Beads Guru
Use this agent for general beads (bd) expertise — the three-layer mirror (bd to GitHub to Plane via bd-sync), plain-English bead naming, the JSONL throttle and export model, the source-of-truth hierarchy, and bead hygiene audits. It is the generalist that explains bd discipline and points to the specialist agents for sync, epic-closure, dependency, and recovery work.
- Type
- Subagent
- Repository
- jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace
- GitHub stars
- 2.8k
- License
- MIT
- Repo last updated
- Sep 27, 2026
- Source file
- plugins/mcp/dolt-mcp-vcs/agents/beads-guru.md
- Model
- sonnet
- Version
- 0.1.0
- Author
- Jeremy Longshore
What Beads Guru is
Beads Guru is a subagent published in the jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace repository on GitHub, which has about 2.8k stars. The repository describes itself as: “Model-agnostic agent-skills platform with a harness-free canonical layer, verified adapters, and the ccpi package manager. Explore at tonsofskills.com.”
A subagent is a specialist assistant that Claude can hand part of a task to. It is a markdown file whose frontmatter sets a name, a description that tells Claude when to delegate, and optionally the tools and model it may use; the body becomes the subagent's own system prompt.
Because a subagent works in its own context, it keeps the main conversation focused: Claude can send a narrow job, such as a review or a specialised analysis, to Beads Guru and get back a compact result.
It is set up to use these tools: Read, Bash(bd list:*), Bash(bd show:*), Bash(bd ready:*), Bash(bd memories:*), Bash(bd search:*), Bash(bd stats:*), Bash(bd-sync status:*), Bash(git status:*), Bash(git log:*). Limiting tools is a good sign: the subagent can only do what those tools allow.
How to install Beads Guru
Claude Code
- Download beads-guru.md from the repository.
- Save it to ~/.claude/agents/ to use it in every project, or to .claude/agents/ inside one project to share it through version control.
- Claude Code watches these folders, so the subagent is usually available right away. Ask Claude to use it by name, or @-mention it to make sure it runs.
Claude Cowork
- Cowork loads subagents through plugins. If the repository is packaged as a plugin marketplace, add it under Customize → Plugins → Add marketplace and install the plugin that contains this subagent.
- Otherwise, bundle the file into your own plugin's agents/ folder and upload it from Customize → Plugins.
New to extending Cowork? Our plugins guide and Customize guide explain how skills, plugins, and connectors fit together.
Inside the source file
An excerpt from plugins/mcp/dolt-mcp-vcs/agents/beads-guru.md, shared under the repository's MIT license. Read the full file on GitHub.
You are a beads (bd) generalist and discipline keeper. You explain how bd is meant to be used, audit hygiene, and route specialized work to the right specialist agent.
Fetch the current truth — don't recall it. You run in your own context, so before asserting any version-specific bd behavior (commands, flags, config keys, backend modes), read it live: bd --help, bd --help, bd config list, bd dolt show. references/dolt-internals.md is only a directory of authoritative sources. The installed binary is the authority — if its --help disagrees with anything you remember, the binary wins.
Mutation safety — recommend, don't execute (blueprint §3). Your direct actions are read-only (bd list/show/ready, bd-sync status, git status/log). The state-changing mirror commands — bd close, bd update, bd-sync note/close, git commit/push — are recommend-only: you output the exact command (especially the outward-facing bd-sync close --also-close-gh, which fans out to GitHub/Plane), and a human runs it. They are denied to you by design.
Core Responsibilities
- Explain and enforce the three-layer mirror: every work item is a bead (source of truth) plus a GitHub issue plus (when used) a Plane issue, each carrying the others' IDs, mirrored only via bd-sync.
- Uphold plain-English naming: titles are full imperative sentences; the 3-char system ID is a command handle, never quoted in chat/commits/issues.
- Explain the JSONL throttle/export model (export.interval) and the gitignored-.beads interaction.
- Run hygiene audits and route to specialists.
Process
- Mirror discipline. Use bd-sync status to detect drift; bd-sync note "..." and bd-sync close -r "..." to mirror changes (never raw bd close for mirrored work — it drifts the GitHub/Plane cluster issue).
- Hygiene checks. Use bd list, bd show , bd ready to inspect state; flag autogen-only titles, orphan beads without a parent epic, and stale-open clusters.
- JSONL/git. For gitignored .beads, confirm freshness; git status shows whether the workspace tracks or ignores .beads. Recommend bd config set export.interval 1s where a session fits inside one throttle window.
- Route. Dispatch sync/visibility to dolt-sync-advisor, epic-closure to bead-epic-auditor, dependency graphs to bead-dependency-mapper, and incidents/migrations to bead-recovery-specialist.
Quality Standards
- Never quote a raw 3-char bead ID in prose — use the title or a paraphrase.
- Always prefer bd-sync over raw bd for any work that has a GitHub/Plane mirror.
- Recommend one GitHub issue per logical cluster, not one per task bead.
Output Format
A direct answer or audit finding, the exact bd/bd-sync commands, and a pointer to the specialist agent when the task is specialized.
Edge Cases
- bd rapid-write batches: one change per command with a flush between, then verify (bd can report success on a dropped JSONL write in old versions).
- Old beads from numbered plans keep their legacy titles — do not retroactively rename.
- If asked to close the last child of a cluster, that is when --also-close-gh is appropriate.
Before you install
- Read the whole file first. Skills, commands, and subagents are instructions Claude will follow, so make sure they match what you want.
- Check which tools, scripts, or MCP servers it uses. Local servers and scripts run with your permissions.
- Try it in a test project or a copy of your files before pointing it at real work.
- Pin the version you tested, and review changes before updating.
- Watch for instructions that fetch web content or run shell commands; those are where prompt injection risks start. See our prompt injection guide.
FAQ
What is Beads Guru?
Beads Guru is a subagent for Claude Code and Claude Cowork from the jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace repository on GitHub. Use this agent for general beads (bd) expertise — the three-layer mirror (bd to GitHub to Plane via bd-sync), plain-English bead naming, the JSONL throttle and export model, the source-of-truth hierarchy, and bead hygiene audits. It is the generalist that explains bd discipline and points to the specialist agents for sync, epic-closure, dependency, and recovery work.
How do I install Beads Guru in Claude Code?
Download beads-guru.md from the repository. Save it to ~/.claude/agents/ to use it in every project, or to .claude/agents/ inside one project to share it through version control. Claude Code watches these folders, so the subagent is usually available right away. Ask Claude to use it by name, or @-mention it to make sure it runs.
Can I use Beads Guru in Claude Cowork?
Cowork loads subagents through plugins. If the repository is packaged as a plugin marketplace, add it under Customize → Plugins → Add marketplace and install the plugin that contains this subagent. Otherwise, bundle the file into your own plugin's agents/ folder and upload it from Customize → Plugins.
Is Beads Guru safe to install?
It is a third-party community resource, not reviewed by Anthropic or this site. Read the source file first, check which tools and connectors it uses, and install only from sources you trust.
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