fix(beads): suppress redirect warnings via WorkDir-based detection

Add WorkDir field to AgentEnvConfig that enables automatic detection of
beads redirects. When a redirect file exists in WorkDir/.beads/redirect,
BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH is set to "" to suppress the "Redirect active...
skipping sync-branch operations" warning.

This consolidates redirect detection into internal/config/env.go,
eliminating the need for callers to import the beads package or
manually check for redirects. Callsites simply pass their working
directory and the config package handles the rest.

The fix only activates when a redirect is actually present, avoiding
false positives for standalone crew/polecat workspaces without redirects.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: easel

internal/beads/beads_redirect.go

@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
+// HasRedirect returns true if the workDir has a beads redirect file.
+// This indicates the workdir uses a shared beads database (e.g., crew/polecat clones).
+func HasRedirect(workDir string) bool {
+	if filepath.Base(workDir) == ".beads" {
+		workDir = filepath.Dir(workDir)
+	}
+	redirectPath := filepath.Join(workDir, ".beads", "redirect")
+	_, err := os.Stat(redirectPath)
+	return err == nil
+}
+
 // ResolveBeadsDir returns the actual beads directory, following any redirect.
 // If workDir/.beads/redirect exists, it reads the redirect path and resolves it
 // relative to workDir (not the .beads directory). Otherwise, returns workDir/.beads.

internal/cmd/crew_at.go

@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ func runCrewAt(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			TownRoot:         townRoot,
 			RuntimeConfigDir: claudeConfigDir,
 			BeadsNoDaemon:    true,
+			WorkDir:          worker.ClonePath,
 		})
 		for k, v := range envVars {
 			_ = t.SetEnvironment(sessionID, k, v)
@@ -205,7 +206,7 @@ func runCrewAt(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		// Use respawn-pane to replace shell with runtime directly
 		// This gives cleaner lifecycle: runtime exits → session ends (no intermediate shell)
 		// Export GT_ROLE and BD_ACTOR since tmux SetEnvironment only affects new panes
-		startupCmd, err := config.BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(r.Name, name, r.Path, beacon, crewAgentOverride)
+		startupCmd, err := config.BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(r.Name, name, r.Path, beacon, crewAgentOverride, worker.ClonePath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("building startup command: %w", err)
 		}
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ func runCrewAt(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 			// Use respawn-pane to replace shell with runtime directly
 			// Export GT_ROLE and BD_ACTOR since tmux SetEnvironment only affects new panes
-			startupCmd, err := config.BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(r.Name, name, r.Path, beacon, crewAgentOverride)
+			startupCmd, err := config.BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(r.Name, name, r.Path, beacon, crewAgentOverride, worker.ClonePath)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("building startup command: %w", err)
 			}

internal/cmd/polecat_spawn.go

@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ func (s *SpawnedPolecatInfo) StartSession() (string, error) {
 		RuntimeConfigDir: claudeConfigDir,
 	}
 	if s.agent != "" {
-		cmd, err := config.BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(s.RigName, s.PolecatName, r.Path, "", s.agent)
+		cmd, err := config.BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(s.RigName, s.PolecatName, r.Path, "", s.agent, s.ClonePath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return "", err
 		}

internal/cmd/start.go

@@ -409,7 +409,8 @@ func startOrRestartCrewMember(t *tmux.Tmux, r *rig.Rig, crewName, townRoot strin
 				Sender:    "human",
 				Topic:     "restart",
 			})
-			agentCmd := config.BuildCrewStartupCommand(r.Name, crewName, r.Path, beacon)
+			crewPath := filepath.Join(r.Path, "crew", crewName)
+			agentCmd := config.BuildCrewStartupCommand(r.Name, crewName, r.Path, beacon, crewPath)
 			if err := t.SendKeys(sessionID, agentCmd); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Sprintf("  %s %s/%s restart failed: %v\n", style.Dim.Render("○"), r.Name, crewName, err), false
 			}

internal/config/env.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package config
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -35,6 +36,26 @@ type AgentEnvConfig struct {
 	// BeadsNoDaemon sets BEADS_NO_DAEMON=1 if true
 	// Used for polecats that should bypass the beads daemon
 	BeadsNoDaemon bool
+
+	// WorkDir is the working directory for the agent session.
+	// For crew/polecat roles, this is used to check for beads redirects.
+	// When a redirect is detected, BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH is set to "" to suppress
+	// warnings, since the redirect target handles sync operations.
+	WorkDir string
+}
+
+// hasBeadsRedirect checks if the workDir has a beads redirect file.
+// This indicates the workdir uses a shared beads database (e.g., crew/polecat clones).
+func hasBeadsRedirect(workDir string) bool {
+	if workDir == "" {
+		return false
+	}
+	if filepath.Base(workDir) == ".beads" {
+		workDir = filepath.Dir(workDir)
+	}
+	redirectPath := filepath.Join(workDir, ".beads", "redirect")
+	_, err := os.Stat(redirectPath)
+	return err == nil
 }
 
