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IDE Setup

website/docs/getting-started/ide-setup.md

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IDE Setup for AI Agents

Configure your IDE for optimal beads integration.

Claude Code

The recommended approach for Claude Code:

bash
# Setup Claude Code integration
bd setup claude

This installs:

  • SessionStart hook - Runs bd prime when Claude Code starts
  • PreCompact hook - Ensures bd dolt push before context compaction

How it works:

  1. SessionStart hook runs bd prime automatically
  2. bd prime injects ~1-2k tokens of workflow context
  3. You use bd CLI commands directly
  4. Git hooks auto-sync the database

Verify installation:

bash
bd setup claude --check

Manual Setup

If you prefer manual configuration, add to your Claude Code hooks:

json
{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": ["bd prime"],
    "PreCompact": ["bd dolt push"]
  }
}

Cursor IDE

bash
# Setup Cursor integration
bd setup cursor

This creates .cursor/rules/beads.mdc with beads-aware rules.

Verify:

bash
bd setup cursor --check

Aider

bash
# Setup Aider integration
bd setup aider

This creates/updates .aider.conf.yml with beads context.

Verify:

bash
bd setup aider --check

GitHub Copilot

For VS Code with GitHub Copilot, use the MCP server:

bash
# Install MCP server
uv tool install beads-mcp

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your project:

json
{
  "servers": {
    "beads": {
      "command": "beads-mcp"
    }
  }
}

For all projects: Add to VS Code user-level MCP config:

PlatformPath
macOS~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json
Linux~/.config/Code/User/mcp.json
Windows%APPDATA%\Code\User\mcp.json
json
{
  "servers": {
    "beads": {
      "command": "beads-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Initialize beads and reload VS Code:

bash
bd init --quiet

See GitHub Copilot Integration for detailed setup.

Context Injection with bd prime

All integrations use bd prime to inject context:

bash
bd prime

This outputs a compact (~1-2k tokens) workflow reference including:

  • Available commands
  • Current project status
  • Workflow patterns
  • Best practices

Why context efficiency matters:

  • Compute cost scales with tokens
  • Latency increases with context size
  • Models attend better to smaller, focused contexts

MCP Server (Alternative)

For MCP-only environments (Claude Desktop, no shell access):

bash
# Install MCP server
pip install beads-mcp

Add to Claude Desktop config:

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "beads": {
      "command": "beads-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Trade-offs:

  • Works in MCP-only environments
  • Higher context overhead (10-50k tokens for tool schemas)
  • Additional latency from MCP protocol

See MCP Server for detailed configuration.

Git Hooks

Ensure git hooks are installed for auto-sync:

bash
bd hooks install

This installs:

  • pre-commit - Validates changes before commit
  • post-merge - Imports changes after pull
  • pre-push - Ensures sync before push

Check hook status:

bash
bd info  # Shows warnings if hooks are outdated

Verifying Your Setup

Run a complete health check:

bash
# Check version
bd version

# Check project health
bd doctor

# Check hooks
bd hooks status

# Check editor integration
bd setup claude --check   # or cursor, aider