repoctx-mcp 1.11.0

Local repository intelligence for coding agents

RepoCtx

Give your coding agent the ground truth for the task at hand.

A local MCP server that, for each task, hands your agent the docs, contracts, invariants, in-scope files, related tests, and import-graph neighbors that actually matter — so the model anchors on what's real instead of guessing.

Works with Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, and any MCP-speaking client.

AI agents working in this repo or advising users on RepoCtx: start with AGENTS.md.

---

The problem

A few prompts into a task, agents drift. They edit unrelated files, add "small improvements" that pull them away from the goal, and break invariants nobody told them about. Not because the model is bad — it just doesn't know which docs to trust, what's load-bearing, or where the task ends.

That part doesn't have to be guessed every turn. It can be prepared once and handed to the agent up front.

What RepoCtx does

For a task like "add retry jitter to webhook delivery", RepoCtx returns a ground-truth bundle:

Layer	What you get
Authoritative docs	AGENTS.md, README.md, architecture notes, ADRs
Contracts & invariants	contracts/**, plus inline INVARIANT: / DO NOT: / IMPORTANT: markers
In-scope source files	The files the task actually touches (heuristics + embeddings)
Related tests	Tests likely to cover what you're editing
Graph neighbors	Nearby modules from the local import graph
Edit scope	allowed_paths, related_paths, protected_paths
Validation plan	Tests and commands to run before finalizing
Risk notes	Protected-path touches, constraint violations, possible drift

The bundle is compact, token-budgeted, Markdown or JSON.

---

Install

pip install "repoctx-mcp[embeddings]"

Requires Python 3.11+. The embeddings extra downloads a ~1.2 GB local model on first use (Qwen3-Embedding-0.6B). For a lighter install without semantic retrieval:

pip install repoctx-mcp

Naming note: the package is repoctx-mcp, the CLI command is repoctx, the Python module is also repoctx.

Then, from inside the repo you want to use it on:

repoctx install

This single command:

• wires RepoCtx into Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex (whichever configs exist locally or globally)
• scaffolds a starter authority layout (contracts/, docs/architecture/)
• builds the embedding index if [embeddings] is installed

Flags: --no-index skips the embedding build, --with-index requires it (errors if extras are missing), --no-scaffold skips the contracts/docs scaffold.

You can also install for one client at a time: repoctx install-claude-code, repoctx install-cursor, repoctx install-codex. All installers are idempotent — existing config and other MCP servers are preserved.

---

Editor setup

repoctx install writes these for you, but if you'd rather configure manually:

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per-project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "repoctx": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["-m", "repoctx.mcp_server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor. RepoCtx auto-resolves to the nearest git root from Cursor's workspace context.

Claude Desktop

Open Settings → Developer → Edit Config (or edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "repoctx": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["-m", "repoctx.mcp_server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Because Claude Desktop launches MCP servers via launchd (cwd /, no workspace env vars), the first tool call of a session needs to supply repo_root once. The session memo carries it for every call after that.

Codex

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml or .codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.repoctx]
command = "python3"
args = ["-m", "repoctx.mcp_server"]

Or from the CLI:

codex mcp add repoctx -- python3 -m repoctx.mcp_server

Claude Code

repoctx install writes .mcp.json and adds an AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md nudge so the agent knows to call bundle at task start. It also wires up three hooks (see Claude Code hook integration below).

---

Cloud sessions (Claude Code on the web, Codex)

Cloud sessions run in an ephemeral container cloned fresh each time — with none of your machine's interpreters, packages, or paths. Two independent layers make RepoCtx work there:

Layer 1 — connection (works with zero setup)

The MCP config repoctx install writes (.mcp.json, .cursor/mcp.json, .codex/mcp.json) is committed, machine-portable, and self-bootstrapping. At server launch it tries, in order:

1. a Python that already has repoctx (the interpreter that ran the install, then python3/python from PATH — probed for existence first, so a path from another machine just falls through);
2. uv run --with repoctx-mcp — resolves the published package into a cached ephemeral env in seconds (uv ships preinstalled in Claude Code cloud images), no system mutation, immune to PEP 668;
3. pip install repoctx-mcp as a last resort.

