gastownhall/beads

bd - Beads

Distributed graph issue tracker for AI agents, powered by Dolt.

Platforms: macOS, Linux, Windows, FreeBSD

Docs: https://beads.gascity.com/

Beads provides a persistent, structured memory for coding agents. It replaces messy markdown plans with a dependency-aware graph, allowing agents to handle long-horizon tasks without losing context.

flowchart LR
    create["bd create<br/>new bead"] --> depgraph["dependency<br/>graph"]
    depgraph --> ready["bd ready<br/>claimable work"]
    ready --> claim["bd update --claim<br/>agent takes it"]
    claim --> close["bd close<br/>work done"]
    close -->|blockers released| ready
    depgraph <-->|"bd dolt push / pull"| remote[("other machines<br/>and agents")]

⚡ Quick Start

# Install beads CLI (system-wide - don't clone this repo into your project)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gastownhall/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# Initialize in YOUR project
cd your-project
bd init

# Optional: refresh or install richer instructions for your agent
bd setup codex    # Codex CLI - installs skill, AGENTS.md guidance, and hooks
bd setup claude   # Claude Code - installs hooks/settings
bd setup factory  # Factory.ai Droid - creates/updates AGENTS.md

Note: Beads is a CLI tool you install once and use everywhere. You don't need to clone this repository into your project.

bd init creates or updates `AGENTS