 // AgentEnv returns all environment variables for an agent based on the config.
@@ -99,6 +120,12 @@ func AgentEnv(cfg AgentEnvConfig) map[string]string {
 		env["BEADS_AGENT_NAME"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", cfg.Rig, cfg.AgentName)
 	}
 
+	// Disable sync-branch when redirect is active - the canonical location
+	// (e.g., mayor/rig/.beads) handles sync operations.
+	if hasBeadsRedirect(cfg.WorkDir) {
+		env["BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH"] = ""
+	}
+
 	if cfg.BeadsNoDaemon {
 		env["BEADS_NO_DAEMON"] = "1"
 	}

internal/config/env_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
 import (
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Mayor(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GT_ROOT", "/town")
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "GT_RIG")
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH")
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_Witness(t *testing.T) {
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Witness(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BD_ACTOR", "myrig/witness")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", "myrig/witness")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GT_ROOT", "/town")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH")
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_Polecat(t *testing.T) {
@@ -51,6 +54,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Polecat(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", "Toast")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BEADS_AGENT_NAME", "myrig/Toast")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON", "1")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH") // Not set without redirect
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_Crew(t *testing.T) {
@@ -70,6 +74,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Crew(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", "emma")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BEADS_AGENT_NAME", "myrig/emma")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON", "1")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH") // Not set without redirect
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_Refinery(t *testing.T) {
@@ -86,6 +91,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Refinery(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BD_ACTOR", "myrig/refinery")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", "myrig/refinery")
 	assertEnv(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON", "1")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH")
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_Deacon(t *testing.T) {
@@ -101,6 +107,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Deacon(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GT_ROOT", "/town")
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "GT_RIG")
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH")
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_Boot(t *testing.T) {
@@ -116,6 +123,7 @@ func TestAgentEnv_Boot(t *testing.T) {
 	assertEnv(t, env, "GT_ROOT", "/town")
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "GT_RIG")
 	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_NO_DAEMON")
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH")
 }
 
 func TestAgentEnv_WithRuntimeConfigDir(t *testing.T) {
@@ -420,6 +428,45 @@ func TestEnvToSlice(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestAgentEnv_WithBeadsRedirect(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	// Create temp dir with .beads/redirect file
+	workDir := t.TempDir()
+	beadsDir := workDir + "/.beads"
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(beadsDir, 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(beadsDir+"/redirect", []byte("../../mayor/rig/.beads\n"), 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	env := AgentEnv(AgentEnvConfig{
+		Role:      "crew",
+		Rig:       "myrig",
+		AgentName: "emma",
+		WorkDir:   workDir,
+	})
+
+	// With redirect present, BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH should be set to empty string
+	assertEnv(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH", "")
+}
+
+func TestAgentEnv_WithoutBeadsRedirect(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	// Create temp dir WITHOUT redirect file
+	workDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	env := AgentEnv(AgentEnvConfig{
+		Role:      "crew",
+		Rig:       "myrig",
+		AgentName: "emma",
+		WorkDir:   workDir,
+	})
+
+	// Without redirect, BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH should NOT be set
+	assertNotSet(t, env, "BEADS_SYNC_BRANCH")
+}
+
 // Helper functions
 
 func assertEnv(t *testing.T, env map[string]string, key, expected string) {

internal/config/integration_test.go

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func TestRigLevelCustomAgentIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Test 2: Verify BuildPolecatStartupCommand includes the custom agent
 	t.Run("BuildPolecatStartupCommand uses custom agent", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := BuildPolecatStartupCommand(rigName, "test-polecat", rigPath, "")
+		cmd := BuildPolecatStartupCommand(rigName, "test-polecat", rigPath, "", "")
 
 		if !strings.Contains(cmd, stubAgentPath) {
 			t.Errorf("Expected command to contain stub agent path %q, got: %s", stubAgentPath, cmd)

internal/config/loader.go

@@ -1516,7 +1516,8 @@ func BuildAgentStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(role, rig, townRoot, rigPath, pro
 
 // BuildPolecatStartupCommand builds the startup command for a polecat.
 // Sets GT_ROLE, GT_RIG, GT_POLECAT, BD_ACTOR, GIT_AUTHOR_NAME, and GT_ROOT.
-func BuildPolecatStartupCommand(rigName, polecatName, rigPath, prompt string) string {
+// workDir is the polecat's working directory, used to check for beads redirects.
+func BuildPolecatStartupCommand(rigName, polecatName, rigPath, prompt, workDir string) string {
 	var townRoot string
 	if rigPath != "" {
 		townRoot = filepath.Dir(rigPath)
@@ -1526,12 +1527,13 @@ func BuildPolecatStartupCommand(rigName, polecatName, rigPath, prompt string) st
 		Rig:       rigName,
 		AgentName: polecatName,
 		TownRoot:  townRoot,
+		WorkDir:   workDir,
 	})
 	return BuildStartupCommand(envVars, rigPath, prompt)
 }
 
 // BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride is like BuildPolecatStartupCommand, but uses agentOverride if non-empty.
-func BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(rigName, polecatName, rigPath, prompt, agentOverride string) (string, error) {
+func BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(rigName, polecatName, rigPath, prompt, agentOverride, workDir string) (string, error) {
 	var townRoot string
 	if rigPath != "" {
 		townRoot = filepath.Dir(rigPath)
@@ -1541,13 +1543,15 @@ func BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(rigName, polecatName, rigPath,
 		Rig:       rigName,
 		AgentName: polecatName,
 		TownRoot:  townRoot,
+		WorkDir:   workDir,
 	})
 	return BuildStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(envVars, rigPath, prompt, agentOverride)
 }
 
 // BuildCrewStartupCommand builds the startup command for a crew member.
 // Sets GT_ROLE, GT_RIG, GT_CREW, BD_ACTOR, GIT_AUTHOR_NAME, and GT_ROOT.
-func BuildCrewStartupCommand(rigName, crewName, rigPath, prompt string) string {
+// workDir is the crew member's working directory, used to check for beads redirects.
+func BuildCrewStartupCommand(rigName, crewName, rigPath, prompt, workDir string) string {
 	var townRoot string
 	if rigPath != "" {
 		townRoot = filepath.Dir(rigPath)
@@ -1557,12 +1561,13 @@ func BuildCrewStartupCommand(rigName, crewName, rigPath, prompt string) string {
 		Rig:       rigName,
 		AgentName: crewName,
 		TownRoot:  townRoot,
+		WorkDir:   workDir,
 	})
 	return BuildStartupCommand(envVars, rigPath, prompt)
 }
 
 // BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride is like BuildCrewStartupCommand, but uses agentOverride if non-empty.
-func BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(rigName, crewName, rigPath, prompt, agentOverride string) (string, error) {
+func BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(rigName, crewName, rigPath, prompt, agentOverride, workDir string) (string, error) {
 	var townRoot string
 	if rigPath != "" {
 		townRoot = filepath.Dir(rigPath)
@@ -1572,6 +1577,7 @@ func BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(rigName, crewName, rigPath, prompt
 		Rig:       rigName,
 		AgentName: crewName,
 		TownRoot:  townRoot,
+		WorkDir:   workDir,
 	})
 	return BuildStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(envVars, rigPath, prompt, agentOverride)
 }

internal/config/loader_test.go

@@ -1001,7 +1001,7 @@ func TestBuildAgentStartupCommand(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestBuildPolecatStartupCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	cmd := BuildPolecatStartupCommand("gastown", "toast", "", "")
+	cmd := BuildPolecatStartupCommand("gastown", "toast", "", "", "")
 
 	if !strings.Contains(cmd, "GT_ROLE=gastown/polecats/toast") {
 		t.Error("expected GT_ROLE=gastown/polecats/toast in command")
@@ -1019,7 +1019,7 @@ func TestBuildPolecatStartupCommand(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestBuildCrewStartupCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	cmd := BuildCrewStartupCommand("gastown", "max", "", "")
+	cmd := BuildCrewStartupCommand("gastown", "max", "", "", "")
 
 	if !strings.Contains(cmd, "GT_ROLE=gastown/crew/max") {
 		t.Error("expected GT_ROLE=gastown/crew/max in command")
@@ -1125,7 +1125,7 @@ func TestBuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("SaveRigSettings: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	cmd, err := BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride("testrig", "toast", rigPath, "", "gemini")
+	cmd, err := BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride("testrig", "toast", rigPath, "", "gemini", "")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("BuildPolecatStartupCommandWithAgentOverride: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -1208,7 +1208,7 @@ func TestBuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("SaveRigSettings: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	cmd, err := BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride("testrig", "max", rigPath, "gt prime", "gemini")
+	cmd, err := BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride("testrig", "max", rigPath, "gt prime", "gemini", "")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride: %v", err)
 	}

internal/crew/manager.go

@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Start(name string, opts StartOptions) error {
 
 	// Build startup command first
 	// SessionStart hook handles context loading (gt prime --hook)
-	claudeCmd, err := config.BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(m.rig.Name, name, m.rig.Path, beacon, opts.AgentOverride)
+	claudeCmd, err := config.BuildCrewStartupCommandWithAgentOverride(m.rig.Name, name, m.rig.Path, beacon, opts.AgentOverride, worker.ClonePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("building startup command: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -526,6 +526,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Start(name string, opts StartOptions) error {
 		TownRoot:         townRoot,
 		RuntimeConfigDir: opts.ClaudeConfigDir,
 		BeadsNoDaemon:    true,
+		WorkDir:          worker.ClonePath,
 	})
 	for k, v := range envVars {
 		_ = t.SetEnvironment(sessionID, k, v)