete under old system

## Alternatives Considered

1. **Auto-cleanup of closed MRs**: Keep MRs as permanent issues but auto-delete after 24h. Simpler but still creates sync churn and temporary JSONL pollution.

2. **MRs as mail only**: Polecat sends mail to refinery with merge details, no MR issue at all. Loses queryability (bd-801b [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-bqcc
bd-pvu0 [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-4opy
bd-i0rx [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-ao0s
bd-u0sb [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-uqfn
bd-8e0q [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: beads-ocs
bd-hvng [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-w193
bd-4sfl [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-14ie
bd-sumr [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-t4sb
bd-3x9o [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-by0d
bd-whgv [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-401h
bd-f3ll [P2] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-ot0w
bd-fmdy [P3] [merge-request] closed - Merge: bd-kzda).

3. **Separate merge queue**: Refinery maintains internal state for pending merges, not in beads at all. Clean but requires new infrastructure.

Wisps are the cleanest solution - they already exist, have the right semantics, and require minimal changes.

## Related

- Wisp architecture:
- Current MR creation: witness/refinery code paths
- bd-pvu0, bd-801b: Example MRs currently in permanent storage
EOF
)


Update LINTING.md with current baseline

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


Merge3Way public API does not expose TTL parameter

The public Merge3Way() function in merge.go does not allow callers to configure the tombstone TTL. It hard-codes the default via merge3WayWithTTL(). While merge3WayWithTTL() exists, it is unexported (lowercase). This means the CLI and tests cannot configure TTL at merge time. Use cases: testing with different TTL values, per-repository TTL configuration, debugging with short TTL, supporting --ttl flag in bd merge command (mentioned in design doc bd-zvg). Recommendation: Export Merge3WayWithTTL (rename to uppercase). Files: internal/merge/merge.go:77, 292-298


Add ValidateTemplate() function

Add internal/validation package with ValidateTemplate(issueType, description) that checks for missing sections and returns actionable errors.


Merge: jasper-1767138512869

branch: polecat/jasper-1767138512869
target: main
source_issue: jasper-1767138512869
rig: beads


Workaround for FastMCP outputSchema bug in Claude Code

The beads MCP server (v0.23.1) successfully connects to Claude Code, but all tools fail to load with a schema validation error due to a bug in FastMCP 2.13.1.

Error: "Invalid literal value, expected \"object\"" in outputSchema.

Root Cause: FastMCP generates outputSchema with $ref at root level without "type": "object" for self-referential models (Issue).

Workaround: Use slash commands (/beads:ready) or wait for FastMCP fix.


Swarm: Code Review: Swarm commands consolidation

Swarm molecule orchestrating epic bd-2ubv.

Epic: bd-2ubv
Coordinator:


Add GetWorkerStatus RPC endpoint

New RPC endpoint to get all workers and their current molecule/step in one call. Returns: assignee, moleculeID, moleculeTitle, currentStep, totalSteps, stepTitle, lastActivity, status. Enables activity feed TUI to show worker state without multiple round trips.


Cleanup: --ephemeral flag

Update bd cleanup to handle ephemeral issues.

New flag:
- bd cleanup --ephemeral - deletes all CLOSED issues with ephemeral=true

Behavior:
- Only deletes if status=closed AND ephemeral=true
- Respects --dry-run flag
- Reports count of deleted ephemeral issues

This allows swarm cleanup to remove transient messages without affecting permanent issues.


Migration: Convert pinned work items to hooked

Migrate existing pinned beads that represent work-on-hook to use 'hooked' status.

## Migration Logic

```sql
UPDATE issues
SET status = 'hooked'
WHERE status = 'pinned'
  AND issue_type NOT IN ('agent', 'role')
```

## What Stays Pinned

- Agent identity beads (gt-mayor, gt-witness-gastown, etc.)
- Role definition beads (gt-mayor-role, etc.)

## What Becomes Hooked

- Molecules on hooks (mol_type field set)
- Regular issues/tasks that were pinned to hooks

## Verification

After migration:
- bd list --status=pinned should only show agents/roles
- bd list --status=hooked should show work on hooks


Merge: obsidian-mjw4b7ph

branch: polecat/obsidian-mjw4b7ph
target: main
source_issue: obsidian-mjw4b7ph
rig: beads
agent_bead: gt-beads-polecat-obsidian


Create version-bump template as native Beads

Migrate the version-bump workflow from YAML to a native Beads template:

1. Create epic with template label: Release {{version}}
2. Create child tasks for each step (update version files, changelog, commit, push, publish)
3. Set up dependencies between tasks
4. Add verification commands in task descriptions

This serves as both migration and validation of the new system.


Release complete

Release v0.99.0-test is complete!

