grite vs Beads
Git-native issue tracker for AI agents
Beads (bd) is the reference point for "git-native issue tracker for AI agents" — more established and more widely cited than grite. The two agree on the goal (issues that live with the code, built for coding agents) but disagree on the substrate: Beads embeds a Dolt (SQL) database, grite stores an append-only CRDT event log directly in git refs with git as its only dependency. Pick on whether you want a mature SQL-backed tool or a zero-dependency, pure-git one.
| Feature | grite | Beads | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage backend | Append-only CRDT event log in git refs (refs/grite/wal) | Embedded Dolt (SQL) database | grite |
| External dependencies | git 2.38+ only | Dolt | grite |
| Distribution | Single Rust binary (+ optional grite-daemon) | bd CLI plus a Dolt-backed store | grite |
| Offline-first | Every operation works offline | Git-native, works offline | comparable |
| Sync mechanism | git fetch / git push (deterministic CRDT merge) | Git-based sync via Dolt | comparable |
| Multi-agent coordination | CRDT merge + TTL-based distributed locks | Git-native, agent-oriented workflow | grite |
| Audit / signing | Content-addressed WAL, optional Ed25519 | Dolt version history | grite |
| Agent discoverability | Auto-generated AGENTS.md | Designed for AI-agent use | grite |
| Dependency-graph command | CRDT-tracked dependencies | Mature `bd ready` graph command | Beads |
| Maturity / community | Newer, smaller | Established, most-cited in the category | Beads |
| License | MIT | Open source | comparable |
Pick grite when
- ▸You want issues stored as pure git refs (refs/grite/wal) with no database and no dependency beyond git 2.38+
- ▸You want a single Rust binary to distribute, not a tool that carries an embedded SQL store
- ▸You want deterministic CRDT merge so parallel agents never conflict, plus TTL-based distributed locks for multi-agent coordination
- ▸You want a tamper-evident, optionally Ed25519-signed audit trail and an auto-generated AGENTS.md for agent discovery
Pick Beads when
- ▸You want the most established, most-cited tool in the category with the larger community today
- ▸You are comfortable with the embedded Dolt/SQL dependency and want its mature dependency-graph workflow (`bd ready`)
- ▸You prefer a SQL-queryable store over an append-only event log
Both can be right
Many teams keep Beads for what it is great at and adopt grite for the internal queue, agent memory, or offline-first work. The export formats make it cheap to move issues either direction.