gastownhall__beads/docs/cli-reference/dep.md

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bd dep	Manage dependencies between issues.

{/* AUTO-GENERATED: do not edit manually */}

Generated from bd help --doc dep.

Manage dependencies between issues.

When called with an issue ID and --blocks flag, creates a blocking dependency: bd dep <blocker-id> --blocks <blocked-id>

This is equivalent to: bd dep add <blocked-id> <blocker-id>

Examples: bd dep bd-xyz --blocks bd-abc # bd-xyz blocks bd-abc bd dep add bd-abc bd-xyz # Same as above (bd-abc depends on bd-xyz)

bd dep [issue-id] [flags]

Flags:

  -b, --blocks string    Issue ID that this issue blocks (shorthand for: bd dep add <blocked> <blocker>)
      --no-cycle-check   Skip per-edge cycle checks for speed (bulk wiring); bulk --file adds still run one final whole-graph check before commit

bd dep add

Add a dependency between two issues.

The depends-on-id can be provided as:

• A positional argument: bd dep add issue-123 issue-456
• A flag: bd dep add issue-123 --blocked-by issue-456
• A flag: bd dep add issue-123 --depends-on issue-456

The --blocked-by and --depends-on flags are aliases and both mean "issue-123 depends on (is blocked by) the specified issue."

The depends-on-id can be:

• A local issue ID (e.g., bd-xyz)
• An external reference: external:<project>:<capability>

For bulk wiring, pass newline-delimited JSON with --file. Each line must be an object with "from" and "to" fields, and may include "type". The aliases "issue_id" and "depends_on_id" are also accepted. Use --file - to read stdin.

External references are stored as-is and resolved at query time using the external_projects config. They block the issue until the capability is "shipped" in the target project.

Examples: bd dep add bd-42 bd-41 # Positional args bd dep add bd-42 --blocked-by bd-41 # Flag syntax (same effect) bd dep add bd-42 --depends-on bd-41 # Alias (same effect) bd dep add gt-xyz external:beads:mol-run-assignee # Cross-project dependency bd dep add bd-42 bd-41 --no-cycle-check # Skip cycle check (bulk wiring) bd dep add --file deps.jsonl # Bulk JSONL: {"from":"bd-42","to":"bd-41"}

bd dep add [issue-id] [depends-on-id] [flags]

Flags:

      --blocked-by string   Issue ID that blocks the first issue (alternative to positional arg)
      --depends-on string   Issue ID that the first issue depends on (alias for --blocked-by)
      --file string         Read dependency edges from JSONL file, or '-' for stdin
      --no-cycle-check      Skip per-edge cycle checks for speed (bulk wiring); bulk --file adds still run one final whole-graph check before commit
  -t, --type string         Dependency type (blocks|tracks|related|parent-child|discovered-from|until|caused-by|validates|relates-to|supersedes) (default "blocks")

bd dep cycles

Detect dependency cycles

bd dep cycles [flags]

bd dep list

List dependencies or dependents of one or more issues with optional type filtering.

By default shows dependencies (what issues depend on). Use --direction to control:

• down: Show dependencies (what this issue depends on) - default
• up: Show dependents (what depends on this issue)

Multiple IDs can be provided for batch dep listing. With --json, the output is a flat array of dependency records across all requested issues.

Use --type to filter by dependency type (e.g., tracks, blocks, parent-child).

Examples: bd dep list gt-abc # Show what gt-abc depends on bd dep list gt-abc gt-def # Batch: deps for both issues bd dep list gt-abc --direction=up # Show what depends on gt-abc bd dep list gt-abc --direction=up -t tracks # Show what tracks gt-abc (convoy tracking)

bd dep list [issue-id...] [flags]

Flags:

      --direction string   Direction: 'down' (dependencies), 'up' (dependents) (default "down")
  -t, --type string        Filter by dependency type (e.g., tracks, blocks, parent-child)

bd dep relate

Create a loose 'see also' relationship between two issues.

The relates_to link is bidirectional - both issues will reference each other. This enables knowledge graph connections without blocking or hierarchy.

Examples: bd relate bd-abc bd-xyz # Link two related issues bd relate bd-123 bd-456 # Create see-also connection

bd dep relate <id1> <id2> [flags]

bd dep remove

Remove a dependency

bd dep remove [issue-id] [depends-on-id] [flags]

Aliases: rm

bd dep tree

Show dependency tree rooted at the given issue.

By default, shows dependencies (what blocks this issue). Use --direction to control:

• down: Show dependencies (what blocks this issue) - default
• up: Show dependents (what this issue blocks)
• both: Show full graph in both directions

Examples: bd dep tree gt-0iqq # Show what blocks gt-0iqq bd dep tree gt-0iqq --direction=up # Show what gt-0iqq blocks bd dep tree gt-0iqq --status=open # Only show open issues bd dep tree gt-0iqq --depth=3 # Limit to 3 levels deep

bd dep tree [issue-id] [flags]

Flags:

      --direction string   Tree direction: 'down' (dependencies), 'up' (dependents), or 'both'
      --format string      Output format: 'mermaid' for Mermaid.js flowchart
  -d, --max-depth int      Maximum tree depth to display (safety limit) (default 50)
      --reverse            Show dependent tree (deprecated: use --direction=up)
      --show-all-paths     Show all paths to nodes (no deduplication for diamond dependencies)
      --status string      Filter to only show issues with this status (open, in_progress, blocked, deferred, closed)

bd dep unrelate

Remove a relates_to relationship between two issues.

Removes the link in both directions.

Example: bd unrelate bd-abc bd-xyz

bd dep unrelate <id1> <id2> [flags]