claim

Claim Issue $id

Follow these steps exactly, in order. Do not skip any step. Do not start writing code until all steps are complete.

Step 1: Read the issue

Run bd show $id and read every field: title, description, design, acceptance criteria, notes, dependencies, and labels. You need all of this context before proceeding.

Step 2: Check readiness

STOP and warn the user if any of these are true:

• The issue has unresolved blocks dependencies — list which issues block it.
• The issue has the needs-info label — it's missing information needed to implement.
• The issue has the needs-triage label — it hasn't been reviewed yet.
• The issue has the wontfix label — it was already rejected.

If none of these apply, proceed.

Step 3: Claim it

Run: bd update $id --claim

Step 4: Remove triage labels

The issue is now in progress. Remove all triage labels — they are workflow state markers and none of them apply to an actively claimed issue.

Run: bd update $id --remove-label=needs-triage --remove-label=ready-for-agent --remove-label=ready-for-human --remove-label=needs-info

This is safe even if the issue doesn't have all of these labels.

Step 5: Summarize the work

Present a concise summary to the user:

• What: What needs to be implemented (from description/design fields).
• Acceptance criteria: What "done" looks like — quote these directly from the issue.
• Dependencies: Related issues or upstream context.
• Notes: Any prior context from other sessions.
• Labels: Current labels on the issue.

Step 6: Log the session

Run: bd update $id --append-notes="Claimed. Starting implementation."

Never use --notes (it overwrites). Always use --append-notes.

Step 7: Plan if needed

If the issue involves more than a single-file change, ask the user if they want to create an implementation plan before coding.

If yes, draft the plan collaboratively with the user, then save it into the issue description using bd update $id --description="<full plan body>". Embed the full plan — never use a file path reference.

If the issue already has a detailed description/design, skip this step.