codecrate 0.3.2

Pack Python codebases into Markdown optimized for LLM context delivery (pack/unpack/patch/apply)

codecrate

codecrate turns a Python repository into a Markdown "context pack" optimized for LLM consumption, with full round-trip support:

• pack: repo → context.md
• unpack: context.md → reconstructed files
• patch: old context.md + current repo → diff-only patch.md
• apply: patch.md → apply changes to repo

Features

• Markdown-native output: Generates self-contained Markdown files with syntax highlighting
• Symbol index: Quick navigation to functions and classes
• Deduplication: Optionally deduplicate identical function bodies to save tokens
• Two layout modes:
  • stubs: Compact file stubs with function bodies in a separate "Function Library"
  • full: Complete file contents (no stubbing)
• Round-trip support: Reconstruct original files exactly from Markdown packs
• Diff generation: Create minimal patch Markdown files showing only changed code
• Baseline-aware patches: Patch metadata binds diffs to baseline file hashes; apply refuses mismatched baselines
• Gitignore support: Respect .gitignore when scanning files
• Tool ignore support: Respect .codecrateignore (always)
• Targeted packing: Optional --stdin / --stdin0 mode to pack an explicit file list
• Include presets: python-only, python+docs (default), everything
• Debug visibility: Optional --print-files and --print-skipped diagnostics
• Token diagnostics: Optional CLI token reports (encoding, tree, top files)
• Scale controls: Per-file skip budgets and hard total budgets (bytes/tokens)
• Machine header: Compact checksum block for fast manifest validation
• Tooling manifests: Optional JSON manifest sidecar output (--manifest-json)
• Safety controls: Configurable path/content scanning rules, optional redaction, optional safety report
• Environment diagnostics: codecrate doctor reports config precedence, ignore files, and backend availability
• CLI ergonomics: --version, pack --print-rules, and baseline policy flags for apply

Installation

pip install -e .

Or for development:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Quick Start

Pack a Repository

Pack your current directory into context.md:

codecrate pack .

Pack with specific output file:

codecrate pack . -o my_project.md

Unpack to Reconstruct Files

Reconstruct files from a packed Markdown:

codecrate unpack context.md -o reconstructed/

Generate and Apply Patches

1. Pack your repository as a baseline:

codecrate pack . -o baseline.md

2. Make changes to your code

3. Generate a patch:

codecrate patch baseline.md . -o changes.md

4. Apply the patch:

codecrate apply changes.md .

Configuration

Codecrate reads config from the repository root with this precedence:

1. CLI flags
2. .codecrate.toml / codecrate.toml
3. pyproject.toml under [tool.codecrate]

Create a .codecrate.toml or codecrate.toml file in your repository root:

[codecrate]
# File patterns to include (default: ["**/*.py"])
include = ["**/*.py"]

# Include preset fallback when `include` is not set:
# "python-only" | "python+docs" | "everything"
include_preset = "python+docs"

# File patterns to exclude
exclude = ["**/test_*.py", "**/tests/**"]

# Deduplicate identical function bodies (default: false)
dedupe = true

# Keep docstrings in stubbed file view (default: true)
keep_docstrings = true

# Respect .gitignore when scanning (default: true)
respect_gitignore = true

# Always respected when present (separate file, gitignore syntax):
# .codecrateignore

# Output layout: "auto", "stubs", or "full" (default: "auto")
# - auto: use stubs only if dedupe collapses something
# - stubs: always use stubs + Function Library
# - full: emit complete file contents
layout = "auto"

# Navigation density: "auto", "compact", or "full"
# - auto: compact for unsplit packs, full when split outputs are requested
nav_mode = "auto"

# Optional non-Python symbol extraction backend: auto|python|tree-sitter|none
# (Python files always use built-in AST parsing)
symbol_backend = "auto"

# Text decode policy when reading files: "replace" or "strict"
encoding_errors = "replace"

# Sensitive file filtering
security_check = true
security_content_sniff = false
security_redaction = false
safety_report = false
security_path_patterns = [".env", "*.pem", "*secrets*"]
security_content_patterns = [
  "private-key=(?i)-----BEGIN\\s+[A-Z ]*PRIVATE KEY-----",
  "aws-access-key-id=\\b(?:AKIA|ASIA)[0-9A-Z]{16}\\b",
]

# Split output into multiple files if char count exceeds this (0 = no split)
split_max_chars = 0

# Token diagnostics (CLI stderr output only; not written into context.md)
token_count_encoding = "o200k_base"
token_count_tree = false
token_count_tree_threshold = 0
top_files_len = 5

