Issues & Dependencies

Understanding the issue model in beads.

Issue Structure

Every issue has:

bd show bd-42 --json

{
  "id": "bd-42",
  "title": "Implement authentication",
  "description": "Add JWT-based auth",
  "type": "feature",
  "status": "open",
  "priority": 1,
  "labels": ["backend", "security"],
  "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
}

Issue Types

Type	Use Case
bug	Something broken that needs fixing
feature	New functionality
task	Work item (tests, docs, refactoring)
epic	Large feature with subtasks
chore	Maintenance (dependencies, tooling)

Priorities

Priority	Level	Examples
0	Critical	Security, data loss, broken builds
1	High	Major features, important bugs
2	Medium	Nice-to-have features, minor bugs
3	Low	Polish, optimization
4	Backlog	Future ideas

Creating Issues

# Basic issue
bd create "Fix login bug" -t bug -p 1

# With description
bd create "Add password reset" \
  --description="Users need to reset forgotten passwords via email" \
  -t feature -p 2

# With labels
bd create "Update dependencies" -t chore -l "maintenance,security"

# JSON output for agents
bd create "Task" -t task --json

Dependencies

Blocking Dependencies

The blocks relationship affects the ready queue:

# Add dependency: bd-2 depends on bd-1
bd dep add bd-2 bd-1

# View dependencies
bd dep tree bd-2

# See blocked issues
bd blocked

# See ready work (not blocked)
bd ready

Structural Relationships

These don't affect the ready queue:

# Parent-child (epic subtasks)
bd create "Epic" -t epic
bd create "Subtask" --parent bd-42

# Discovered-from (found during work)
bd create "Found bug" --deps discovered-from:bd-42

# Related (soft link)
bd relate bd-1 bd-2

Dependency Types

Type	Description	Ready Queue Impact
blocks	Hard dependency	Yes - blocked items not ready
parent-child	Epic/subtask hierarchy	No
discovered-from	Tracks origin of discovery	No
related	Soft relationship	No

Hierarchical Issues

For large features, use hierarchical IDs:

# Create epic
bd create "Auth System" -t epic -p 1
# Returns: bd-a3f8e9

# Child tasks auto-number
bd create "Design login UI" --parent bd-a3f8e9     # bd-a3f8e9.1
bd create "Backend validation" --parent bd-a3f8e9  # bd-a3f8e9.2

# View hierarchy
bd dep tree bd-a3f8e9

Updating Issues

# Change status
bd update bd-42 --status in_progress

# Change priority
bd update bd-42 --priority 0

# Add labels
bd update bd-42 --add-label urgent

# Multiple changes
bd update bd-42 --status in_progress --priority 1 --add-label "in-review"

Closing Issues

# Simple close
bd close bd-42

# With reason
bd close bd-42 --reason "Implemented in PR #123"

# JSON output
bd close bd-42 --json

Searching and Filtering

# By status
bd list --status open
bd list --status in_progress

# By priority
bd list --priority 1
bd list --priority 0,1  # Multiple

# By type
bd list --type bug
bd list --type feature,task

# By label
bd list --label-any urgent,critical
bd list --label-all backend,security

# Combined filters
bd list --status open --priority 1 --type bug --json