Summary:
- All version files updated
- Git tag pushed
- CI artifacts built
- npm and PyPI packages published
- Local installation updated
- Daemons restarted

Optional next steps:
- Announce on social media
- Update documentation site
- Close related milestone


Release v{{version}}

Clean release workflow for beads. Variables: version (e.g., 0.37.0), date (YYYY-MM-DD)


bd close --continue: auto-advance to next molecule step

Add --continue flag to bd close for seamless molecule step transitions.

## Usage

bd close <step-id> --continue [--no-auto]

## Behavior

1. Closes the specified step
2. Finds next ready step in same molecule (sibling/child)
3. By default, marks it in_progress (--no-auto to skip)
4. Outputs the transition

## Output

[done] Closed gt-abc.3: Implement feature

Next ready in molecule:
  gt-abc.4: Write tests

[arrow] Marked in_progress (use --no-auto to skip)

## If no next step

[done] Closed gt-abc.6: Exit decision

Molecule gt-abc complete! All steps closed.
Consider: bd mol squash gt-abc --summary '...'

## Key behaviors
- Detects parent molecule from closed step
- Finds next unblocked sibling
- Auto-claims by default (propulsion principle)
- Graceful handling when molecule is complete

## Gas Town integration
- gt-lz13: Update templates with nav workflow
- gt-um6q: Update docs with nav workflow


Fix JSON errors in show.go (update/close/edit commands)

Replace ~51 direct stderr writes with FatalErrorRespectJSON() in show.go.

Commands affected:
- updateCmd (~10 error handlers)
- closeCmd (~15 error handlers)
- editCmd (~10 error handlers)
- showCmd (already uses FatalErrorRespectJSON in some places)

Key error paths:
- ID resolution errors (lines 565, 570, 579)
- Validation errors (lines 474, 515, 524, 545)
- RPC/daemon errors (line 639+)
- Store operation errors


Technical debt: Multiple deprecated command aliases still exist

attached_args: Remove deprecated command aliases

Several deprecated command aliases are still present in the codebase:

1. cmd/bd/relate.go:51 - 'bd relate' deprecated for 'bd dep relate'
2. cmd/bd/relate.go:56 - 'bd unrelate' deprecated for 'bd dep unrelate'
3. cmd/bd/daemons.go:618 - 'bd daemons' deprecated for 'bd daemon <subcommand>'
4. cmd/bd/migrate_hash_ids.go:433 - alias for 'bd migrate hash-ids'
5. cmd/bd/migrate_tombstones.go:352 - alias for 'bd migrate tombstones'
6. cmd/bd/migrate_sync.go:68 - alias for 'bd migrate sync'
7. cmd/bd/migrate_issues.go:717 - alias for 'bd migrate issues'
8. cmd/bd/comments.go:214 - deprecated for 'bd comments add'
9. cmd/bd/template.go:64,82,147,226 - multiple template commands deprecated for 'bd mol'
10. cmd/bd/admin_aliases.go - multiple admin aliases deprecated
11. cmd/bd/detect_pollution.go:24 - deprecated for 'bd doctor --check=pollution'

Consider:
1. Setting a deprecation timeline (e.g., remove in v2.0)
2. Adding warnings when deprecated commands are used
3. Documenting migration path in CHANGELOG

Location: Various files in cmd/bd/


Swarm: Test epic for duplicate swarm

Swarm molecule orchestrating epic bd-4d9d.

Epic: bd-4d9d
Coordinator:


Add content-addressable identity to Issue type

**Summary:** Added content-addressable identity to Issue type by implementing a ContentHash field that generates a unique SHA256 fingerprint based on semantic issue content. This resolves issue identification challenges when multiple system instances create issues with identical IDs but different contents.

**Key Decisions:**
- Use SHA256 for content hashing
- Hash excludes ID and timestamps
- Compute hash automatically at creation/import time
- Add database column for hash storage

**Resolution:** Successfully implemented a deterministic content hashing mechanism that enables reliable issue identification across distributed systems, improving data integrity and collision detection.


Fix or remove TestFindJSONLPathDefault (issue #356)

Code health review found .test-skip permanently skips TestFindJSONLPathDefault.

The test references issue #356 about wrong JSONL filename expectations (issues.jsonl vs beads.jsonl).

Test file: internal/beads/beads_test.go

The underlying migration from beads.jsonl to issues.jsonl may be complete, so either:
1. Fix the test expectations
2. Remove the test if no longer needed
3. Document why it remains skipped


bd mol burn should work on mols, not just wisps

Currently `bd mol burn` only works on wisps (Ephemeral=true):

```
$ bd mol burn bd-mol-p7i
Error: molecule bd-mol-p7i is not a wisp (Ephemeral=false)
Hint: mol burn only works with wisp molecules
      Use 'bd delete' to remove non-wisp issues
```

The name 'burn' implies destruction - it should work on any molecule, not just wisps. When called on a regular mol, it should convert to `bd delete --cascade`.

