By name: tbd description: >- Git-native issue tracking (beads), coding guidelines, knowledge injection, and spec-driven planning for AI agents. Drop-in replacement for bd/Beads with simpler architecture.
Use for: tracking issues/beads with dependencies, creating bugs/features/tasks, planning specs, implementing features from specs, code reviews, committing code, creating PRs, loading coding guidelines (TypeScript, Python, TDD, golden testing, Convex, monorepo patterns), code cleanup, research briefs, architecture docs, agent handoffs, and checking out third-party library source code.
Invoke when user mentions: tbd, beads, bd, shortcuts, issues, bugs, tasks, features, epics, todo, tracking, specs, planning, implementation, validation, guidelines, templates, commit, PR, pull request, code review, testing, TDD, test-driven, golden testing, snapshot testing, TypeScript, Python, Convex, monorepo, cleanup, dead code, refactor, handoff, research, architecture, labels, search, checkout library, source code review, or any workflow shortcut. allowed-tools: Bash(tbd:*), Read, Write
tbd helps humans and agents ship code with greater speed, quality, and discipline.
- Beads: Git-native issue tracking (tasks, bugs, features).
Never lose work across sessions.
Drop-in replacement for
bd. - Spec-Driven Workflows: Plan features → break into beads → implement systematically.
- Knowledge Injection: 25+ engineering guidelines (TypeScript, Python, TDD, testing, Convex, monorepos) available on demand.
- Shortcuts: Reusable instruction templates for common workflows (code review, commits, PRs, cleanup, handoffs).
Installation
npm install -g get-tbd@latest # Install or upgrade the CLI (same command for both)
tbd setup --auto --prefix=<name> # Fresh project (--prefix is REQUIRED: 2-8 alphabetic chars recommended. ALWAYS ASK THE USER FOR THE PREFIX; do not guess it)
tbd setup --auto # Existing tbd project — also the upgrade step (applies any format migration; commit the diff it reports)
tbd setup --from-beads # Migration from .beads/ if `bd` has been used
If tbd refuses with “This repository requires a newer version of tbd”, run the two install/upgrade commands above.
Routine Commands
tbd --help # Command reference
tbd status # Status
tbd doctor # If there are problems
tbd setup --auto # Run any time to refresh setup
tbd prime # Restore full context on tbd after compaction
CRITICAL: You Operate tbd, the User Doesn’t
You are the tbd operator: Users talk naturally; you translate their requests to tbd actions. DO NOT tell users to run tbd commands. That’s your job.
WRONG: “Run
tbd createto track this bug”RIGHT: (you run
tbd createyourself and tell the user it’s tracked)
Welcoming a user: When users ask “what is tbd?”
or want help → run tbd shortcut welcome-user
User Request → Agent Action
| User Says | You (the Agent) Run |
|---|---|
| Issues/Beads | |
| “There’s a bug where …” | tbd create "..." --type=bug |
| “Create a task/feature for …” | tbd create "..." --type=task or --type=feature |
| “Let’s work on issues/beads” | tbd ready |
| “Show me issue X” | tbd show <id> |
| “Close this issue” | tbd close <id> |
| “Search issues for X” | tbd search "X" |
| “Add label X to issue” | tbd label add <id> <label> |
| “What issues are stale?” | tbd stale |
| Planning & Specs | |
| “Plan a new feature” / “Create a spec” | tbd shortcut new-plan-spec |
| “Break spec into beads” | tbd shortcut plan-implementation-with-beads |
| “Implement these beads” | tbd shortcut implement-beads |
| Code Review & Commits | |
| “Review this code” / “Code review” | tbd shortcut review-code |
| “Review this PR” | tbd shortcut review-github-pr |
| “Commit this” / “Use the commit shortcut” | tbd shortcut code-review-and-commit |
| “Create a PR” / “File a PR” | tbd shortcut create-or-update-pr-simple |
| “Merge main into my branch” | tbd shortcut merge-upstream |
| Guidelines & Knowledge | |
| (any engineering work) | Load the General engineering group first (see below) |
| “Use TypeScript best practices” | tbd guidelines typescript-rules |
| “Use Python best practices” | tbd guidelines python-rules |
| “Build a TypeScript CLI” | tbd guidelines typescript-cli-tool-rules |
| “Improve monorepo setup” | tbd guidelines pnpm-monorepo-patterns or bun-monorepo-patterns |
| “Add golden/e2e testing” | tbd guidelines golden-testing-guidelines |
