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bd doctor shows sync-branch warning for users who don't need it #498

@tylerlaprade

Description

@tylerlaprade

Summary

bd doctor shows a warning about sync-branch not configured for all users, even those who don't need it. This creates confusion during onboarding.

Current Behavior

⚠ Warning: sync-branch not configured
  Fix: Add 'sync-branch: beads-sync' to .beads/config.yaml

This warning appears for everyone, regardless of their workflow.

Expected Behavior

The warning should only appear when the user's workflow actually requires sync-branch:

  1. They have protected branches AND are trying to auto-commit to them
  2. They have multiple clones of the same repo that need to sync

My Use Case (No sync-branch needed)

I use Graphite for PR stacking:

  • All work happens on feature branches (gt c -am "message")
  • Never commit directly to main/develop
  • .beads/ changes flow naturally with PR merges
  • Single clone, no multi-machine sync needed

For this workflow, sync-branch adds no value - it's just noise in bd doctor.

Suggestion

Either:

  1. Don't show the warning by default - only warn if the user attempts an operation that requires sync-branch
  2. Make it informational, not a warning - "ℹ️ sync-branch not configured (only needed for multi-clone or protected branch workflows)"
  3. Add a config option to suppress it - bd config set sync.branch-warning false

Environment

  • bd version: 0.29.0
  • Workflow: Graphite PR stacking, feature branch development
  • OS: macOS

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