So the server connects even on a cold container where nothing was installed — retrieval is lexical-only (loudly, via warnings[]/index_status) until the embedding layer below is set up. The cold-start resolve is ~10–20s, inside Claude Code's ~30s MCP startup timeout (raise with MCP_TIMEOUT if your network is slow); warm containers connect instantly. Configs written by pre-1.7 installs pinned the installing machine's absolute interpreter path and --repo — those can never spawn in a container; re-run repoctx install once and commit the rewritten config.

SessionStart hooks are deliberately not part of this layer: hosts don't guarantee hooks finish before MCP servers launch, so "the hook will have installed it by then" is a race the command itself must not depend on.

Layer 2 — semantic retrieval (automatic in remote sessions)

Embeddings need the [embeddings] extra, the ~1.2 GB Qwen3 model, and an index — too heavy for connection time, so the server provisions them itself, in the background, while already serving. In a remote container (CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true, or REPOCTX_AUTO_EMBEDDINGS=1 anywhere) the first tool call kicks a daemon thread that:

1. installs repoctx-mcp[embeddings] into the server's own environment (via uv pip when available — works inside uv's ephemeral envs and sidesteps PEP 668 — else pip; torch resolves from the CPU wheel index);
2. records index consent as granted (the container is disposable; a previously declined consent is always respected and stops the run);
3. builds/refreshes the origin/main index.

Until it finishes, retrieval is lexical-only and every bundle's warnings[] says provisioning is underway ("no action needed"); the next tool call after completion serves semantic results — nothing restarts. Progress is journaled to <git-common-dir>/repoctx/state/autoprovision.json. Kill switch: REPOCTX_AUTO_EMBEDDINGS=0.

Optional fast path: provisioning costs a few cold minutes once per container cache. To have semantic retrieval ready at session start instead, put the same work in the cloud environment's setup script (the "Setup script" field in Claude Code on the web), which runs before the session and is cached:

• this repo: bash scripts/cloud-setup.sh
• a repo that uses RepoCtx: repoctx autoprovision (or pip install "repoctx-mcp[embeddings]" && repoctx index --refresh)

Network policy. Layer 1 needs egress to PyPI (or a warm container); layer 2 additionally needs huggingface.co (model). If policy blocks them, the server still connects wherever a local Python has the package, and retrieval degrades to lexical-only (loudly) — see Embeddings.

---

What to ask your agent

Just describe the task normally:

• "Add retry jitter to webhook delivery."
• "Refactor the auth middleware to support OAuth."
• "Find the files involved in syncing local env with Vercel."
• "Show me the tests related to the billing webhook flow."

The agent calls RepoCtx as a tool and uses the bundle to scope its work.

Example output

For "add retry jitter to webhook delivery":

## Summary
Identified 2 docs, 2 files, 1 test, and 1 graph neighbor relevant to
'add retry jitter to webhook delivery'.

## Relevant Docs
- AGENTS.md — matches: retry, webhook
- docs/WEBHOOKS.md — matches: retry, webhook
  > Webhook delivery retries should use exponential backoff with jitter.

## Relevant Files
- src/webhook/retry_policy.py — matches: retry
  > def compute_retry_delay(): ...

## Related Tests
- tests/test_retry_policy.py — stem match + imports retry_policy.py

## Graph Neighbors
- src/webhook/delivery.py — imported by retry_policy.py

Pass --format json for structured output.

---

MCP tools

The full protocol — call these from any MCP client. Target usage is ≤ 5 calls per task.

