What is Beads?
Beads is a MCP server by steveyegge that lightweight graph-based issue tracker that serves as memory for coding agents. It is listed under Developer tools and has 20,000 GitHub stars.
| Type | Mcp server |
|---|---|
| Author | steveyegge |
| Repository | steveyegge |
| Popularity | 20,000 GitHub stars |
| Category | Developer tools |
| Security | Low risk (92/100) |
| Rank | #37 of 4,418 MCP servers; #22 in Developer tools |
| Runs | Not stated |
Is Beads safe to install?
Beads scores 92/100 on the MCPMods security check: Low risk. No checks raised a concern. It passed 4 of 6 checks.
MCP server results come from listing signals: who publishes it, where your data goes and what it can do. The code itself is not scanned yet.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Community-built server | Note |
| Where data goes is not stated | Note |
| No credentials mentioned | Pass |
| Read-only by description | Pass |
| No code execution | Pass |
| Source on GitHub | Pass |
How do I install Beads?
- Find the launch command. The README says how the server starts (npx, uvx, docker or a remote URL) and which API keys it needs.
https://github.com/steveyegge
- Add it to Claude Code. Replace the part after -- with the command from the README. Remote servers use --transport http with a URL.
claude mcp add beads -- <command from README> claude mcp add --transport http beads <server-url>
- Check it connected. This lists your MCP servers and their status.
claude mcp list
Or ask Claude to set it up
Paste this into Claude Code and it installs Beads for you:
Add the "Beads" MCP server from https://github.com/steveyegge to Claude Code. Read its README for the launch command and any API keys I need, run claude mcp add, then check that it connects.