beads/CONFIG.md

Configuration System

bd supports per-project configuration stored in .beads/*.db for external integrations and user preferences.

Overview

Configuration is:

• Per-project: Isolated to each .beads/*.db database
• Version-control-friendly: Stored in SQLite, queryable and scriptable
• Machine-readable: JSON output for automation
• Namespace-based: Organized by integration or purpose

Commands

Set Configuration

bd config set <key> <value>
bd config set --json <key> <value>  # JSON output

Examples:

bd config set jira.url "https://company.atlassian.net"
bd config set jira.project "PROJ"
bd config set jira.status_map.todo "open"

Get Configuration

bd config get <key>
bd config get --json <key>  # JSON output

Examples:

bd config get jira.url
# Output: https://company.atlassian.net

bd config get --json jira.url
# Output: {"key":"jira.url","value":"https://company.atlassian.net"}

List All Configuration

bd config list
bd config list --json  # JSON output

Example output:

Configuration:
  compact_tier1_days = 90
  compact_tier1_dep_levels = 2
  jira.project = PROJ
  jira.url = https://company.atlassian.net

JSON output:

{
  "compact_tier1_days": "90",
  "compact_tier1_dep_levels": "2",
  "jira.project": "PROJ",
  "jira.url": "https://company.atlassian.net"
}

Unset Configuration

bd config unset <key>
bd config unset --json <key>  # JSON output

Example:

bd config unset jira.url

Namespace Convention

Configuration keys use dot-notation namespaces to organize settings:

Core Namespaces

• compact_* - Compaction settings (see EXTENDING.md)
• issue_prefix - Issue ID prefix (managed by bd init)

Integration Namespaces

Use these namespaces for external integrations:

• jira.* - Jira integration settings
• linear.* - Linear integration settings
• github.* - GitHub integration settings
• custom.* - Custom integration settings

Example: Jira Integration

# Configure Jira connection
bd config set jira.url "https://company.atlassian.net"
bd config set jira.project "PROJ"
bd config set jira.api_token "YOUR_TOKEN"

# Map bd statuses to Jira statuses
bd config set jira.status_map.open "To Do"
bd config set jira.status_map.in_progress "In Progress"
bd config set jira.status_map.closed "Done"

# Map bd issue types to Jira issue types
bd config set jira.type_map.bug "Bug"
bd config set jira.type_map.feature "Story"
bd config set jira.type_map.task "Task"

Example: Linear Integration

# Configure Linear connection
bd config set linear.api_token "YOUR_TOKEN"
bd config set linear.team_id "team-123"

# Map statuses
bd config set linear.status_map.open "Backlog"
bd config set linear.status_map.in_progress "In Progress"
bd config set linear.status_map.closed "Done"

Example: GitHub Integration

# Configure GitHub connection
bd config set github.org "myorg"
bd config set github.repo "myrepo"
bd config set github.token "YOUR_TOKEN"

# Map bd labels to GitHub labels
bd config set github.label_map.bug "bug"
bd config set github.label_map.feature "enhancement"

Use in Scripts

Configuration is designed for scripting. Use --json for machine-readable output:

#!/bin/bash

# Get Jira URL
JIRA_URL=$(bd config get --json jira.url | jq -r '.value')

# Get all config and extract multiple values
bd config list --json | jq -r '.["jira.project"]'

Example Python script:

import json
import subprocess

def get_config(key):
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["bd", "config", "get", "--json", key],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True
    )
    data = json.loads(result.stdout)
    return data["value"]

def list_config():
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["bd", "config", "list", "--json"],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True
    )
    return json.loads(result.stdout)

# Use in integration
jira_url = get_config("jira.url")
jira_project = get_config("jira.project")

Best Practices

1. Use namespaces: Prefix keys with integration name (e.g., jira.*, linear.*)
2. Hierarchical keys: Use dots for structure (e.g., jira.status_map.open)
3. Document your keys: Add comments in integration scripts
4. Security: Store tokens in config, but add .beads/*.db to .gitignore (bd does this automatically)
5. Per-project: Configuration is project-specific, so each repo can have different settings

Integration with bd Commands

Some bd commands automatically use configuration:

• bd compact uses compact_tier1_days, compact_tier1_dep_levels, etc.
• bd init sets issue_prefix

External integration scripts can read configuration to sync with Jira, Linear, GitHub, etc.

See Also

• README.md - Main documentation
• EXTENDING.md - Database schema and compaction config
• examples/integrations/ - Integration examples