Next Bead — Orchestrator

Find available work. Verify no conflicts. Claim safely. Announce.

Pattern: This skill uses the orchestrator-subagent pattern. Each phase runs in a fresh context for thorough conflict checking. See docs/guides/ORCHESTRATOR_SUBAGENT_PATTERN.md.

When This Applies

Signal	Action
User says "next task" or "what's next"	Run discovery + claim
Just finished a task	Close out, then discover
User says "/next-bead"	Run full protocol
Looking for work	Run discovery

---

Tool Reference

Agent Mail (MCP)

Tool	Purpose
fetch_inbox(agent_name)	Check for messages before claiming
file_reservation_paths(paths, exclusive)	Reserve files before editing
release_file_reservations(agent_name)	Release files after closing
send_message(to, subject, body_md, thread_id)	Announce [CLAIMED]/[CLOSED]

Bash Commands

Command	Purpose
bd list --status in_progress --json	Check for current work
bd ready --json	List available tasks
bd-claim <id> --paths "..."	PREFERRED: Atomic claim + reserve
bd update <id> --status in_progress --assignee NAME	Manual claim (use bd-claim instead)
bd close <id> --reason "..."	Close completed bead
bv --robot-triage	Get recommendations
bv --robot-next	Get single best task
bv --robot-plan	Get execution order
cm context "task description" --json	Get patterns before starting
pytest	Run tests before closing
ubs --staged	Security scan (MANDATORY)

Message Subjects

Pattern	When
[CLAIMED] bd-XXX - Title	After claiming task
[CLOSED] bd-XXX - Title	After closing task

Close Order

1. Run tests + ubs --staged
2. Commit with .beads/issues.jsonl
3. Close sub-beads FIRST (bd close <id>.1)
4. Close parent LAST (bd close <id>)
5. Release file reservations
6. Send [CLOSED] announcement

---

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    NEXT-BEAD ORCHESTRATOR                        │
│  - Creates session: sessions/next-bead-{timestamp}/              │
│  - Manages TodoWrite state                                       │
│  - Spawns subagents with minimal context                         │
│  - Passes verified task to claim phase                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
         ┌────────────────────┼────────────────────┐
         │                    │                    │
         ▼                    ▼                    ▼
┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐
│    Closeout     │  │    Discover     │  │     Verify      │
│  agents/        │  │  agents/        │  │  agents/        │
│  closeout.md    │  │  discover.md    │  │  verify.md      │
└────────┬────────┘  └────────┬────────┘  └────────┬────────┘
         │                    │                    │
    01_closeout.md       02_discovery.md      03_verification.md
         │                    │                    │
         │ reservations       │ ready_tasks        │ can_claim
         │ released           │ bv_recommendation  │ verified_task
         └────────────────────┼────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │     Claim       │ → Task claimed
                    │  agents/        │
                    │  claim.md       │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
                        04_claim.md

Subagents

Phase	Agent	Input	Output
1	agents/closeout.md	agent_name	beads_closed, reservations_released
2	agents/discover.md	agent_name	ready_tasks, bv_recommendation
3	agents/verify.md	target_task, active_agents	can_claim, verified_task
4	agents/claim.md	verified_task	task_claimed, files_reserved

---

Execution Flow

1. Setup (Orchestrator)

1. Create session directory:
   mkdir -p sessions/next-bead-{timestamp}

2. Initialize TodoWrite with phases:
   - [ ] Phase 1: Closeout
   - [ ] Phase 2: Discover
   - [ ] Phase 3: Verify
   - [ ] Phase 4: Claim

3. Gather inputs:
   - project_path: Absolute path to project
   - agent_name: Current agent name

2. Phase 1: Closeout

Spawn: agents/closeout.md

Input:

{
  "project_path": "/abs/path/to/project",
  "session_dir": "sessions/next-bead-{timestamp}",
  "agent_name": "BlueLake"
}

Output:

{
  "had_in_progress": true,
  "beads_closed": ["bd-123", "bd-123.1"],
  "reservations_released": true
}

3. Phase 2: Discover

Spawn: agents/discover.md

Input:

{
  "project_path": "/abs/path/to/project",
  "session_dir": "sessions/next-bead-{timestamp}",
  "agent_name": "BlueLake"
}

Output:

{
  "ready_tasks": ["bd-125", "bd-126", "bd-127"],
  "bv_recommendation": "bd-125",
  "active_agents": ["GreenCastle"]
}

4. Phase 3: Verify

Spawn: agents/verify.md

Input:

{
  "project_path": "/abs/path/to/project",
  "session_dir": "sessions/next-bead-{timestamp}",
  "agent_name": "BlueLake",
  "target_task": {"id": "bd-125", "files": ["src/auth/**"]},
  "active_agents": ["GreenCastle"]
}

Output:

{
  "can_claim": true,
  "verified_task": "bd-125",
  "blocking_reason": null
}

5. Phase 4: Claim

Spawn: agents/claim.md

Input:

