website/versioned_docs/version-1.0.0/cli-reference/bootstrap.md
Generated from bd help --doc bootstrap
Bootstrap sets up the beads database without destroying existing data. Unlike 'bd init --force', bootstrap will never delete existing issues.
Bootstrap auto-detects the right action: • If sync.remote is configured: clones from the remote • If git origin has Dolt data (refs/dolt/data): clones from git • If .beads/backup/*.jsonl exists: restores from backup • If .beads/issues.jsonl exists: imports from git-tracked JSONL • If no database exists: creates a fresh one • If database already exists: validates and reports status
This is the recommended command for: • Setting up beads on a fresh clone • Recovering after moving to a new machine • Repairing a broken database configuration
Non-interactive mode (--non-interactive, --yes/-y, or BD_NON_INTERACTIVE=1): Skips the confirmation prompt before executing the bootstrap plan. Also auto-detected when stdin is not a terminal or CI=true is set.
Examples: bd bootstrap # Auto-detect and set up bd bootstrap --dry-run # Show what would be done bd bootstrap --json # Output plan as JSON bd bootstrap --yes # Skip confirmation prompt
bd bootstrap [flags]
Flags:
--dry-run Show what would be done without doing it
--non-interactive Alias for --yes
-y, --yes Skip confirmation prompts (for CI/automation)