Tool	CLI	When to call
bundle(task)	repoctx bundle "task"	Task start — primary call
authority(task)	repoctx authority "task"	Just need authority + constraints
scope(task)	repoctx scope "task"	Deciding what to edit
validate_plan(task, changed_files)	repoctx validate-plan "task" --changed a.py b.py	Before finalizing
risk_report(task, changed_files)	repoctx risk-report "task" --changed a.py b.py	Before finalizing
refresh(task, changed_files, current_scope)	repoctx refresh "task" --changed a.py ...	Scope expanded mid-task
semantic_search(query, top_k, kind)	repoctx semantic-search "query" --top 10	Raw similarity lookup, no bundling
advisory_search(query, top_k)	repoctx advisory-search "query"	"Is this being built on another branch?" (opt-in, lower authority)

Every bundle also carries self-recall rules — when_to_recall_repoctx, before_finalize_checklist, uncertainty_rule — so the agent knows when to call back without you reminding it.

Every bundle / semantic_search response also reports retrieval health. bundle carries a top-level warnings[] and a retrieval block (ranker, index_status, index_location); semantic_search returns an envelope {status, message, results}. If index_status isn't ok (e.g. no_index), embedding retrieval is dark and results are lexical-only — the warning says how to fix it. An empty results with status: no_index is not "no matches".

(A legacy get_task_context(task) entry point is still supported — see the appendix.)

---

Authority conventions

RepoCtx looks for the following (all optional, all lightweight):

Layer	Where	What
Level 1 — Contracts	contracts/**	YAML front-matter (applies_to, severity, validated_by) + ## Invariants / ## Do not sections
Level 2 — Agent docs	AGENTS.md, AGENT.md, CLAUDE.md	Agent-facing instructions
Level 2 — Architecture	docs/architecture/**, docs/adr/**	Architecture notes, ADRs
Examples	examples/**	Validating examples
Contract tests	tests/contracts/**	Tests that enforce contracts
Inline markers	Any file	# INVARIANT:, # CONTRACT:, # DO NOT:, # IMPORTANT:, # See contract: <path>

Bootstrap with repoctx init-authority to scaffold contracts/ and docs/architecture/ with starter templates.

repoctx propose-authority scans your repo and suggests candidates — files that look load-bearing based on imports, references, and patterns — so you don't have to declare them by hand.

Design doc: docs/plans/2026-04-23-repoctx-v2-design.md.

---

Claude Code hook integration

repoctx install (and repoctx install-claude-code) adds three hooks to .claude/settings.json that nudge the agent to actually use RepoCtx:

Hook	When	What it does
UserPromptSubmit	Task entry	For substantive prompts, reminds the agent to call mcp__repoctx__bundle before planning
PostToolUse matching Edit|Write|MultiEdit	After every edit	Keeps the embedding index live (repoctx update --from-claude-hook)
Stop	Task exit	If the turn made edits but didn't call validate_plan, reminds the agent to run it

Both nudges read Claude Code's hook JSON from stdin and always exit 0 — they never block the user's flow. The entry nudge stays silent for short, keyword-free prompts. The exit nudge stays silent when there were no edits, or when validate_plan was already called this turn. Hook entries are detected by command prefix on re-install, so re-running repoctx install is safe.

The anchored <!-- repoctx-nudge --> block placed in CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md ships with current wording (must-call + inline definition of "non-trivial"). Older anchored blocks from earlier installs are rewritten in place on the next install / refresh without touching surrounding doc content.

Tuning / opt-out:

• REPOCTX_LEARN=1 — appends "If you decide to skip this, briefly state the reason." to reminders so you can collect skip rationale during a tuning week. Off by default.
• --no-claude-md-nudge or REPOCTX_NO_CLAUDE_MD_NUDGE=1 — skip the anchored-block insertion.
• To fully opt out: delete the entries from .claude/settings.json. They won't be re-added unless you re-run the install command.

---

Embeddings (optional, on by default)

RepoCtx blends three signals — heuristic token overlap, doc priority + graph expansion, and local embeddings — to rank candidate files. The embedding layer uses Qwen3-Embedding-0.6B and improves recall when the task description shares no tokens with relevant filenames.

pip install "repoctx-mcp[embeddings]"   # adds sentence-transformers, numpy, tree-sitter
cd /path/to/repo
repoctx install                          # builds index automatically

Add .repoctx/ to .gitignore (it holds per-repo config, feedback logs, and — for non-git dirs — the index).