**Proposed behavior:**
- If wisp: current behavior (delete without tombstones)
- If mol: `bd delete <id> --cascade` (delete with tombstones)

This makes the metaphor consistent: burn = destroy a molecule, regardless of phase.


Merge: bd-likt

branch: polecat/Gater
target: main
source_issue: bd-likt
rig: beads


Test role bead


Add sync resilience guardrails for forced pushes and prefix mismatches

Beads can get into unrecoverable sync states when remote forces pushes occur (e.g., rebases) combined with prefix mismatches from multi-worker scenarios. Add detection, prevention, and auto-recovery features to handle this gracefully.


Merge: bd-au0.5

branch: polecat/Searcher
target: main
source_issue: bd-au0.5
rig: beads


Merge: onyx-1767083477016

branch: polecat/onyx-1767083477016
target: main
source_issue: onyx-1767083477016
rig: beads


Migration invariants should exclude external dependencies from orphan check

## Summary

The `checkForeignKeys` function in `migration_invariants.go` flags external dependencies as orphaned because they dont exist in the local issues table.

## Location

`internal/storage/sqlite/migration_invariants.go` around line 150-162

## Current Code (buggy)

```go
// Check for orphaned dependencies
var orphanCount int
err = db.QueryRowContext(ctx, \`
    SELECT COUNT(*)
    FROM dependencies d
    WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM issues WHERE id = d.depends_on_id)
\`).Scan(&orphanCount)
```

## Fix

Exclude external references (format: `external:<project>:<capability>`):

```go
// Check for orphaned dependencies (excluding external refs)
var orphanCount int
err = db.QueryRowContext(ctx, \`
    SELECT COUNT(*)
    FROM dependencies d
    WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM issues WHERE id = d.depends_on_id)
      AND d.depends_on_id NOT LIKE 'external:%'
\`).Scan(&orphanCount)
```

## Reproduction

```bash
# Add external dependency
bd dep add bd-xxx external:other-project:some-capability

# Try to sync - fails
bd sync
# Error: found 1 orphaned dependencies
```

## Files to Modify

1. **internal/storage/sqlite/migration_invariants.go** - Add WHERE clause

## Testing

```bash
# Create issue with external dep
bd create "Test external deps" -t task
bd dep add bd-xxx external:beads:release-workflow

# Sync should succeed
bd sync

# Verify dep exists
bd show bd-xxx --json | jq .dependencies
```

## Success Criteria
- External dependencies dont trigger orphan check
- `bd sync` succeeds with external deps
- Regular orphan detection still works for internal deps


Implement conditional bond type for mol bond

The mol bond command accepts 'conditional' as a bond type but doesn't implement any conditional-specific behavior. It currently behaves identically to 'parallel'.

**Expected behavior:**
Conditional bonds should mean 'B runs only if A fails' per the help text (mol.go:318).

**Implementation needed:**
- Add failure-condition dependency handling
- Possibly new dependency type or status-based blocking
- Update bondProtoProto, bondProtoMol, bondMolMol to handle conditional

**Alternative:**
Remove 'conditional' from valid bond types until implemented.

This is new functionality, not a regression.


Code Review: PR #551 - Persist close_reason to issues table

Code review of PR #551 which fixes close_reason persistence bug.

## Summary
The PR correctly fixes a bug where close_reason was only stored in the events table, not in the issues.close_reason column. This caused `bd show --json` to return empty close_reason.

## What Was Fixed
- ✅ CloseIssue now updates both close_reason and closed_at
- ✅ ReOpenIssue clears both close_reason and closed_at
- ✅ Comprehensive tests added for both storage and CLI layers
- ✅ Clear documentation in queries.go about dual storage strategy

## Quality Assessment
✅ Tests cover both storage layer and CLI JSON output
✅ Handles reopen case (clearing close_reason)
✅ Good comments explaining dual-storage design
✅ No known issues

## Potential Followups
See linked issues for suggestions.


Create release tag

Create annotated git tag.

```bash
git tag -a v0.41.0 -m "Release v0.41.0"
```

Verify: `git tag -l | tail -5`


Work on gt-8tmz.34: Expansion var overrides not implement...

Work on gt-8tmz.34: Expansion var overrides not implemented. The ExpandRule.Vars field exists in internal/formula/types.go but is ignored during expansion in internal/formula/expand.go. Implement: 1) Pass rule.Vars to expandStep in ApplyExpansions, 2) Merge vars with formula defaults (rule.Vars wins), 3) Substitute vars in template placeholders, 4) Add test in expand_test.go. When done, commit and push to main.