# Scale / performance controls
# - per-file limits skip files with a warning
# - total limits fail the run when exceeded
max_file_bytes = 0
max_total_bytes = 0
max_file_tokens = 0
max_total_tokens = 0

# Worker threads for IO/parsing/token counting (0 = auto)
max_workers = 0
file_summary = true

Command Reference

pack - Pack Repository to Markdown

codecrate pack <root> [OPTIONS]

Options:

• -o, --output PATH: Output markdown path (default: context.md)
• --dedupe / --no-dedupe: Enable or disable deduplication
• --layout {auto,stubs,full}: Output layout mode
• --nav-mode {auto,compact,full}: Navigation density mode
• --symbol-backend {auto,python,tree-sitter,none}: Non-Python symbol backend
• --keep-docstrings / --no-keep-docstrings: Keep docstrings in stubs
• --respect-gitignore / --no-respect-gitignore: Respect .gitignore
• --security-check / --no-security-check: Scan for sensitive files (set --no-security-check to skip scanning for sensitive data like API keys and passwords)
• --security-content-sniff / --no-security-content-sniff: Optional content sniffing for key/token patterns
• --security-redaction / --no-security-redaction: Redact flagged files instead of skipping them
• --safety-report / --no-safety-report: Include Safety Report section in output
• --security-path-pattern PATTERN: Override path rule set (repeatable)
• --security-content-pattern RULE: Override content rule set (repeatable; name=regex or regex)
• --include GLOB: Include glob pattern (repeatable)
• --include-preset {python-only,python+docs,everything}: Select include preset
• --exclude GLOB: Exclude glob pattern (repeatable)
• --stdin: Read file paths from stdin (one per line)
• --stdin0: Read file paths from stdin as NUL-separated entries
• --print-files: Debug-print selected files after filtering
• --print-skipped: Debug-print skipped files and reasons
• --print-rules: Debug-print effective include/exclude/ignore/safety rules
• --split-max-chars N: Split output into .partN.md files
• --token-count-tree [threshold]: Show file tree with token counts; optional threshold shows only files with >=N tokens (for example, --token-count-tree 100)
• --top-files-len N: Show top N largest files by token count
• --token-count-encoding NAME: Tokenizer encoding for token counting
• --file-summary / --no-file-summary: Enable or disable pack summary output
• --max-file-bytes N: Skip files above this byte limit
• --max-total-bytes N: Fail if included files exceed this byte limit
• --max-file-tokens N: Skip files above this token limit
• --max-total-tokens N: Fail if included files exceed this token limit
• --max-workers N: Max worker threads for IO/parsing/token counting
• --manifest-json [PATH]: Write manifest JSON for tooling
• --encoding-errors {replace,strict}: UTF-8 decode policy for input files

When --stdin/--stdin0 is used, only explicitly listed files are considered. Include globs are not applied, but exclude patterns and ignore files still apply. Outside-root and missing entries are skipped (see --print-skipped). With --print-skipped, explicit-file filtering also reports reasons such as not-a-file, outside-root, duplicate, ignored, and excluded.

By default, codecrate prints a compact pack summary (total files, total tokens, total chars, output path). Disable it with --no-file-summary or file_summary = false in config.

If tokenization backend initialization fails, codecrate falls back to heuristic token counting and still prints top-N largest file summaries.

Code fences are automatically widened when file content contains backticks, so generated markdown remains parsable.

When redaction is enabled, flagged files are kept in the pack with masked content. Use --safety-report to include file-level actions/reasons (skipped/redacted).

unpack - Reconstruct Files from Markdown

codecrate unpack <markdown> -o <out-dir>

Options:

• -o, --out-dir PATH: Output directory for reconstructed files (required)
• --strict: Fail when marker-based reconstruction cannot be fully resolved

For combined packs (multiple # Repository: ... sections), files are unpacked to <out-dir>/<repo-slug>/... per repository section.

patch - Generate Diff-Only Patch

codecrate patch <old_markdown> <root> [--repo <label-or-slug>] [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --repo <label-or-slug>: Required when <old_markdown> contains multiple # Repository: sections; selects which repository baseline to diff against
• -o, --output PATH: Output patch markdown (default: patch.md)
• --encoding-errors {replace,strict}: UTF-8 decode policy for baseline/current files

apply - Apply Patch to Repository

codecrate apply <patch_markdown> <root> [--repo <label-or-slug>] [--dry-run] [--check-baseline|--ignore-baseline] [--encoding-errors {replace,strict}]

When <patch_markdown> contains multiple # Repository: sections, --repo is required to select one section.