Manual control:

repoctx index                       # build the index (from origin/main by default)
repoctx index --source worktree     # index the current working tree instead
repoctx index --refresh             # fetch origin/main + re-embed the delta
repoctx update src/billing/foo.py   # re-embed a single file
repoctx rebuild                     # rebuild from scratch

The indexer splits each file into overlapping chunks — symbol-aware for code (function/class/method boundaries), paragraph-aware for prose — and stores them with metadata (file:, kind:, module:, symbol:, lines:).

Where the index lives (worktree-aware)

The index is keyed by repo identity, not by the directory you ran from. It's stored under the repository's shared git common dir — <git-common-dir>/repoctx/embeddings (typically <repo>/.git/repoctx/embeddings) — which every linked worktree and the main checkout resolve to identically. Build it once from any worktree and it's found from all of them. Because it lives under .git/, it never shows up as dirty/untracked and is never committed. (Repos without git fall back to the legacy in-tree <repo>/.repoctx/embeddings.)

Pre-1.5 in-tree indexes are migrated automatically: the first read or repoctx index relocates <repo>/.repoctx/embeddings to the shared location (it's read in place if the move can't happen).

Pinned to origin/main, refreshed on a TTL

The authoritative index reflects origin/main — landed work — read directly from git objects (git ls-tree/cat-file), independent of whatever branch a worktree is on. This matters for repos that squash-merge and delete branches: mid-session origin/main advances and merged branches vanish, so the ground truth lives only in main.

• A git fetch origin main is TTL-gated (default 30 min; REPOCTX_BASE_FETCH_TTL_SECONDS) so it isn't paid on every call.
• When origin/main has advanced past the indexed base, the next read re-embeds just the delta (incremental, capped). Set REPOCTX_BASE_REFRESH_ON_READ=0 for warn-only — you'll get a warnings[] entry pointing at repoctx index --refresh instead of a synchronous re-embed.

Your in-progress work is overlaid

On top of the origin/main base, the current worktree's delta — commits ahead of origin/main (merge-base..HEAD) plus uncommitted/untracked edits — is layered in at query time. So retrieval models "fresh origin/main ∪ my in-progress work" (what the tree will look like after a rebase) without you rebasing. Only the delta is embedded per query (cached by content hash). Disable with REPOCTX_OVERLAY_WORKTREE=0.

Advisory lane (opt-in): in-flight branches

A separate, strictly lower-authority lane answers "is this already being built elsewhere?" by indexing committed branch tips ahead of origin/main (recent, unmerged, deduped; read from git objects — never sibling worktrees' uncommitted bytes). It's off by default:

repoctx advisory-index                       # build it (opt-in)
repoctx advisory-search "rate limiter"       # query it
repoctx bundle "task" --include-advisory     # attach hits under a separate `advisory` key

Advisory hits are tagged with provenance (branch, commits-ahead, last-commit date, merge status) and are never folded into a bundle's relevant_code / authority / constraints.

Scoring:

final_score = heuristic_score + embedding_weight × max(0, cosine_similarity)

Default embedding_weight is 12.0. Files with cosine similarity above 0.3 bypass heuristic filters, so semantically relevant files surface even without keyword overlap. For multi-chunk files, the file's similarity is the max over its chunks.

