bd help --doc bootstrap.
Bootstrap sets up the beads database without destroying existing data.
Unlike ‘bd init —force’, bootstrap will never delete existing issues.
Bootstrap auto-detects the right action:
• If sync.remote is configured: clones from the remote
• If git origin has Dolt data (refs/dolt/data): clones from git and wires origin for future push/pull
• If .beads/backup/*.jsonl exists: restores from backup
• If .beads/issues.jsonl exists: imports from git-tracked JSONL
• If no database exists: creates a fresh one
• If database already exists: validates and reports status
This is the recommended command for:
• Setting up beads on a fresh clone
• Recovering after moving to a new machine
• Repairing a broken database configuration
Non-interactive mode (—non-interactive, —yes/-y, or BD_NON_INTERACTIVE=1):
Skips the confirmation prompt before executing the bootstrap plan.
Also auto-detected when stdin is not a terminal or CI=true is set.
Examples:
bd bootstrap # Auto-detect and set up
bd bootstrap —dry-run # Show what would be done
bd bootstrap —json # Output plan as JSON
bd bootstrap —yes # Skip confirmation prompt
CLI Reference
bd bootstrap
Non-destructive database setup for fresh clones and recovery
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