Dependency Commands

Commands for managing issue dependencies.

bd dep add

Add a dependency between issues.

bd dep add <dependent> <dependency> [flags]

Semantics: <dependent> depends on <dependency> (dependency blocks dependent).

Flags:

--type    Dependency type (blocks|related|discovered-from)
--json    JSON output

Examples:

# bd-2 depends on bd-1 (bd-1 blocks bd-2)
bd dep add bd-2 bd-1

# Soft relationship
bd dep add bd-2 bd-1 --type related

# JSON output
bd dep add bd-2 bd-1 --json

bd dep remove

Remove a dependency.

bd dep remove <dependent> <dependency> [flags]

Examples:

bd dep remove bd-2 bd-1
bd dep remove bd-2 bd-1 --json

bd dep tree

Display dependency tree.

bd dep tree <id> [flags]

Flags:

--depth    Maximum depth to display
--json     JSON output

Examples:

bd dep tree bd-42
bd dep tree bd-42 --depth 3
bd dep tree bd-42 --json

Output:

Dependency tree for bd-42:

> bd-42: Add authentication [P2] (open)
  > bd-41: Create API [P2] (open)
    > bd-40: Set up database [P1] (closed)

bd dep cycles

Detect circular dependencies.

bd dep cycles [flags]

Flags:

--json    JSON output

Examples:

bd dep cycles
bd dep cycles --json

bd ready

Show issues with no blockers.

bd ready [flags]

Flags:

--priority    Filter by priority
--type        Filter by type
--label       Filter by label
--json        JSON output

Examples:

bd ready
bd ready --priority 1
bd ready --type bug
bd ready --json

Output:

Ready work (3 issues with no blockers):

1. [P1] bd-40: Set up database
2. [P2] bd-45: Write tests
3. [P3] bd-46: Update docs

bd blocked

Show blocked issues and their blockers.

bd blocked [flags]

Flags:

--json    JSON output

Examples:

bd blocked
bd blocked --json

Output:

Blocked issues (2 issues):

bd-42: Add authentication
  Blocked by: bd-41 (open)

bd-41: Create API
  Blocked by: bd-40 (in_progress)

bd relate

Create a soft relationship between issues.

bd relate <id1> <id2> [flags]

Examples:

bd relate bd-42 bd-43
bd relate bd-42 bd-43 --json

bd duplicate

Mark an issue as duplicate.

bd duplicate <id> --of <canonical> [flags]

Examples:

bd duplicate bd-43 --of bd-42
bd duplicate bd-43 --of bd-42 --json

bd supersede

Mark an issue as superseding another.

bd supersede <old> --with <new> [flags]

Examples:

bd supersede bd-42 --with bd-50
bd supersede bd-42 --with bd-50 --json

Understanding Dependencies

Blocking vs Non-blocking

Type	Blocks Ready Queue	Use Case
blocks	Yes	Hard dependency
parent-child	No	Epic/subtask hierarchy
discovered-from	No	Track origin
related	No	Soft link
duplicates	No	Mark duplicate
supersedes	No	Version chain

Dependency Direction

# bd-2 depends on bd-1
# Meaning: bd-1 must complete before bd-2 can start
bd dep add bd-2 bd-1

# After bd-1 closes:
bd close bd-1
bd ready  # bd-2 now appears

Avoiding Cycles

# Check before adding complex dependencies
bd dep cycles

# If cycle detected, remove one dependency
bd dep remove bd-A bd-B