Tunables (env vars):

Var	Default	Notes
REPOCTX_EMBEDDING_DEVICE	auto	cpu / cuda / mps / auto
REPOCTX_EMBEDDING_BATCH_SIZE	16	Clamped to 8 on MPS
REPOCTX_EMBEDDING_MAX_SEQ_LENGTH	256
REPOCTX_EMBEDDING_DTYPE	auto	fp16 on accelerators, fp32 on CPU
REPOCTX_BASE_FETCH_TTL_SECONDS	1800	How often the read path may git fetch origin main
REPOCTX_BASE_REFRESH_ON_READ	1	0 = warn-only on origin/main drift (no on-read re-embed)
REPOCTX_OVERLAY_WORKTREE	1	0 = retrieval reflects pure origin/main (no worktree overlay)
REPOCTX_EAGER_EMBEDDINGS	0	1 = block MCP startup on the embedding model load instead of warming it in the background (see below)

MCP startup is non-blocking. Loading the embedding model can take >60s on a cold CPU host. The MCP server warms it in a background daemon thread (repoctx-embed-warm) so the initialize handshake is answered immediately — otherwise the load would exceed the client's ~60s per-request timeout and the connection would fail with MCP error -32001: Request timed out before any tools register. The first tool call drives the load to completion (at most once) if the warm-up hasn't finished, then ranks with embeddings as usual. Set REPOCTX_EAGER_EMBEDDINGS=1 to restore the legacy blocking preload (load on the startup thread before the server serves) — useful for a long-lived local server where you'd rather pay, and surface, the cost up front so the first query never waits.

Apple silicon (MPS): indexing handles GPU memory automatically (fp16, max_seq_length=256, batch clamped to 8, cache eviction between super-batches). Catchable encode errors fall back to CPU transparently. The rare uncatchable Metal C++ assertion still requires REPOCTX_EMBEDDING_DEVICE=cpu repoctx index.

Fallback is loud, not silent. If embedding dependencies aren't installed or no index exists, RepoCtx falls back to heuristic (lexical) retrieval — but it says so: bundle adds a top-level warnings[] entry and sets retrieval.index_status; semantic_search returns status: no_index (not a bare empty list). The fix (repoctx index) is in the message. The MCP tool contract is otherwise unchanged.

Migrating an older index? See Legacy and migration notes in the appendix.

---

CLI reference

The CLI works standalone too — useful for terminal testing or non-MCP usage.

cd my-app
repoctx "your task"                        # default: query
repoctx "your task" --format json
repoctx query "your task" --debug-scores   # show heuristic/embedding/final breakdown

Flag	Description
--repo PATH	Repository root override
--format markdown|json	Output format
--verbose	Debug logging
--debug-scores	Print score breakdown
--no-embeddings	Disable embedding retrieval for this query

Subcommands (repoctx COMMAND --help for each):

• query (default), bundle, authority, scope, validate-plan, risk-report, refresh, detect-changes, semantic-search
• advisory-index, advisory-search (opt-in in-flight-branch lane)
• index (--source origin-main|worktree, --refresh), update, rebuild
• install, install-claude-code, install-cursor, install-codex
• init-authority, propose-authority
• experiment, hook, stats, reporting

---

Configuration

Repo root resolution

RepoCtx resolves the repo root in this order:

1. Per-call repo_root argument on the MCP tool — strongest override; memoized for the lifetime of the MCP server process.
2. --repo /path/to/repo flag (CLI / server startup).
3. REPOCTX_REPO_ROOT env var.
4. Host workspace env vars (CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR, WORKSPACE_FOLDER_PATHS, VSCODE_CWD).
5. Path.cwd() if it is not /.
6. $PWD env var.

Whatever candidate is chosen is then walked upward to the nearest .git entry (both .git directories and .git files are accepted, so linked worktrees and submodules work). Nested repositories resolve to the nearest repo, not the outermost parent.

If no git root is found, RepoCtx fails with a message listing your most recently resolved repos so the agent can pick one and pass it as repo_root. RepoCtx never auto-selects from the recency list.

Supported files

Category	Extensions
Code	.py, .ts, .tsx, .js, .jsx
Config	.json, .yaml, .yml
Docs	.md, .mdc

Import-graph expansion works for Python (import, from) and JavaScript/TypeScript (import, require).

