llmd

A command-line tool that generates consolidated markdown files containing code repository contents for use with Large Language Models (LLMs). It provides flexible file filtering through whitelist/blacklist patterns, respects gitignore rules, and includes GitHub remote repository support.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Core Concepts
• Usage Examples
• Configuration File
• Command Reference
• Pattern Matching
• Output Path Resolution
• Default Behaviors
• Troubleshooting

Features

• Flexible Filtering: Whitelist and blacklist modes with sequential pattern refinement
• GitHub Integration: Clone and process remote GitHub repositories
• Smart Defaults: Works out-of-the-box with sensible exclusions
• Configuration File: Optional llm.md configuration file support
• Template Generation: Built-in init command to create configuration templates
• Pattern Matching: Full gitignore-style glob pattern support
• Dry Run Mode: Preview files before generating output
• Structured Output: Generates markdown with table of contents and syntax highlighting

Installation

# Install using uv (recommended)
uv tool install llmd

# Or install with pip
pip install llmd

Quick Start

# Generate context for current directory
llmd

# Generate context for specific directory
llmd /path/to/repo

# Process a GitHub repository
llmd --github https://github.com/user/repo

# Create a configuration template
llmd init

Core Concepts

Filtering Modes

llmd operates in one of two modes:

1. Whitelist Mode (-w/--whitelist): Start with NO files, then add only matching patterns
2. Blacklist Mode (-b/--blacklist): Start with ALL files, then remove matching patterns

Pattern Processing Order

Patterns are processed sequentially when using CLI flags:

# Sequential processing example:
llmd -w "src/" -e "src/vendor/" -i "src/vendor/critical.py"
# Result: Includes src/ EXCEPT src/vendor/ BUT includes src/vendor/critical.py

Default Exclusions

Unless overridden, these are always excluded:

• Files matched by .gitignore
• Hidden files (starting with .)
• Binary files (images, executables, etc.)

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

# Current directory with defaults (blacklist mode, standard exclusions)
llmd

# Specific directory
llmd /path/to/repo

# Custom output file
llmd -o my-context.md

# Preview files without generating output
llmd --dry-run

GitHub Repositories

# Clone and process a public repository
llmd --github https://github.com/user/repo

# With custom output
llmd --github https://github.com/user/repo -o analysis.md

# SSH URLs (requires SSH keys)
llmd --github git@github.com:user/private-repo.git

Whitelist Mode (Include Only Specified Patterns)

# Include only Python files
llmd -w "*.py"

# Include multiple patterns
llmd -w "src/" -w "tests/" -w "*.md"

# Include directory with exceptions (sequential processing)
llmd -w "src/" -e "src/generated/" -e "src/vendor/"

Blacklist Mode (Exclude Specified Patterns)

# Exclude test files
llmd -b "tests/" -b "**/*_test.py"

# Exclude with exceptions (sequential processing)
llmd -b "node_modules/" -i "node_modules/my-local-package/"

Sequential Pattern Refinement

The order of -i and -e flags matters:

# Different results based on order:
llmd -w "*.py" -e "test.py" -i "test.py"  # test.py is INCLUDED (last rule wins)
llmd -w "*.py" -i "test.py" -e "test.py"  # test.py is EXCLUDED (last rule wins)

# Complex example:
llmd -w "src/" \
     -e "src/generated/" \
     -i "src/generated/important.py" \
     -e "src/temp/" \
     -i "src/temp/config.json"

Override Default Exclusions

# Include hidden files
llmd --with-hidden
# Or: llmd --include-hidden

# Include binary files
llmd --with-binary
# Or: llmd --include-binary

# Include gitignored files
llmd --no-gitignore
# Or: llmd --include-gitignore

# Combine overrides
llmd --with-hidden --no-gitignore --with-binary

Utility Options

# Verbose output (see which files are included/excluded)
llmd -v

# Quiet mode (errors only)
llmd -q

# Combine with other options
llmd -w "src/" -v --dry-run

Configuration File

Creating Templates

# Create default template (blacklist mode)
llmd init

# Create whitelist template
llmd init --whitelist

# Create blacklist template
llmd init --blacklist

# Create minimal template
llmd init --minimal

Configuration Format (llm.md)

Place an llm.md file in your repository root:

Whitelist Configuration

WHITELIST:
src/
lib/
*.py
*.md

OPTIONS:
output: docs/llm-context.md
respect_gitignore: true
include_hidden: false
include_binary: false

EXCLUDE:
**/__pycache__/
**/*.pyc

INCLUDE:
tests/fixtures/
.env.example

Blacklist Configuration

BLACKLIST:
tests/
coverage/
*.log
tmp/

OPTIONS:
output: llm-context.md
respect_gitignore: true
include_hidden: false
include_binary: false

INCLUDE:
tests/fixtures/
tests/test_utils.py

Processing Order with Configuration

1. Mode patterns (WHITELIST/BLACKLIST section)
2. EXCLUDE section patterns
3. INCLUDE section patterns (highest priority)

