beads/examples/library-usage

Beads Library Usage Example

This example demonstrates using Beads as a Go library in external projects (like VC).

Why Use Beads as a Library?

Instead of spawning bd CLI processes:

• ✅ Direct API access - Call functions directly instead of parsing JSON output
• ✅ Type safety - Compile-time checking of types and interfaces
• ✅ Performance - No process spawn overhead
• ✅ Transactions - Access to database transactions for complex operations
• ✅ Shared database - Multiple components can use same database connection
• ✅ Error handling - Proper Go error types instead of parsing stderr

Installation

In your Go project:

go get github.com/steveyegge/beads@latest

Basic Usage

package main

import (
    "context"
    "log"
    
    "github.com/steveyegge/beads"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()
    
    // Find and open database
    dbPath := beads.FindDatabasePath()
    store, err := beads.NewSQLiteStorage(dbPath)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    defer store.Close()
    
    // Get ready work
    ready, err := store.GetReadyWork(ctx, beads.WorkFilter{
        Status: beads.StatusOpen,
        Limit: 10,
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    
    // Process ready issues...
}

Running This Example

# From this directory
cd examples/library-usage

# Make sure there's a Beads database
bd init --prefix demo

# Run the example
go run main.go

Available Operations

The beads.Storage interface provides:

Issues

• CreateIssue(ctx, issue, actor) - Create a new issue
• CreateIssues(ctx, issues, actor) - Batch create issues
• GetIssue(ctx, id) - Get issue by ID
• UpdateIssue(ctx, id, updates, actor) - Update issue fields
• CloseIssue(ctx, id, reason, actor) - Close an issue
• SearchIssues(ctx, query, filter) - Search with filters

Dependencies

• AddDependency(ctx, dep, actor) - Add dependency between issues
• RemoveDependency(ctx, issueID, dependsOnID, actor) - Remove dependency
• GetDependencies(ctx, issueID) - Get what this issue depends on
• GetDependents(ctx, issueID) - Get what depends on this issue
• GetDependencyTree(ctx, issueID, maxDepth, showAllPaths) - Visualize tree

Labels

• AddLabel(ctx, issueID, label, actor) - Add label to issue
• RemoveLabel(ctx, issueID, label, actor) - Remove label
• GetLabels(ctx, issueID) - Get all labels for an issue
• GetIssuesByLabel(ctx, label) - Find issues with label

Ready Work & Blocking

• GetReadyWork(ctx, filter) - Find issues with no blockers
• GetBlockedIssues(ctx) - Find blocked issues with blocker info
• GetEpicsEligibleForClosure(ctx) - Find completable epics

Comments & Events

• AddIssueComment(ctx, issueID, author, text) - Add comment
• GetIssueComments(ctx, issueID) - Get all comments
• GetEvents(ctx, issueID, limit) - Get audit trail

Statistics

• GetStatistics(ctx) - Get aggregate metrics

Types

All types are exported via the beads package:

// Core types
beads.Issue
beads.Status (Open, InProgress, Closed, Blocked)
beads.IssueType (Bug, Feature, Task, Epic, Chore)
beads.Priority (0-4)

// Relationships
beads.Dependency
beads.DependencyType (Blocks, Related, ParentChild, DiscoveredFrom)

// Metadata
beads.Label
beads.Comment
beads.Event

// Queries
beads.IssueFilter
beads.WorkFilter
beads.BlockedIssue
beads.EpicStatus
beads.Statistics

VC Integration Example

For VC (VibeCoder), the integration would look like:

// In VC's storage layer
type VCStorage struct {
    beads beads.Storage
}

func NewVCStorage(dbPath string) (*VCStorage, error) {
    store, err := beads.NewSQLiteStorage(dbPath)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    return &VCStorage{beads: store}, nil
}

// Claim ready work for executor
func (s *VCStorage) ClaimWork(ctx context.Context, executorID string) (*beads.Issue, error) {
    ready, err := s.beads.GetReadyWork(ctx, beads.WorkFilter{
        Status: beads.StatusOpen,
        Limit: 1,
    })
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    if len(ready) == 0 {
        return nil, nil // No work available
    }
    
    issue := ready[0]
    
    // Claim it
    updates := map[string]interface{}{
        "status": beads.StatusInProgress,
        "assignee": executorID,
    }
    
    if err := s.beads.UpdateIssue(ctx, issue.ID, updates, executorID); err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    return issue, nil
}

Best Practices

1. Context - Always pass context.Context for cancellation support
2. Actor - Provide meaningful actor strings for audit trail
3. Error handling - Check all errors; database operations can fail
4. Close - Always defer store.Close() after opening
5. Transactions - For complex multi-step operations, consider using the underlying database connection directly

See Also

• EXTENDING.md - Detailed extension guide
• beads.go - Public API source
• internal/storage/storage.go - Storage interface