Agent skill

Beads

A skill your agent uses for authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking, issue dependencies, blocker management, multi-session handoff, or shared agent memory.

GPL-3.0Auto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install Beads

skills CLI

$ npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install matthiasn/lotti beads --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/beads .claude/skills/beads && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "beads" agent skill from https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads into .claude/skills/beads/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beads", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install matthiasn/lotti beads --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/beads .agents/skills/beads && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "beads" agent skill from https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads into .agents/skills/beads/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beads", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install matthiasn/lotti beads --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/beads .cursor/skills/beads && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "beads" agent skill from https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads into .cursor/skills/beads/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beads", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git --path .agents/skills/beads

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install matthiasn/lotti beads --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/beads .gemini/skills/beads && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "beads" agent skill from https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads into .gemini/skills/beads/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beads", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install matthiasn/lotti beads

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/beads .github/skills/beads && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "beads" agent skill from https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads into .github/skills/beads/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beads", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install matthiasn/lotti beads --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/beads .opencode/skills/beads && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "beads" agent skill from https://github.com/matthiasn/lotti/tree/main/.agents/skills/beads into .opencode/skills/beads/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beads", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: beads
GitHub stars: 1.2k
Token cost: ~589 tokens
SKILL.md length: 247 words
Files: 2
Skills in repo: 10
Repo updated: Oct 9, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: GPL-3.0

At a glance

A skill your agent uses for authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking, issue dependencies, blocker management, multi-session handoff, or shared agent memory.

Works in 6 steps: Pull and find work → Inspect before editing → Claim work atomically → …
Authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking
SKILL.md covers First Step, Core CLI Workflow, What Belongs In Beads and Rules
Calls git

What it does

Beads is an agent skill from matthiasn/lotti. Use for authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking, issue dependencies, blocker management, multi-session handoff, or shared agent memory. Public contributors use GitHub Issues instead.

Its SKILL.md is about 590 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files (for example `agents/openai.yaml`).

It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Task management, Session handoff and Agent memory. It works with GitHub. The repository describes itself as: A private logbook with a staff of personal AI assistants. Agents read what you record and propose what to do next — you approve the changes. End-to-end encrypted sync between… The licence is GPL-3.0.

When your agent uses it

Authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking
Issue dependencies
Blocker management
Multi-session handoff

Example prompts

“/beads”

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Pull and find work
Inspect before editing
Claim work atomically
Create durable follow-up work when implementation reveals new tasks
Close completed work
With explicit authority, publish durable changes

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit aba2d50. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- git
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Beads loads about 589 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 56 tokens; SKILL.md has 247 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~56
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~589

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from matthiasn/lotti at commit aba2d50, republished under its GPL-3.0 licence (© matthiasn). 247 words, ~589 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/beads/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: beads
description: Use for authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking, issue dependencies, blocker management, multi-session handoff, or shared agent memory. Public contributors use GitHub Issues instead.

Beads

Use Beads as the private durable task system for authorized Lotti maintainers. Public bugs, feature requests, and contributor coordination stay in GitHub Issues. Local plans remain useful for the current turn.

First Step

First confirm that the private tracker is available:

bash

bd --readonly list --json

If no database exists and the current user is an authorized maintainer, run:

bash

chmod 700 .beads
git config beads.role maintainer
bd bootstrap

If access is denied, do not initialize a competing database. Use GitHub Issues and PR discussion instead.

Run bd prime manually when workflow context is needed. Do not install Git, Codex, or Claude hooks for Beads in this repository.

Core CLI Workflow

Pull and find work:

bash

bd dolt pull
bd ready
bd list --status=open
bd list --status=in_progress

Inspect before editing:

bash

bd show <id>

Claim work atomically:

bash

bd update <id> --claim

Create durable follow-up work when implementation reveals new tasks:

bash

bd create "Short title" --description="Why this exists and what needs to be done" --type=task --priority=2

Close completed work:

bash

bd close <id> --reason="Completed"

With explicit authority, publish durable changes:

bash

bd dolt push

What Belongs In Beads

Maintainers use Beads for:

shared project tasks
blockers and dependencies
discovered follow-up work
work that must survive thread reset, compaction, or handoff
status that another person or agent should be able to resume

Public-facing context must still be copied into GitHub issues, PR descriptions, or review discussion so contributors never need private tracker access.

Rules

Do not use bd edit; it opens an interactive editor. Use bd update flags instead.
Prefer --json when parsing bd output programmatically.
Do not auto-close or mutate tasks unless the work is actually complete.
Do not store credentials, private user data, or other secrets in Beads.
Do not commit, push Git, or sync Dolt without explicit authority.

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file in .agents/skills/beads of matthiasn/lotti.

SKILL.md
agents/openai.yaml

Open the folder on GitHubat commit aba2d50

Compare with similar skills

Beads next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Beads compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Beads this skillmatthiasn/lotti	1.2k	—	~589	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	today
Beads Task Memorygastownhall/beads	28k	—	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Session Handoff Writercodewhale-hq/Codewhale	41k	—	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Gh Issuesserejaris/personal-corp-os	229	—	~1.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	2 days ago
Swarm Coordinationdralgorhythm/claude-agentic-framework	125	—	~1.6k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	2 mo ago
Session History Searchslopus/happy	24k	—	~3.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today

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Works with

GitHub

Questions about Beads

What does Beads do?

A skill your agent uses for authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking, issue dependencies, blocker management, multi-session handoff, or shared agent memory. Beads is an agent skill from matthiasn/lotti. Use for authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking, issue dependencies, blocker management, multi-session handoff, or shared agent memory.

When should I use Beads?

Beads fits situations like: authorized Lotti maintainer work that needs private durable task tracking; issue dependencies; blocker management; multi-session handoff.

How do I install Beads in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/beads in matthiasn/lotti) into .claude/skills/beads in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Beads in Codex?

Run `npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/beads in matthiasn/lotti) into .agents/skills/beads in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Beads in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add matthiasn/lotti --skill beads -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/beads, .gemini/skills/beads, .github/skills/beads and .opencode/skills/beads in your project.

What does Beads need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Beads needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git).

Does Beads access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Beads safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Beads use?

Beads is published under the GPL-3.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Beads use?

About 589 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Beads?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Beads: Beads Task Memory (gastownhall/beads, 28k stars), Session Handoff Writer (codewhale-hq/Codewhale, 41k stars), Gh Issues (serejaris/personal-corp-os, 229 stars) and Swarm Coordination (dralgorhythm/claude-agentic-framework, 125 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Beads?

matthiasn (a GitHub user) maintains it in matthiasn/lotti, which has 1,199 GitHub stars. The repository holds 10 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

Source: matthiasn/lotti on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Beads

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Beads

First Step

Core CLI Workflow

What Belongs In Beads

Rules

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from matthiasn/lotti

Related

Questions about Beads