by steveyegge
Beads — a drop-in memory upgrade for your coding agent that boosts context, speed, and reliability with zero friction.
Provides a distributed, git-backed issue tracker that gives AI agents persistent structured memory for managing complex coding tasks over time.
Beads is an official MCP server published by steveyegge that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Beads — a drop-in memory upgrade for your coding agent that boosts context, speed, and reliability with zero friction. It is categorized under developer tools, productivity.
You can install Beads in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
MIT
Beads is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
Add new capabilities to Claude beyond text generation
Example
Access external data sources, execute code, interact with tools and services
Transform Claude from chatbot to action-taking agent
Provide Claude with access to relevant context and data
Example
Load project documentation, access knowledge bases, query databases
Get more accurate, context-aware responses
Automate multi-step workflows combining AI and external tools
Example
Research → Summarize → Create document → Send notification
Complete complex tasks end-to-end without manual steps
Share your MCP server with the developer community
I recommend Beads for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
According to our notes, Beads benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
Beads reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
Beads is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.
I recommend Beads for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
Beads reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
We wired Beads into a staging workspace; the listing’s GitHub and npm pointers saved time versus hunting across READMEs.
Beads is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.
We wired Beads into a staging workspace; the listing’s GitHub and npm pointers saved time versus hunting across READMEs.
Strong directory entry: Beads surfaces stars and publisher context so we could sanity-check maintenance before adopting.
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Distributed, git-backed graph issue tracker for AI agents.
Platforms: macOS, Linux, Windows, FreeBSD
Beads provides a persistent, structured memory for coding agents. It replaces messy markdown plans with a dependency-aware graph, allowing agents to handle long-horizon tasks without losing context.
# Install beads CLI (system-wide - don't clone this repo into your project)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveyegge/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
# Initialize in YOUR project
cd your-project
bd init
# Tell your agent
echo "Use 'bd' for task tracking" >> AGENTS.md
Note: Beads is a CLI tool you install once and use everywhere. You don't need to clone this repository into your project.
bd-a1b2) prevent merge collisions in multi-agent/multi-branch workflows.--thread), ephemeral lifecycle, and mail delegation.relates_to, duplicates, supersedes, and replies_to for knowledge graphs.| Command | Action |
|---|---|
bd ready | List tasks with no open blockers. |
bd create "Title" -p 0 | Create a P0 task. |
bd update <id> --claim | Atomically claim a task (sets assignee + in_progress). |
bd dep add <child> <parent> | Link tasks (blocks, related, parent-child). |
bd show <id> | View task details and audit trail. |
Beads supports hierarchical IDs for epics:
bd-a3f8 (Epic)bd-a3f8.1 (Task)bd-a3f8.1.1 (Sub-task)Stealth Mode: Run bd init --stealth to use Beads locally without committing files to the main repo. Perfect for personal use on shared projects.
Contributor vs Maintainer: When working on open-source projects:
bd init --contributor to route planning issues to a separate repo (e.g., ~/.beads-planning). Keeps experimental work out of PRs.git config beads.role maintainer if using GitHub HTTPS without credentials but you have write access.npm install -g @beads/bdbrew install beadsgo install github.com/steveyegge/beads/cmd/bd@latestRequirements: Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, or Windows.
See docs/COMMUNITY_TOOLS.md for a curated list of community-built UIs, extensions, and integrations—including terminal interfaces, web UIs, editor extensions, and native apps.
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
15-60 minutes depending on server complexity
Steps
Troubleshooting
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
Architecture
Model Context Protocol standardizes how AI hosts (Claude, Cursor) communicate with external tools and data sources through server implementations.
Protocols
Compatibility
✓ Use when
Use when you need Claude to access external data, execute actions, or integrate with tools. Best for extending AI capabilities beyond conversation.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid when native integrations exist (use official APIs directly), for real-time critical systems, or when security/compliance requires zero external dependencies.
