Beadhive (bh)

bh is a single CLI for managing beads issue tracking across many repositories. Each repo is its own beads database (a hive) with a short, stable prefix; bh onboards them, keeps their labels consistent, runs bd/git across one or all of them, and aggregates every hive into one cross-repo view — even hives whose code isn't checked out.

It's a thin orchestrator over bd, git, git-workspace, dolt, and docker: bh encodes the conventions, the registry, validation, and routing. Config and runtime state live under ~/.beadhive/; no issue data lives there — each hive's issues live in its own Dolt DB under refs/dolt/data on that repo's own git remote.

bh is the Beadhive umbrella's workspace CLI — the integration-plane driver for AGF (Agentic Git Flow), the abstract, tracker-independent process. Beadflow is that process implemented on beads: this repo's concrete implementation, unchanged behavior under a naming layer. See docs/AGF.md for the process and docs/design/limn-naming-strategy-adr.md for the naming decision record.

This repo is the CLI's source (Python package beadhive on PyPI, command bh). For what Beadhive is conceptually, rather than how to drive it, see beadhive.ai.

Install

Agents: point your agent at INSTALL.md — the preferred install path. It carries a structured install: frontmatter block (the agent reads it, discloses the plan, and asks before each command) plus a prose fallback any agent or human can follow.

Doing it by hand? There are two routes, in this order.

Managed path (recommended)

bh doesn't work alone — it drives bd, dolt, gh and git-workspace. This is the only route that installs and version-pins all of them with it, from flake.lock:

nix profile add github:beadhive/beadhive/latest#default       # bd, dolt, gh, git-workspace, git, uv, just
uv tool install --force 'beadhive[otel]'                      # bh itself (uv came from the line above)
bh --version                                                  # must print the released version

--force and that third line are both load-bearing, not decoration: unforced, uv tool install no-ops on a machine that already has bh and still exits 0. Measured on macOS with 0.7.1 installed, it reported "Installed 2 executables: bh, bh-mcp" and bh --version still said 0.7.1. This step is done when the version is right, not when the install exits 0.

latest is a release channel branch, not a version: CI moves it onto each release's commit once that release publishes, so this line never carries a version and never needs a release-day edit. Don't shorten it to github:beadhive/beadhive#default — that resolves the default branch, which is not the latest release.

The one precondition is nix, which needs root — a system daemon, and an APFS volume on macOS. INSTALL.md carries the one-time installer, the ~130s / 2–3 GB cold cost, the platform limits (macOS: Apple Silicon only) and the nix ≥ 2.30 that nix profile add needs.

PyPI route (fallback, not recommended)

For machines where you can't install nix, or won't. It works, and it's genuinely one command — but it installs bh alone, leaving the other four tools to whatever the machine happens to have, including a bd you then install from HEAD by hand:

uv tool install --force 'beadhive[otel]'   # or: pipx install --force 'beadhive[otel]'
brew install beadhive/tap/beadhive         # Homebrew — slower, builds native deps from source
bh --version                               # same check, and for the same reason
bh setup check                             # reports which of the four tools you're missing

See INSTALL.md for what that leaves you to keep matched by hand, and for the Docker route.

First run — rung 1

One laptop, local-only. From a fresh install to a ready list:

bh config init                              # scaffold ~/.beadhive
bh mcp install                              # Claude Code: claude mcp add bh --scope user
bh hq init                                  # local-only HQ; no remote wired, deliberately
bh hive onboard <provider>/<org>/<repo>     # zero-footprint by default
bh work ready

Run bh setup guide to finish setup — a guided, probe-first walk from a bare install to a configured workspace. It covers the sequence above plus the parts that aren't one command (orgs, providers, git-workspace), checking each step's state before it acts, so it is also safe on a machine that is already half-configured. Reach for it if you installed via brew, pip or a copy-pasted command and never saw INSTALL.md.

What that costs: HQ is local — no backup, and no second machine yet. That's the posture, not an omission; wiring a remote is rung 2. See docs/ADOPTION.md for the four rungs, what each buys, and what staying on this one costs.

Agent harnesses

bh furnishes AGF seats for Claude Code (--claude) and OpenCode (--opencode) — pass either to bh hive onboard <provider>/<org>/<repo>. docs/AGF.md carries the per-harness support matrix, including what does and doesn't apply for codex. On Claude Code, the bh claude-plugin vends the seat agent defs and role skills:

claude plugin marketplace add beadhive/claude-plugin
claude plugin install bh@beadhive

Going further

One line each, and who it's for:

• docs/ADOPTION.md — it works; what's the next rung? The four rungs, what each buys, and what staying on yours costs.
• INSTALL.md — picking a route. Managed path, PyPI and Docker, and the tradeoffs between them.
• docs/ONBOARDING.md — fresh machine, step by step. Zero to a configured AGF workspace with registered hives.
• docs/UPGRADING.md — moving between versions, or between routes.
• docs/HQ.md — Factory HQ. What it is and what it stores.
• docs/HIVES.md and the multi-host ADR — more than one host. Hive kinds, leases, and host roles.
• beadhive.ai — what Beadhive is, conceptually, if you want the shape before the commands.
• docs/OVERVIEW.md — everything else. Design and reasoning, configuration, the full command surface, component by component.

Questions / feedback

General questions, feedback, and bug reports go through GitHub Issues. For security vulnerabilities, see SECURITY.md instead of filing a public issue.

Develop

# On a NEW machine you do not have `just` yet — it is pinned in .mise.toml, not the Brewfile:
brew bundle --file=Brewfile     # provides mise
mise exec -- just bootstrap     # mise installs the pinned just, then runs bootstrap

just bootstrap   # brew bundle + mise install + uv sync   (once per machine; needs just)
just install     # build + install this checkout → ~/.local/bin/bh
just lint        # ruff check
just fmt         # ruff format
just test        # pytest
just build       # wheel + sdist into dist/  (stamped local)