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Memory Upgrade for Your Coding Agent

Beads replaces messy markdown plans with a dependency-aware graph, allowing agents to handle long-horizon tasks without losing context. Built on Dolt with native version control and zero-conflict merges.

Get StartedCLI Reference

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Quick start

Get Beads running in your project in under a minute.
1

Install Beads CLI

Install the bd CLI globally using your preferred package manager:
npm install -g @beads/bd
2

Initialize in your project

Navigate to your project directory and initialize Beads:
cd your-project
bd init
This creates a .beads directory with a Dolt database for tracking issues.
3

Create your first issue

Create a task and let your agent get to work:
bd create "Add authentication system" -p 0 --json

{
  "id": "bd-a3f8",
  "title": "Add authentication system",
  "status": "open",
  "priority": 0,
  "created_at": "2026-03-04T10:00:00Z"
}
4

Check ready tasks

View unblocked tasks ready for work:
bd ready --json
Your agent can now pick up tasks with no open dependencies and start working.

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Key features

Discover what makes Beads perfect for AI agent workflows.

Dolt-powered versioning

Version-controlled SQL database with cell-level merge and native branching. Every change is tracked in Dolt history.

Zero-conflict IDs

Hash-based IDs like bd-a3f8 prevent merge collisions in multi-agent and multi-branch workflows.

Dependency tracking

Track blockers and relationships between issues with blocks, relates_to, duplicates, and supersedes links.

Persistent memory

Agent memory that survives sessions and account rotations. Use bd remember to store knowledge permanently.

Memory compaction

Semantic “memory decay” summarizes old closed tasks to save context window and keep agents focused.

Auto-ready detection

Automatically detects tasks with no open blockers, making it easy for agents to find work.

Contributor mode

Route planning issues to a separate repo when working on forked projects. Keep experimental work out of PRs.

Graph visualization

Visualize dependencies and relationships across your entire issue graph.

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Explore by topic

Core concepts

Understand Beads architecture, dependency tracking, and workflows.

Agent workflow

Learn how to integrate Beads into your AI agent’s task management workflow.

CLI reference

Complete reference for all bd commands with examples and flags.

Integrations

Set up Beads with Claude, Copilot, Aider, and other AI tools.

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Resources

FAQ

Answers to common questions about Beads and its features.

Troubleshooting

Debug common issues and learn how to use bd doctor for repairs.

Community tools

Explore community-built UIs, extensions, and integrations.

Contributing

Learn how to contribute to Beads development.

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Ready to upgrade your agent’s memory?

Install Beads and give your coding agent the persistent, structured memory it needs for long-horizon tasks.

Get Started

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