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Repeatable multi-step work — a release checklist, a feature pipeline, a review process — shouldn’t be re-planned by hand every time. Beads lets you declare the shape once and instantiate it on demand: a formula (TOML source) is cooked into a proto (template), and the proto is poured into a molecule — real beads whose steps flow through bd ready like any other work. The full pipeline is diagrammed in How Beads Works.
The three phases, in the chemistry metaphor the CLI uses:

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  • Molecules — instantiated work graphs: pouring, inspecting, bonding, and squashing molecules.
  • Formulas — the TOML/JSON source format: steps, needs dependencies, variables, and composition rules.
  • Gates — async wait conditions (human, timer, GitHub run/PR, cross-rig bead) that park a step until the world catches up.
  • Wisps — ephemeral molecules for transient operational work that shouldn’t clutter history.
  • TODO Command — bd todo, the lightweight interface for managing TODO items as task beads.