# Duplicate issues in Beads? Find them by meaning.

Find duplicate and related issues in a Beads tracker, including ones written in different words, and the ones no link connects. emBEADings is a free, read-only, local tool listed in the Beads community tools.

## Why it happens

Agents and people file issues fast. Two of them end up describing the same work in different words, nothing links them, and two agents pick them up.

Beads helps once you know: `bd duplicates` finds identical copies, `bd find-duplicates` compares wording (or asks an LLM if you give it an API key), and `bd duplicate A --of B` closes the copy with a link.

## What emBEADings adds

It embeds every issue with a small model on your machine, so no API key and nothing leaves your laptop. It shows the pairs that mean the same thing even when the words differ, skips pairs your tracker already links, and gives each lead its evidence. It only reads; you decide.

## Try it

```sh
pipx install embeadings
cd your-project                  # any folder where bd works

embead triage                    # a short list of pairs worth a look
embead neighbors bd-a1b2 --orphans-only   # issues like this one, with no link to it
embead mentions                  # notes that say "duplicate of" with no link behind them

bd duplicate bd-a1b2 --of bd-c3d4         # then close the real copy, in Beads
```

## Questions

### How is this different from bd find-duplicates?

bd find-duplicates scores word overlap, or sends pairs to an LLM with your API key. emBEADings compares meaning with a local embedding model, leaves out pairs that are already linked, and also checks merged pull requests and active worktrees. They work well together.

### Does emBEADings change my Beads database?

No. It runs bd in read-only mode and has no write commands. You mark duplicates yourself with bd duplicate.

### Is emBEADings part of Beads?

It is an independent open-source tool, listed in the Beads community tools.

emBEADings is free and open source (MIT): https://github.com/CantrellJax/embeadings. Made by Jackson Cantrell (https://jacksoncantrell.com). Listed in the Beads community tools: https://beads.gascity.com/community-tools