bro flow next
The flat backlog scheduler — claim the top ready bead, emit the work order.
bro flow next is the scheduler as code. bd owns the queue; bro owns
picking: the top ready bead, claimed atomically, emitted as a work
order. The agent loop is one line — next → implement → PR → merge →
repeat.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
bro flow next | Claim and print the next ready work order |
bro flow next --list | Preview the queue without claiming |
bro flow next --json | Emit the scheduler result as JSON |
bro flow next --global | Schedule from the user-level store (bro store init --global) |
bro plan run next.toml | The same selection driven by a validated plan — filters, limit, ordering, gates |
The scheduler ends in task, gated, or idle.
What next never claims
- Human gates — beads titled
HUMAN GATE …surface asgate:lines. A plan may opt them into the queue viagates = "allow". - Epics — decompose into beads first; an epic is never work itself.
- Molecule steps — a bead whose
parentis a molecule belongs tobro flow convoy; the flat queue doesn't steal it. Epic children carry aparenttoo but stay claimable — next checks the parent's type, not just the field. - Foreign-scope beads — ids outside this checkout's
issue_prefixare reported, never claimed.scope = "all"in a plan opts out. - Coordination primitives — coordination labels (
gt:slot, the merge-slot semaphore family) are excludedbd-side before classification.
The gate, not a prompt, decides when a claimed task is done.