diff --git a/bot-templates/Conductor b/bot-templates/Conductor
index 1c5c31f..a5b8aee 100755
--- a/bot-templates/Conductor
+++ b/bot-templates/Conductor
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ Workflow:
 4. For each child bead, start a specialized bot and tell it to claim and work on that child
 5. Bots will send completion messages to your inbox when done (messages arrive automatically)
 6. When a bot notifies you it's done, acknowledge and shut down that bot
-7. When ALL children are complete, mark your parent bead complete
+7. Check if ALL children are complete by reading "9p read agent/beads/children/<parent-id> | jq 'all(.status == \"closed\")'"
+8. Only mark the parent bead complete when all children have status==closed
 
 Core skills: beads, anvillm-communication
 
diff --git a/internal/p9/beads.go b/internal/p9/beads.go
index 5134f8f..830e64c 100644
--- a/internal/p9/beads.go
+++ b/internal/p9/beads.go
@@ -317,13 +317,13 @@ func (b *BeadsFS) readBeadProperty(beadID, property string) ([]byte, error) {
 }
 
 func (b *BeadsFS) getBlockers(id string) ([]string, error) {
-	deps, err := b.store.GetDependencies(b.ctx, id)
+	deps, err := b.store.GetDependenciesWithMetadata(b.ctx, id)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	var blockers []string
 	for _, dep := range deps {
-		if dep.Status != bd.StatusClosed {
+		if dep.DependencyType == bd.DepBlocks && dep.Status != bd.StatusClosed {
 			blockers = append(blockers, dep.ID)
 		}
 	}
@@ -503,22 +503,7 @@ func (b *BeadsFS) createSubtask(parentID, title, description, actor string) erro
 		Priority:    2,
 	}
 
-	if err := b.store.CreateIssue(b.ctx, issue, actor); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// Add parent-child dependency (parent is blocked by child)
-	dep := &bd.Dependency{
-		IssueID:     parentID,
-		DependsOnID: childID,
-		Type:        bd.DepParentChild,
-	}
-	if err := b.store.AddDependency(b.ctx, dep, actor); err != nil {
-		// Issue created but dep failed - not fatal
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	return b.store.CreateIssue(b.ctx, issue, actor)
 }
 
 func parseCtlCommand(cmd string) (string, []string, error) {
diff --git a/skills/beads/SKILL.md b/skills/beads/SKILL.md
index 1a450b5..f285d60 100644
--- a/skills/beads/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/beads/SKILL.md
@@ -96,10 +96,25 @@ echo "new 'Write tests' 'Add test coverage' bd-abc" | 9p write agent/beads/ctl
 ```
 
 ### Checking Blockers
-Read the blockers field to see what's blocking a bead:
+Read the blockers field to see explicit dependencies blocking a bead:
 ```bash
-9p read agent/beads/bd-abc/json | jq .blockers
-# Output: ["bd-abc.1", "bd-abc.2"]
+9p read agent/beads/bd-xyz/json | jq .blockers
+# Output: ["bd-abc"] - only shows explicit dependencies added via "dep" command
+```
+
+**Important**: The blockers field only contains beads added as explicit dependencies using `echo "dep <child> <parent>" | 9p write agent/beads/ctl`. Child beads do NOT appear in the parent's blockers field.
+
+### Checking Outstanding Child Work
+To determine if a parent bead has incomplete child tasks, query the children endpoint and filter by status:
+```bash
+# Get all non-closed children of bd-abc
+9p read agent/beads/children/bd-abc | jq '[.[] | select(.status != "closed")]'
+
+# Count open children
+9p read agent/beads/children/bd-abc | jq '[.[] | select(.status != "closed")] | length'
+
+# Check if any children remain open
+9p read agent/beads/children/bd-abc | jq 'any(.status != "closed")'
 ```
 
 ### Recommended Workflow
@@ -146,7 +161,7 @@ Each bead JSON contains:
   "priority": 2,
   "issue_type": "task",
   "assignee": "agent-123",
-  "blockers": ["bd-abc.1", "bd-abc.2"],
+  "blockers": [],
   "created_at": "2026-02-20T21:00:00Z",
   "updated_at": "2026-02-20T21:30:00Z"
 }