Use --dry-run to parse and validate hunks without writing files. Baseline policy flags:

• --check-baseline: require metadata + verify baseline hashes
• --ignore-baseline: skip baseline verification

Default behavior verifies baseline hashes when metadata exists.

validate-pack - Validate Pack

codecrate validate-pack <markdown> [--root PATH] [--strict] [--json]

Options:

• --root PATH: Optional repo root to compare reconstructed files against
• --strict: Treat unresolved marker mapping as validation errors
• --json: Emit machine-readable report (ok, counts, errors, warnings)
• --encoding-errors {replace,strict}: UTF-8 decode policy for pack/root file reads

For combined packs, validation runs per repository section and reports scope-aware errors/warnings grouped by section, with short reproduction hints. Cross-repo anchor collisions are reported as errors.

If a pack was created with --no-manifest, machine operations (unpack, patch, validate-pack) fail with a consistent hint to re-pack with manifest enabled.

doctor - Environment Diagnostics

codecrate doctor [root]

Reports:

• config discovery and precedence (.codecrate.toml > codecrate.toml > pyproject.toml)
• detected ignore files (.gitignore, .codecrateignore)
• token backend availability and encoding probe
• optional parsing backend availability (tree-sitter)

Layout Modes

Stubs Mode (Default for auto when dedupe is effective)

Creates compact file stubs with function bodies replaced by markers:

def f(x):
    ...  # ↪ FUNC:v1:0F203CE2

class C:
    def m(self):
        ...  # ↪ FUNC:v1:6F8ECF73

Function bodies are stored in a separate "Function Library" section:

## Function Library

### 0F203CE2 — `a.f` (a.py:L1–L2)

```python
def f(x):
    return x + 1
```

6F8ECF73 — a.C.m (a.py:L5–L6)

    def m(self):
        return 42

This is ideal for:
- LLMs with limited context windows
- Repositories with duplicate code (when using `--dedupe`)
- Code review and analysis workflows

### Full Mode

Emits complete file contents without stubbing:

```python
def f(x):
    return x + 1

class C:
    def m(self):
        return 42

This is ideal for:

• Repositories without much duplicate code
• When you need complete context in one place
• When token limits are not a concern

Workflow Example

Initial Pack

# Create a baseline pack of your repository
codecrate pack . -o baseline.md

# Send baseline.md to an LLM for analysis
# LLM can navigate using the Symbol Index
# and read full code in the Files section

Iterate with LLM

# After the LLM suggests changes, generate a patch
codecrate patch baseline.md . -o iteration1.md

# Send iteration1.md to the LLM (much smaller than full pack)
# Apply the LLM's changes
codecrate apply iteration1.md .

# Create new baseline for next iteration
codecrate pack . -o baseline.md

Advanced Usage

Version

codecrate --version

Packing Multiple Projects

# Pack different directories separately
codecrate pack src/backend -o backend.md
codecrate pack src/frontend -o frontend.md

# Or pack with specific include patterns
codecrate pack . --include "**/*.py" --exclude "**/migrations/**"

Handling Large Contexts

# Split into multiple files to fit context windows
codecrate pack . --split-max-chars 50000

# This creates context.md, context.part1.md, context.part2.md, etc.

# Skip single huge files, but fail if remaining total is still too large
codecrate pack . --max-file-bytes 200000 --max-total-bytes 4000000

# Same idea for token budgets
codecrate pack . --max-file-tokens 5000 --max-total-tokens 120000

Deduplication

# Enable deduplication to save tokens on duplicate code
codecrate pack . --dedupe

# Deduplication is most effective when you have:
# - Copy-pasted functions
# - Boilerplate code
# - Similar utility functions across modules

How It Works

1. Discovery: Scans files according to include/exclude patterns
2. Parsing: Extracts symbol information (functions, classes) using Python's AST
3. Packing: Creates a structured manifest and canonical function definitions
4. Rendering: Generates Markdown with directory tree, symbol index, and file contents
5. Validation: Ensures round-trip consistency with SHA256 checksums

Format Invariants

• Pack format version: codecrate.v4
• Patch metadata format: codecrate.patch.v1
• Manifest JSON format: codecrate.manifest-json.v1
• Exactly one codecrate-machine-header and one codecrate-manifest fence per repository section
• Ordering is deterministic by normalized relative path and stable ID ordering

The Markdown format is designed to be:

• Self-contained: All necessary information in one file
• Navigable: Symbol index with jump links
• Reversible: Can reconstruct original files exactly
• Diff-friendly: Easy to generate minimal patches

License

MIT Include selection precedence:

1. explicit --include
2. explicit --include-preset
3. config include
4. config include_preset
5. built-in default (python+docs)