Version: 1.0.4

bd import

Generated from bd help --doc import

bd import

Import issues from a JSONL file (newline-delimited JSON) into the database.

If no file is specified, imports from the configured import.path under .beads/ (default: issues.jsonl). Use "-" to read from stdin. This is the incremental counterpart to 'bd export': new issues are created and existing issues are updated (upsert semantics).

Memory records (lines with "_type":"memory") are automatically detected and imported as persistent memories (equivalent to 'bd remember'). This makes 'bd export | bd import' a full round-trip for both issues and memories.

Each JSONL line should map to an issue. The importer accepts every field 'bd export' emits — see 'bd export' output for the canonical schema. Only "title" is required; everything else is optional.

Common fields: title Required. Short summary. description Long-form body. design, notes, Additional content sections. acceptance_criteria issue_type bug | feature | task | epic | chore | ... priority 0-4 (0 = critical). 0 is preserved (no omitempty). status open | in_progress | blocked | closed | ... (rows with status "tombstone" are skipped) assignee, owner, Ownership metadata. created_by labels Array of strings. dependencies Array of {issue_id, depends_on_id, type, ...}. comments Array of comment objects. external_ref, Cross-system identifiers (e.g. "gh-9"). source_system due_at, defer_until RFC3339 timestamps for scheduling. metadata Arbitrary JSON object preserved verbatim.

Timestamps (created_at, updated_at, started_at, closed_at) are preserved when present in the JSONL and otherwise filled in by the importer. The legacy "wisp" boolean is accepted as an alias for "ephemeral".

By default a row only rewrites an existing local issue when its updated_at is strictly newer. Older rows are skipped (reported as stale_skipped_ids) and rows with the same updated_at keep every local column — updated_at has second granularity, so a timestamp tie can be two distinct same-second updates, and the local row wins the tie (reported as tie_kept_local_ids; the row's labels/comments/dependencies still merge). The guard is also enforced inside the upsert itself, so a local update that lands while the import is running is preserved rather than overwritten. Existing issues that the import did rewrite are listed with a field-level summary (updated_issues), so local state changed by an import is visible. To deliberately restore an older snapshot, pass --allow-stale, which imports every row even when it overwrites newer local state.

EXAMPLES: bd import # Import from configured import.path bd import backup.jsonl # Import from a specific file bd import -i backup.jsonl # Legacy alias for a specific file bd import - # Read JSONL from stdin cat issues.jsonl | bd import - # Pipe JSONL from another tool bd import --dry-run # Show what would be imported bd import --dedup # Skip issues with duplicate titles bd import --allow-stale old.jsonl # Restore an older snapshot (overwrites newer local rows) bd import --json # Structured output with created and skipped IDs

bd import [file|-] [flags]

Flags:

      --allow-stale    Import rows even when older than the local issue (required to restore an older snapshot)
      --dedup          Skip lines whose title matches an existing open issue
      --dry-run        Show what would be imported without importing
  -i, --input string   Read JSONL from a specific file

bd import​

bd import