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+# Bead tb-1zrf: Starvation Alert - Self-Blocking Dependency Fix
+
+## Issue
+Starvation alert: "Open beads exist but Pluck found none — possible configuration error."
+- 9 open beads in workspace
+- 0 beads found by Pluck (bead-worker)
+
+## Root Cause
+`tb-1me` had a **self-blocking dependency** - it blocked itself via a dependency entry added by a batch operation on 2026-07-02T15:25:21.217314Z.
+
+This created a deadlock:
+1. `tb-1me` (deferred) could not be claimed because it blocked itself
+2. All non-deferred open beads (tb-163k, tb-2ir, tb-2lh, tb-3iu, tb-5wj, tb-62m) were blocked by `tb-1me`
+3. Pluck found 0 claimable beads
+
+## Resolution
+Removed the self-blocking dependency:
+```bash
+br dep remove tb-1me tb-1me -w .
+```
+
+After removal, `br ready` now returns `tb-1me` as claimable.
+
+## Lessons
+- Self-blocking dependencies can silently starve the bead worker
+- The starvation alert mechanism correctly surfaced the issue
+- Always validate dependency chains after batch operations
+
+## Date Resolved
+2026-07-02