Implement --no-db mode to avoid SQLite database corruption in scenarios
where the same .beads directory is accessed from multiple processes
(e.g., host + container, multiple containers).
Changes:
- Add in-memory storage backend (internal/storage/memory/memory.go)
- Implements full Storage interface using in-memory data structures
- Thread-safe with mutex protection for concurrent access
- Supports all core operations: issues, dependencies, labels, comments
- Add JSONL persistence layer (cmd/bd/nodb.go)
- initializeNoDbMode(): Load .beads/issues.jsonl on startup
- writeIssuesToJSONL(): Atomic write-back after each command
- detectPrefix(): Smart prefix detection with fallback hierarchy
1. .beads/nodb_prefix.txt (explicit config)
2. Common prefix from existing issues
3. Current directory name (fallback)
- Integrate --no-db flag into command flow (cmd/bd/main.go)
- Add global --no-db flag to all commands
- PersistentPreRun: Initialize memory storage from JSONL
- PersistentPostRun: Write memory back to JSONL atomically
- Skip daemon and SQLite initialization in --no-db mode
- Extract common writeJSONLAtomic() helper to eliminate duplication
- Update bd init for --no-db mode (cmd/bd/init.go)
- Create .beads/nodb_prefix.txt instead of SQLite database
- Create empty issues.jsonl file
- Display --no-db specific initialization message
Code Quality:
- Refactored atomic JSONL writes into shared writeJSONLAtomic() helper
- Used by both flushToJSONL (SQLite mode) and writeIssuesToJSONL (--no-db mode)
- Eliminates ~90 lines of code duplication
- Ensures consistent atomic write behavior across modes
Usage:
bd --no-db init -p myproject
bd --no-db create "Fix bug" --priority 1
bd --no-db list
bd --no-db update myproject-1 --status in_progress
Benefits:
- No SQLite corruption from concurrent access
- Container-safe: perfect for multi-mount scenarios
- Git-friendly: direct JSONL diffs work seamlessly
- Simple: no daemon, no WAL files, just JSONL
Test Results (go test ./...):
- ✓ github.com/steveyegge/beads: PASS
- ✗ github.com/steveyegge/beads/cmd/bd: 1 pre-existing failure (TestAutoFlushErrorHandling)
- ✓ github.com/steveyegge/beads/internal/compact: PASS
- ✗ github.com/steveyegge/beads/internal/rpc: 1 pre-existing failure (TestMemoryPressureDetection)
- ✓ github.com/steveyegge/beads/internal/storage/sqlite: PASS
- ✓ github.com/steveyegge/beads/internal/types: PASS
- ⚠ github.com/steveyegge/beads/internal/storage/memory: no tests yet
All test failures are pre-existing and unrelated to --no-db implementation.
The new --no-db mode has been manually tested and verified working.
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via [Happy](https://happy.engineering)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-Authored-By: Happy <yesreply@happy.engineering>
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