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Understanding beads’ collision-resistant ID system.

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The Problem

Traditional sequential IDs (#1, #2, #3) break when:
  • Multiple agents create issues simultaneously
  • Different branches have independent numbering
  • Forks diverge and later merge

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The Solution

Beads uses hash-based IDs: 
bd-a1b2c3    # Short hash
bd-f14c      # Even shorter
bd-a3f8e9.1  # Hierarchical (child of bd-a3f8e9)
Properties:
  • Globally unique (content-based hash)
  • No coordination needed between creators
  • Merge-friendly across branches
  • Predictable length (configurable)

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How Hashes Work

IDs are generated from:
  • Issue title
  • Creation timestamp
  • Random salt
# Create issue - ID assigned automatically
bd create "Fix authentication bug"
# Returns: bd-7x2f

# The ID is deterministic for same content+timestamp

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Hierarchical IDs

For epics and subtasks: 
# Parent epic
bd create "Auth System" -t epic
# Returns: bd-a3f8e9

# Children auto-increment
bd create "Design UI" --parent bd-a3f8e9    # bd-a3f8e9.1
bd create "Backend" --parent bd-a3f8e9      # bd-a3f8e9.2
bd create "Tests" --parent bd-a3f8e9        # bd-a3f8e9.3
Benefits:
  • Clear parent-child relationship
  • No namespace collision (parent hash is unique)
  • Up to 3 levels of nesting

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ID Configuration

Configure ID prefix and length: 
# Set prefix (default: bd)
bd config set id.prefix myproject

# Set hash length (default: 4)
bd config set id.hash_length 6

# New issues use new format
bd create "Test"
# Returns: myproject-a1b2c3

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Collision Handling

While rare, collisions are handled automatically:
  1. On import, if hash collision detected
  2. Beads appends disambiguator
  3. Both issues preserved
# Check for collisions
bd info --schema --json | jq '.collision_count'

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Working with IDs

# Partial ID matching
bd show a1b2     # Finds bd-a1b2...
bd show auth     # Fuzzy match by title

# Full ID required for ambiguous cases
bd show bd-a1b2c3d4

# List with full IDs
bd list --full-ids

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Migration from Sequential IDs

If migrating from a system with sequential IDs: 
# Bootstrap from a JSONL export (preserves original IDs in metadata)
bd init --from-jsonl old-issues.jsonl

# View original ID
bd show bd-new --json | jq '.original_id'

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Best Practices

  1. Use short references - bd-a1b2 is usually unique enough
  2. Use --json for scripts - Parse full ID programmatically
  3. Reference by hash in commits - Fixed bd-a1b2 in commit messages
  4. Let hierarchies form naturally - Create epics, add children as needed