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Generated from bd help --doc prime. Output essential Beads workflow context in AI-optimized markdown format. Automatically detects if MCP server is active and adapts output:
  • MCP mode: Brief workflow reminders (~50 tokens)
  • CLI mode: Full command reference (~1-2k tokens)
Designed for Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and Codex SessionStart hooks to prevent agents from forgetting bd workflow after context compaction. Config options:
  • no-git-ops: When true, outputs stealth mode (no git commands in session close protocol). Set via: bd config set no-git-ops true Useful when you want to control when commits happen manually.
  • agent.profile: Explicit policy profile for git/commit authority wording (conservative | minimal | team-maintainer; default conservative). Set via: bd config set agent.profile team-maintainer Or per-session: BD_AGENT_PROFILE=team-maintainer (env var takes precedence). See docs/getting-started/ide-setup.md#policy-profiles for what each profile means. Workflow customization:
    • Place a .beads/PRIME.md file in the local clone or resolved workspace to override the default output entirely.
    • Use —export to dump the default content for customization.
    • Use —memories-only for hook contexts that should inject only persistent memories.
Memory injection caps: Large memory sets can exceed what a session-start hook host will ingest, and hosts truncate silently. Cap what prime injects with —max-memories N and/or —max-memory-chars N (or the prime.max-memories / prime.max-memory-chars config keys; an explicit flag wins, and an explicit 0 forces unlimited). Caps apply at whole-memory boundaries, at least one memory is always emitted, and a banner ahead of the entries reports how many were elided and how to browse the rest with bd memories. —max-memory-chars caps the total bytes of the injected memory entries; the section header and elision banner are excluded from the budget. 
bd prime [flags]
Flags: 
      --export                 Output default content (ignores PRIME.md override)
      --full                   Force full CLI output (ignore MCP detection)
      --hook-json              Wrap output in the SessionStart hook JSON envelope (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex)
      --max-memories int       Cap injected persistent memories to N entries (0 = unlimited; falls back to the prime.max-memories config key)
      --max-memory-chars int   Cap the total bytes of injected memory entries, at whole-memory boundaries; section header and banner are not counted (0 = unlimited; falls back to the prime.max-memory-chars config key)
      --mcp                    Force MCP mode (minimal output)
      --memories-only          Output only persistent memories for compact hook contexts
      --stealth                Stealth mode (no git operations, flush only)