| “Use TDD” / “Test-driven development” | tbd guidelines general-tdd-guidelines |
| “Convex best practices” | tbd guidelines convex-rules |
| Documentation | |
| “Research this topic” | tbd shortcut new-research-brief |
| “Document architecture” | tbd shortcut new-architecture-doc |
| “What guidelines/docs are there?” | tbd docs list |
| “Make the guidelines visible / customize doc X” | tbd docs fork --category=general --category=<lang> (recommended: general + the repo’s languages), or tbd docs fork <name> / --all; then edit in docs/tbd/ |
| “Update the guidelines to the latest” | tbd docs update; on conflicts ask the user, then --merge or --keep-ours |
| “I deleted a forked doc file” | tbd docs status shows it missing; restore with tbd docs fork <name> --force or finalize with tbd docs unfork <name> |
| Cleanup & Maintenance | |
| “Clean up this code” / “Remove dead code” | tbd shortcut code-cleanup-all |
| “Fix repository problems” | tbd doctor --fix |
| Sessions & Handoffs | |
| “Hand off to another agent” | tbd shortcut agent-handoff |
| “Check out this library’s source” | tbd shortcut checkout-third-party-repo |
| (your choice whenever appropriate) | tbd list, tbd dep add, tbd close, tbd sync, etc. |
Loading guidelines for engineering work: Before writing or reviewing code, load the
General engineering group—the general-* rules plus error-handling-rules—since
these apply to all code regardless of language.
Then load the group for the language or framework in use (TypeScript, Python, Convex,
etc.). Run tbd guidelines --list to see all available guidelines.
Note: Never gitignore .tbd/workspaces/; the outbox must be committed to your
working branch. See tbd guidelines tbd-sync-troubleshooting for details.
CRITICAL: Session Closing Protocol
Before saying “done”, you MUST complete this checklist:
[ ] 1. git add + git commit
[ ] 2. git push
[ ] 3. gh pr checks <PR> --watch 2>&1 (IMPORTANT: WAIT for final summary, do NOT tell user it is done until you confirm it passes CI!)
[ ] 4. tbd close/update <id> for all beads worked on
[ ] 5. tbd sync
[ ] 6. CONFIRM CI passed (if failed: fix, run tests, re-push, restart from step 3)
Work is not done until pushed, CI passes, and tbd is synced.
Bead Tracking Rules
- Track all task work not done immediately as beads (discovered work, TODOs, multi-session work)
- When in doubt, create a bead
- Check
tbd readywhen not given specific directions - Always close/update beads and run
tbd syncat session end
Commands
Finding Work
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
tbd ready |
Beads ready to work (no blockers) |
tbd list --status open |
All open beads |
tbd list --status in_progress |
Your active work |
tbd show <id> |
Bead details with dependencies |
Creating & Updating
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
tbd create "title" --type=bug --priority=1 |
New bead; run tbd create --help for all types and priorities (P0-P4, not “high/medium/low”) |
tbd update <id> --status in_progress |
Claim work |
tbd close <id> [--reason "..."] |
Mark complete |
Dependencies & Sync
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
tbd dep add <bead> <depends-on> |
Add dependency |
tbd blocked |
Show blocked beads |
tbd sync |
Sync with git remote (run at session end) |
tbd stats |
Project statistics |
tbd doctor |
Check for problems |
tbd doctor --fix |
Auto-fix repository problems |
Labels & Search
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
tbd search <query> |
Search issues by text |
tbd label add <id> <label> |
Add label to issue |
tbd label remove <id> <label> |
Remove label from issue |
tbd label list |
List all labels in use |
tbd stale |
List issues not updated recently |
Documentation
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
tbd shortcut <name> |
Run a shortcut |
tbd shortcut --list |
List shortcuts |
tbd guidelines <name> |
Load coding guidelines |
tbd guidelines --list |
List guidelines |
tbd template <name> |
Output a template |
tbd docs / tbd docs list |
Managed-docs overview / cross-kind list with state markers |
tbd docs fork/unfork/update <name> |
Fork docs into docs/tbd/, return to upstream, pull upstream updates |
Quick Reference
- Priority: P0=critical, P1=high, P2=medium (default), P3=low, P4=backlog
- Types: issues default to
task; runtbd create --helpfor the valid types - Status: open, in_progress, closed
- JSON output: Add
--jsonto any command