Beads as Shared Memory

The shared brain for all Linus-agents.

The Principle

All Linus-agents share the same beads.
Your notes are read by other agents.
Their notes inform your work.
Coordinate through truth, not messages.

Every Session

Start: READ

bd ready              # What's unblocked?
bd show <id>          # What are the details?
bd query "status=closed AND notes~=<topic>"  # What was learned before?

NEVER start work without reading beads first.

During: WRITE

bd update <id> --notes "Progress: ...
Evidence: ...
Blockers: ...
Next: ..."

Every meaningful progress = update.

End: SYNC

bd sync    # Share with other agents

NEVER end session without syncing.

Handoff Protocol

When You're Done

bd update <id> --notes "Handoff:
## Completed
- X, Y done, evidence: [gates]

## Incomplete
- Z remaining

## For Next Agent
- Gotcha: <non-obvious thing>
- Pattern: <what to follow>
- Files: <what changed>"

When Picking Up Another's Work

bd show <id>          # Read their notes
bd query "id=<id>" --comments  # Read comments
# Acknowledge their work in your first update
bd update <id> --notes "Continuing from <agent>. Last state: ..."

Memory That Survives Compaction

When conversation is compacted, beads survives:

Previous session:
- bd update bb-xyz --notes "Implemented X, need tests"

After compaction:
- bd show bb-xyz
- Notes say: "Implemented X, need tests"
- You know: Add tests
- Zero context lost

This is the point. Memory that survives session boundaries.

Notes For Future Agents

Your notes should answer:

What did you learn? (findings)
What did you decide? (decisions + rationale)
What's incomplete? (handoff)
What blocked you? (blockers)
What would help next agent? (hints)

Cross-Agent Visibility

# See who else is working
bd query "status=in_progress"

# See what was recently closed
bd query "status=closed AND updated<1d"

# See agent activity
bd query "labels~=gt:agent"

The Promise

By using beads religiously:

No lost context - Compaction can't kill your work
No truth drift - State always matches reality
No coordination overhead - BD coordinates for you
No "what was I doing?" - Notes tell you
No "who else is working?" - Query tells you

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