Beads Daemon Management

Overview

The Beads daemon (bd daemon) runs as a background process that watches for issue mutations and automatically syncs changes to/from JSONL files. This skill covers daemon lifecycle, log analysis, troubleshooting, and integration with git workflows.

Key Files:

• .beads/config.yaml — Daemon configuration
• .beads/daemon.log — Runtime logs
• .beads/daemon.pid — Process ID file
• .beads/daemon.sock — Unix socket for IPC
• .beads/issues.jsonl — Serialized issue state

Pattern 1: Daemon Lifecycle — START/STOP/STATUS

When: Managing the background sync process.

Starting the Daemon

# Start in background (default)
bd daemon --start

# Start in foreground (for debugging)
bd daemon --start --foreground

# Start with metrics endpoint
bd daemon --start --metrics

# Start with auto-commit on changes
bd daemon --start --auto-commit

# Start with auto-push (implies auto-commit)
bd daemon --start --auto-push

Checking Status

# Quick status check
bd daemon --status

# Health check (verifies socket responsiveness)
bd daemon --health

# Output examples:
# ✓ Daemon running (PID 12345)
# ✗ Daemon not running
# ⚠ Daemon unresponsive (stale socket)

Stopping the Daemon

# Graceful stop
bd daemon --stop

# Force stop (if graceful fails)
kill -9 $(cat .beads/daemon.pid)
rm .beads/daemon.sock .beads/daemon.pid

Restart Pattern

# Stop then start
bd daemon --stop && bd daemon --start

# Or with flags preserved
bd daemon --stop && bd daemon --start --auto-commit

Pattern 2: Configuration Options

When: Customizing daemon behavior via .beads/config.yaml.

Key Configuration Fields

# .beads/config.yaml

# Auto-start daemon when bd commands run
auto-start-daemon: true

# Debounce time before flushing changes to JSONL
flush-debounce: "5s"

# Custom sync branch (for multi-repo setups)
sync-branch: "beads-sync"

# Multi-repo configuration
multi-repo:
  enabled: false
  repos:
    - path: "../other-repo"
      sync-branch: "beads-sync"

Configuration Decision Tree

Need automatic sync?
│
├─ Yes, always
│  └─ auto-start-daemon: true
│
├─ Yes, with git integration
│  └─ --auto-commit or --auto-push flags
│
├─ No, manual control
│  └─ auto-start-daemon: false
│     (use bd sync --from-main manually)
│
└─ Cross-repo sync?
   └─ multi-repo.enabled: true
      (configure repos array)

Pattern 3: Log Analysis — MUTATION/EXPORT/IMPORT

When: Debugging sync issues or understanding daemon behavior.

Log Location

# View recent logs
tail -50 .beads/daemon.log

# Follow logs in real-time
tail -f .beads/daemon.log

# Search for specific patterns
grep "Export triggered" .beads/daemon.log

Log Entry Patterns

Example Log Sequence

[2025-12-19 20:37:53] Mutation detected: create tmnl-ahym
[2025-12-19 20:37:55] Export triggered by mutation events
[2025-12-19 20:37:55] Starting export...
[2025-12-19 20:37:55] Exported to JSONL
[2025-12-19 20:37:56] Import triggered by file change
[2025-12-19 20:37:56] Skipping auto-import: JSONL content unchanged

Interpretation: Issue created → daemon detected → exported to JSONL → detected own file change → correctly skipped re-import.

Pattern 4: Socket Recovery — STALE SOCKET/LOCK

When: Daemon appears stuck, commands hang, or status shows "unresponsive".

Symptoms

• bd commands hang indefinitely
• bd daemon --status shows running but --health fails
• bd daemon --start says "already running" but no process found

Diagnosis

# Check if process actually exists
ps aux | grep "bd daemon"

# Check PID file
cat .beads/daemon.pid
ps -p $(cat .beads/daemon.pid)

# Test socket responsiveness
bd daemon --health

Recovery Steps

# Step 1: Try graceful stop
bd daemon --stop

# Step 2: If that fails, force cleanup
rm -f .beads/daemon.sock .beads/daemon.pid

# Step 3: Verify cleanup
ls -la .beads/daemon.*
# Should show no .sock or .pid files

# Step 4: Restart fresh
bd daemon --start
bd daemon --status
# Should show: ✓ Daemon running (PID <new-pid>)

Prevention

• Don't kill terminal with daemon running without --stop
• Use --foreground during development for clean Ctrl+C handling
• Check bd daemon --status before assuming issues

Pattern 5: Git Workflow Integration

When: Syncing beads changes across branches or with remote.

