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Agent Instructions

See AGENT_INSTRUCTIONS.md for full instructions.

This file exists for compatibility with tools that look for AGENTS.md.

Key Sections

  • Issue Tracking - How to use bd for work management
  • Development Guidelines - Code standards and testing
  • Visual Design System - Status icons, colors, and semantic styling for CLI output

Visual Design Anti-Patterns

NEVER use emoji-style icons (🔴🟠🟡🔵⚪) in CLI output. They cause cognitive overload.

ALWAYS use small Unicode symbols with semantic colors:

  • Status: ○ ◐ ● ✓ ❄
  • Priority: ● P0 (filled circle with color)

See AGENT_INSTRUCTIONS.md for full development guidelines.

Agent Warning: Interactive Commands

DO NOT use bd edit - it opens an interactive editor ($EDITOR) which AI agents cannot use.

Use bd update with flags instead:

bd update <id> --description "new description"
bd update <id> --title "new title"
bd update <id> --design "design notes"
bd update <id> --notes "additional notes"
bd update <id> --acceptance "acceptance criteria"

# Use stdin for descriptions with special characters (backticks, !, nested quotes)
echo 'Description with `backticks` and "quotes"' | bd create "Title" --description=-
echo 'Updated text' | bd update <id> --description=-

Testing Commands (No Ambiguity)

  • Default local test command: make test (or ./scripts/test.sh).
  • Full CGO-enabled suite: make test-full-cgo (or ./scripts/test-cgo.sh ./...).
  • On macOS, do not run raw CGO_ENABLED=1 go test ./... unless ICU flags are set; use the script/Make target above.
  • If you need package- or test-scoped CGO runs:
./scripts/test-cgo.sh ./cmd/bd/...
./scripts/test-cgo.sh -run '^TestName$' ./cmd/bd/...

Non-Interactive Shell Commands

ALWAYS use non-interactive flags with file operations to avoid hanging on confirmation prompts.

Shell commands like cp, mv, and rm may be aliased to include -i (interactive) mode on some systems, causing the agent to hang indefinitely waiting for y/n input.

Use these forms instead:

# Force overwrite without prompting
cp -f source dest           # NOT: cp source dest
mv -f source dest           # NOT: mv source dest
rm -f file                  # NOT: rm file

# For recursive operations
rm -rf directory            # NOT: rm -r directory
cp -rf source dest          # NOT: cp -r source dest

Other commands that may prompt:

  • scp - use -o BatchMode=yes for non-interactive
  • ssh - use -o BatchMode=yes to fail instead of prompting
  • apt-get - use -y flag
  • brew - use HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1 env var

Landing the Plane (Session Completion)

When ending a work session, you MUST complete ALL steps below. Work is NOT complete until git push succeeds.

MANDATORY WORKFLOW:

  1. File issues for remaining work - Create issues for anything that needs follow-up
  2. Run quality gates (if code changed) - Tests, linters, builds
  3. Update issue status - Close finished work, update in-progress items
  4. PUSH TO REMOTE - This is MANDATORY: 
    git pull --rebase
git push
git status  # MUST show "up to date with origin"
  5. Clean up - Clear stashes, prune remote branches
  6. Verify - All changes committed AND pushed
  7. Hand off - Provide context for next session

CRITICAL RULES:

  • Work is NOT complete until git push succeeds
  • NEVER stop before pushing - that leaves work stranded locally
  • NEVER say "ready to push when you are" - YOU must push
  • If push fails, resolve and retry until it succeeds

Issue Tracking with bd (beads)

IMPORTANT: This project uses bd (beads) for ALL issue tracking. Do NOT use markdown TODOs, task lists, or other tracking methods.

Why bd?

  • Dependency-aware: Track blockers and relationships between issues
  • Git-friendly: Dolt-powered version control with native sync
  • Agent-optimized: JSON output, ready work detection, discovered-from links
  • Prevents duplicate tracking systems and confusion

Quick Start

Check for ready work:

bd ready --json

Create new issues:

bd create "Issue title" --description="Detailed context" -t bug|feature|task -p 0-4 --json
bd create "Issue title" --description="What this issue is about" -p 1 --deps discovered-from:bd-123 --json

# Use stdin for descriptions with special characters (backticks, !, nested quotes)
echo 'Description with `backticks` and "quotes"' | bd create "Title" --description=- --json

Claim and update:

bd update <id> --claim --json
bd update bd-42 --priority 1 --json

Complete work:

bd close bd-42 --reason "Completed" --json

Issue Types

  • bug - Something broken
  • feature - New functionality
  • task - Work item (tests, docs, refactoring)
  • epic - Large feature with subtasks
  • chore - Maintenance (dependencies, tooling)

Priorities

  • 0 - Critical (security, data loss, broken builds)
  • 1 - High (major features, important bugs)
  • 2 - Medium (default, nice-to-have)
  • 3 - Low (polish, optimization)
  • 4 - Backlog (future ideas)

Workflow for AI Agents

  1. Check ready work: bd ready shows unblocked issues
  2. Claim your task atomically: bd update <id> --claim
  3. Work on it: Implement, test, document
  4. Discover new work? Create linked issue:
    • bd create "Found bug" --description="Details about what was found" -p 1 --deps discovered-from:<parent-id>
  5. Complete: bd close <id> --reason "Done"

Auto-Sync

bd automatically syncs via Dolt:

  • Each write auto-commits to Dolt history
  • Use bd dolt push/bd dolt pull for remote sync
  • No manual export/import needed!

Important Rules

  • ✅ Use bd for ALL task tracking
  • ✅ Always use --json flag for programmatic use
  • ✅ Link discovered work with discovered-from dependencies
  • ✅ Check bd ready before asking "what should I work on?"
  • ❌ Do NOT create markdown TODO lists
  • ❌ Do NOT use external issue trackers
  • ❌ Do NOT duplicate tracking systems

For more details, see README.md and docs/QUICKSTART.md.