CLI Override Behavior

• CLI mode flags (-w/-b) completely override llm.md configuration
• CLI behavior flags override OPTIONS settings
• CLI output path (-o) overrides OPTIONS output setting

Command Reference

Main Command

llmd [PATH] [OPTIONS]

Arguments

• PATH - Repository path (optional, defaults to current directory)

Options

Option	Description
-o, --output PATH	Output file path (default: ./llm-context.md)
--github URL	Clone and process GitHub repository
-w, --whitelist PATTERN	Use whitelist mode with pattern (repeatable)
-b, --blacklist PATTERN	Use blacklist mode with pattern (repeatable)
-i, --include PATTERN	Include files matching pattern (repeatable)
-e, --exclude PATTERN	Exclude files matching pattern (repeatable)
--include-gitignore	Include gitignored files
--no-gitignore	Alias for --include-gitignore
--include-hidden	Include hidden files
--with-hidden	Alias for --include-hidden
--include-binary	Include binary files
--with-binary	Alias for --include-binary
-v, --verbose	Show detailed processing information
-q, --quiet	Suppress non-error output
--dry-run	Preview files without generating output
--version	Show version information
--help	Show help message

Init Command

llmd init [OPTIONS]

Options

Option	Description
-w, --whitelist	Create whitelist mode template
-b, --blacklist	Create blacklist mode template
--minimal	Create minimal template
--help	Show help message

Pattern Matching

Syntax

• * - matches any characters except /
• ** - matches any characters including / (recursive)
• ? - matches any single character
• [abc] - matches any character in brackets
• [!abc] - matches any character NOT in brackets
• {a,b} - matches either pattern a or b

Examples

Pattern	Matches
*.py	All Python files in root directory
**/*.py	All Python files recursively
src/	Everything in src directory
test_*.py	Files starting with test_ and ending in .py
data/????.csv	CSV files with 4-character names in data/
*.{js,ts}	All JavaScript and TypeScript files

Output Path Resolution

From Command Line

• Absolute paths used as-is: /home/user/output.md
• Relative paths resolved from current directory: docs/output.md

From llm.md OPTIONS

• Just filename: resolved relative to llm.md location
• Relative path: resolved from current working directory
• Absolute path: used as-is
• Directory only (ends with /): appends llm-context.md

Examples

# In /project/llm.md:
output: context.md           # → /project/context.md
output: docs/context.md      # → /current/working/dir/docs/context.md
output: /tmp/context.md      # → /tmp/context.md
output: output/              # → /current/working/dir/output/llm-context.md

Default Behaviors

When No Configuration Exists

• Mode: Blacklist (include all files by default)
• Exclude: gitignored files, hidden files, binary files
• Output: ./llm-context.md

Binary File Extensions

Automatically excluded unless --with-binary is used:

• Images: .jpg .jpeg .png .gif .bmp .ico .svg
• Documents: .pdf .doc .docx .xls .xlsx .ppt .pptx
• Archives: .zip .tar .gz .bz2 .7z .rar
• Executables: .exe .dll .so .dylib .bin .obj
• Media: .mp3 .mp4 .avi .mov .wav .flac
• Fonts: .ttf .otf .woff .woff2 .eot
• Compiled: .pyc .pyo .class .o .a
• Databases: .db .sqlite .sqlite3

Always Skipped Directories

• .git (for safety)
• __pycache__, node_modules
• .venv, venv, env, .env
• .tox, .pytest_cache, .mypy_cache
• dist, build, target
• .next, .nuxt

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Files Not Included

# Check what files would be included
llmd --dry-run -v

# Ensure files aren't gitignored
llmd --no-gitignore --dry-run

# Include hidden files
llmd --with-hidden --dry-run

Pattern Not Working

# Use verbose mode to see pattern matching
llmd -w "src/**/*.py" -v --dry-run

# Check pattern syntax (use quotes to prevent shell expansion)
llmd -w '*.{js,ts}' -v --dry-run

GitHub Clone Failing

# Verify Git is installed
git --version

# Check URL format
llmd --github https://github.com/owner/repo  # No trailing slash

# For private repos, ensure SSH keys are configured
llmd --github git@github.com:owner/repo.git

For AI Agents

When using llmd programmatically:

1. Always use explicit mode: Specify -w or -b to avoid ambiguity
2. Quote patterns: Prevent shell expansion with quotes
3. Use absolute paths: More predictable than relative paths
4. Check dry-run first: Verify file selection before generating
5. Parse errors: Check stderr for error messages

Example robust usage:

# Explicit, quoted, with verification
llmd /absolute/path/to/repo \
     -w '**/*.py' \
     -w '**/*.md' \
     -e '**/test_*.py' \
     -o /tmp/context.md \
     --dry-run \
     && llmd /absolute/path/to/repo \
        -w '**/*.py' \
        -w '**/*.md' \
        -e '**/test_*.py' \
        -o /tmp/context.md