Session Start (Ephemeral Branch)

# Ensure daemon is running
bd daemon --status || bd daemon --start

# Pull latest beads from main
bd sync --from-main

Session End (Ephemeral Branch)

# Sync beads changes to main
bd sync --from-main  # Get any updates first

# Commit code changes
git add .
git commit -m "feat: implement feature X"

# Merge to main (local)
git checkout main
git merge feature-branch
git checkout feature-branch

Auto-Commit Workflow

# Start daemon with auto-commit
bd daemon --start --auto-commit

# Now every mutation triggers:
# 1. Export to JSONL
# 2. git add .beads/issues.jsonl
# 3. git commit -m "beads: sync <issue-id>"

Auto-Push Workflow (CI/CD)

# For CI pipelines or shared environments
bd daemon --start --auto-push

# Triggers on mutation:
# 1. Export to JSONL
# 2. git add + commit
# 3. git push

Pattern 6: Metrics Endpoint

When: Monitoring daemon health in dashboards or scripts.

Enable Metrics

bd daemon --start --metrics
# Starts HTTP endpoint on localhost:9090/metrics (default)

Available Metrics

# Prometheus format
beads_mutations_total{type="create"} 42
beads_mutations_total{type="update"} 156
beads_mutations_total{type="close"} 23
beads_exports_total 89
beads_imports_total 12
beads_daemon_uptime_seconds 3600
beads_last_export_timestamp 1703012400
beads_last_import_timestamp 1703012350

Scrape Example

curl -s localhost:9090/metrics | grep beads_

Anti-Patterns

1. Killing Daemon Without Stop

# WRONG — Leaves stale socket/pid
kill -9 $(cat .beads/daemon.pid)
# Commands will hang on stale socket

# CORRECT — Graceful stop cleans up
bd daemon --stop

2. Running Multiple Daemons

# WRONG — Race conditions, duplicate exports
bd daemon --start  # First
bd daemon --start  # Second (should fail, but if socket stale...)

# CORRECT — Check status first
bd daemon --status || bd daemon --start

3. Ignoring Import Loops

# WRONG — Manual JSONL edit without daemon awareness
echo '{"id":"test"}' >> .beads/issues.jsonl
# Daemon imports, exports, imports, exports...

# CORRECT — Use bd commands
bd create --title="Test" --type=task
# Daemon handles export, skips self-import

4. Forgetting Sync on Branch Switch

# WRONG — Switch branch without sync
git checkout main
# Beads state may be stale or conflict

# CORRECT — Sync before/after switch
bd sync --from-main
git checkout main
git merge feature-branch

Decision Tree: Daemon Troubleshooting

Daemon issues?
│
├─ Commands hang
│  ├─ Check: bd daemon --health
│  ├─ Health OK? → Issue is elsewhere
│  └─ Health fails? → Socket recovery (Pattern 4)
│
├─ Changes not syncing
│  ├─ Check: tail .beads/daemon.log
│  ├─ No recent entries? → Daemon not running
│  ├─ Errors in log? → Address specific error
│  └─ "Skipping import"? → Normal (no actual changes)
│
├─ Duplicate exports
│  ├─ Check: ps aux | grep "bd daemon"
│  ├─ Multiple processes? → Kill all, clean restart
│  └─ Single process? → Check flush-debounce timing
│
└─ Git conflicts on JSONL
   ├─ Stop daemon first
   ├─ Resolve conflict manually
   ├─ bd sync --from-main
   └─ Restart daemon

CLI Reference

bd daemon [flags]

FLAGS:
  --start           Start the daemon
  --stop            Stop the daemon
  --status          Show daemon status
  --health          Check daemon health (socket test)
  --foreground      Run in foreground (no detach)
  --auto-commit     Auto-commit JSONL changes
  --auto-push       Auto-push after commit (implies --auto-commit)
  --interval <dur>  Polling interval (default: 1s)
  --local           Local mode (no remote sync)
  --metrics         Enable metrics endpoint

EXAMPLES:
  bd daemon --start                    # Background start
  bd daemon --start --foreground       # Foreground (Ctrl+C to stop)
  bd daemon --stop                     # Graceful stop
  bd daemon --status                   # Check if running
  bd daemon --health                   # Verify responsiveness
  bd daemon --start --auto-commit      # Auto-commit on changes

File Locations Summary

Integration Points

• beads-issue-management — Creating/updating issues that daemon syncs
• beads-session-workflow — Session start/end protocols using sync
• beads-dependency-tracking — Dependency changes trigger daemon export