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How to use beads with Claude Code.

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Setup

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Quick Setup

bd setup claude
This installs:
  • SessionStart hook - Runs bd prime --hook-json when a session starts. SessionStart also fires after context compaction, so the same hook refreshes context automatically.
  • CLAUDE.md pointer - A minimal beads section in your project’s CLAUDE.md (skipped if CLAUDE.md is a symlink).
By default the hook is written to the project’s .claude/settings.json. Variants: 
bd setup claude --global   # Install to ~/.claude/settings.json instead
bd setup claude --stealth  # Stealth mode: flush only, no git operations
bd setup claude --remove   # Remove the hook and the CLAUDE.md section
If the beads plugin is enabled, bd setup claude skips writing hooks - the plugin provides its own, and duplicates would run bd prime twice per session.

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Manual Setup

Add to .claude/settings.json (project) or ~/.claude/settings.json (global): 
{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [
      {
        "matcher": "",
        "hooks": [
          { "type": "command", "command": "bd prime --hook-json" }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}
The --hook-json flag wraps the output in the hook JSON envelope Claude Code expects. No PreCompact hook is needed - SessionStart fires again after compaction.

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Verify Setup

bd setup claude --check

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How It Works

  1. Session starts → bd prime injects ~1-2k tokens of context
  2. You work → Use bd CLI commands directly
  3. Session compacts → SessionStart fires again and bd prime refreshes workflow context
  4. Session ends → bd dolt push syncs changes

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Why CLI + hooks instead of MCP?

Context efficiency. MCP tool schemas can add 10-50k tokens to every request; bd prime adds ~1-2k tokens of workflow context - 10-50x less overhead, which means lower cost, lower latency, and better model attention. Prefer CLI + hooks in any environment with shell access; use the MCP server only where the CLI is unavailable, such as Claude Desktop.

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Why not Claude Skills?

Beads doesn’t ship or require Claude Skills (.claude/skills/). bd prime already delivers the workflow context, and the workflow fits a simple command set (ready → create → update → close → sync). Skills are also Claude-specific, which would break beads’ editor-agnostic approach - the same CLI works in Cursor, Windsurf, and every other shell-capable editor. You can create your own Skills on top of beads, but none are needed.

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Essential Commands for Agents

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Creating Issues

# Always include description for context
bd create "Fix authentication bug" \
  --description="Login fails with special characters in password" \
  -t bug -p 1 --json

# Link discovered issues
bd create "Found SQL injection" \
  --description="User input not sanitized in query builder" \
  --deps discovered-from:bd-42 --json

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Working on Issues

# Find ready work
bd ready --json

# Start work
bd update bd-42 --claim --json

# Complete work
bd close bd-42 --reason "Fixed in commit abc123" --json

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Querying

# List open issues
bd list --status open --json

# Show issue details
bd show bd-42 --json

# Check blocked issues
bd blocked --json

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Syncing

# ALWAYS run at session end
bd dolt push

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Best Practices

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Always Use --json

bd list --json          # Parse programmatically
bd create "Task" --json # Get issue ID from output
bd show bd-42 --json    # Structured data

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Always Include Descriptions

# Good
bd create "Fix auth bug" \
  --description="Login fails when password contains quotes" \
  -t bug -p 1 --json

# Bad - no context for future work
bd create "Fix auth bug" -t bug -p 1 --json

# When you discover issues during work
bd create "Found related bug" \
  --deps discovered-from:bd-current --json

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Push Before Session End

# ALWAYS run before ending
bd dolt push

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Plugin (Optional)

For slash commands and enhanced UX, install the beads plugin: 
# In Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add gastownhall/beads
/plugin install beads
# Restart Claude Code
Adds slash commands:
  • /beads:ready - Show ready work
  • /beads:create - Create issue
  • /beads:show - Show issue
  • /beads:update - Update issue
  • /beads:close - Close issue

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Troubleshooting

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Context not injected

# Check hook setup
bd setup claude --check

# Manually prime
bd prime

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Changes not syncing

# Force push
bd dolt push

# Check system health
bd doctor

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Database not found

# Initialize beads
bd init --quiet

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See Also