{
  "project_path": "/abs/path/to/project",
  "session_dir": "sessions/next-bead-{timestamp}",
  "agent_name": "BlueLake",
  "task_to_claim": {"id": "bd-125", "title": "JWT validation"},
  "active_agents": ["GreenCastle"]
}

Output:

{
  "task_claimed": "bd-125",
  "files_reserved": ["src/auth/**"],
  "announcement_sent": true
}

6. Finalize (Orchestrator)

1. Update TodoWrite (all phases complete)
2. Present summary to user
3. Begin work on claimed task

---

Templates

Located in .claude/templates/beads/:

• verification.md — Pre-claim checklist
• claimed.md — Claim announcement format
• closed.md — Completion announcement format
• next-bead-output.md — Output summary format

---

Philosophy

Parallel agents must coordinate. Before claiming:

1. Know what's truly available
2. Check what other agents are doing
3. Verify no file conflicts
4. Communicate intent

---

1. Close Out Previous Work

Check for in-progress work:

bd list --status in_progress --json

If yes:

1. Run tests + ubs --staged
2. Commit/push (include .beads/issues.jsonl)
3. Close sub-beads first, then parent:

   bd close <id>.1 --reason "Completed: [summary]"
   bd close <id> --reason "Completed: [summary]"
   

4. Release reservations:

   release_file_reservations(project_key=PROJECT_PATH, agent_name=YOUR_NAME)
   

5. Send [CLOSED] announcement (use template)

---

2. Discover

Recommendations:

bv --robot-triage
bv --robot-plan

Ready tasks:

bd ready --json

Active agents:

ReadMcpResourceTool(server="mcp-agent-mail", uri="resource://agents/PROJECT_PATH")

Already claimed:

bd list --status in_progress --json

Your inbox:

fetch_inbox(project_key=PROJECT_PATH, agent_name=YOUR_NAME, include_bodies=true, limit=10)

Address urgent messages before claiming new work.

---

3. Verify

All must pass before claiming:

• Task status is ready
• No other agent has claimed it
• Required files not reserved by others
• Dependencies satisfied
• No blocking inbox messages

If ANY fails → pick different task or coordinate first.

If uncertain, ask:

send_message(
  project_key=PROJECT_PATH,
  sender_name=YOUR_NAME,
  to=[OTHER_AGENTS],
  subject="Claiming task: <task-id>?",
  body_md="Planning to pick up **<task-id>**. Files: `app/...`. Conflicts?",
  importance="normal"
)

---

4. Claim

PREFERRED: Use bd-claim for atomic claim + reserve:

bd-claim <id> --paths "app/path/**,tests/**"

This atomically validates, reserves, and claims in one command with automatic rollback on failure.

For sub-beads, claim each:

bd-claim <id>.1 --paths "app/path/**"
bd-claim <id>.2 --paths "tests/**"

ALTERNATIVE: Manual steps (use bd-claim instead):

bd update <id> --status in_progress --assignee YOUR_NAME
bd update <id>.1 --status in_progress --assignee YOUR_NAME
bd update <id>.2 --status in_progress --assignee YOUR_NAME

file_reservation_paths(
  project_key=PROJECT_PATH,
  agent_name=YOUR_NAME,
  paths=["app/path/**", "tests/**"],
  ttl_seconds=3600,
  exclusive=true,
  reason="<task-id>: description"
)

Announce (MANDATORY):

send_message(
  project_key=PROJECT_PATH,
  sender_name=YOUR_NAME,
  to=[ALL_AGENTS],
  subject="[CLAIMED] <task-id> - <title>",
  body_md=<use claimed template>,
  importance="normal",
  thread_id="<task-id>"
)

---

5. Get Context Before Working

After claiming, get patterns and anti-patterns:

cm context "<task-title>" --json

This returns:

• Relevant rules from past sessions
• Anti-patterns to avoid
• Historical context about similar work

---

Quick Reference

# Recommended next
bv --robot-triage
bv --robot-next          # Single best task

# Ready tasks
bd ready --json

# Claimed tasks
bd list --status in_progress --json

# Claim (PREFERRED: atomic claim + reserve)
bd-claim <id> --paths "src/**/*.py"

# Manual claim (use bd-claim instead)
bd update <id> --status in_progress --assignee YOUR_NAME

# Close (sub-beads first)
bd close <id>.1 --reason "Completed: ..."
bd close <id> --reason "Completed: ..."

---

Anti-Patterns

Don't	Why
Skip file reservation checks	Merge conflicts
Claim only parent, not sub-beads	Other agents grab sub-beads
Skip [CLAIMED] announcement	Duplicate work
Skip [CLOSED] announcement	Stale state
Hoard tasks	Claim one, finish it, then next
Ignore inbox	Miss coordination messages

---

See Also

• bead-workflow/ — Full bead lifecycle details
• prime/ — Session startup
• .claude/templates/beads/ — Message templates