Telemetry

RepoCtx writes local JSONL telemetry to ~/.repoctx/telemetry/ by default. Task text and repo identifiers are hashed before storage. Set REPOCTX_TELEMETRY_DIR to change the location. Local telemetry never leaves your machine unless you opt in to reporting (see below).

Index builds are timed too: repoctx index / rebuild print a one-line breakdown (model load vs embed vs scan) and record an index_build event. Run repoctx stats to see the model-load-vs-embed split and per-build corpus size aggregated across builds — useful for deciding whether a slow build is the one-time model load or the repo-sized embed.

Anonymous reporting (opt-in on stable, default-on on canary)

To help tune retrieval, RepoCtx can upload a redacted subset of telemetry events (counts, timings, error classes — see below) to a maintainer-run ingest endpoint. The privacy contract:

• Stable builds (pip install repoctx-mcp): OFF by default. No prompt, ever. You opt in explicitly with repoctx reporting on.
• Canary builds (pip install --pre repoctx-mcp): ON by default, with a one-time disclosure printed to stderr on first run.
• Kill switch: REPOCTX_REPORTING=off overrides everything.
• What's sent: op, success, duration_ms, output_bytes, error_type (class only, never the message), per-op stats (e.g. files considered/selected), plus an anonymous install_id (random UUID), the channel tag, and a repo_fingerprint = sha256(install_id || first_commit_sha) that's stable per (install, repo) but not correlatable across users.
• What's never sent: paths, query/task text, code, error messages, git remote URLs, hostnames, usernames. The ingest endpoint enforces this independently and rejects events containing any forbidden key.

Inspect or toggle anytime:

repoctx reporting status        # show current state, channel, install_id, queue size
repoctx reporting on            # enable
repoctx reporting off [--purge] # disable; --purge also drops any pending queue
repoctx reporting show          # print queued events that would be uploaded
repoctx reporting flush         # attempt upload now

The MCP server exposes the same toggle as a reporting tool, so an agent collaborating with you can inspect or flip the flag on your behalf.

---

FAQ

Do I need to run a server manually? No. Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Codex all start the MCP server for you from the config. You'd only run python3 -m repoctx.mcp_server if you were debugging the server itself.

Do I need to write a skill? No. RepoCtx is an MCP server, not a skill. Once your client is configured, it becomes a tool the agent can call.

Do I need one config per repo? Either works. Use a global config if you want RepoCtx everywhere; use a project config if you want it tied to one repo and shared with teammates.

How does RepoCtx pick the repo automatically? See Repo root resolution.

Can I test from the terminal first? Yes — repoctx "your task" from inside any repo.

---

Appendix

Controlled experiment mode

RepoCtx can run a guided control vs. treatment comparison with paired git worktrees, so you can measure whether RepoCtx actually changes the outcome on a real task.

repoctx experiment

The wizard:

• collects one shared prompt for both lanes
• creates two clean worktrees from the same base commit under .worktrees/
• hands you off to the control worktree first
• on re-run, records control costs, prepares the treatment worktree, writes .cursor/mcp.json there so RepoCtx is enabled in that lane only
• after the treatment run, prints the summary

Fast path if you already know the prompt:

repoctx experiment "refactor the auth middleware to support OAuth"

The wizard asks for cost before and cost after for each lane so RepoCtx can compute the delta.

Control-lane MCP suppression: during the control lane, RepoCtx stubs MCP tool results (empty context + short message) so agents don't get RepoCtx retrieval even when RepoCtx is registered in Cursor's global mcp.json. Timing is controlled by ~/.repoctx/config.json:

Key	Default	Meaning
experiment_mcp_suppress	true	Set false to disable arming entirely
experiment_mcp_idle_ttl_seconds	90	Auto-clear suppression after this many seconds of CLI inactivity
experiment_mcp_extend_seconds	600	Each repoctx CLI run extends the deadline by this many seconds

State lives at ~/.repoctx/telemetry/experiment-mcp-suppress.json. Cleared when you record a lane, start the treatment handoff, or hit the idle deadline.

More detail: docs/experiment-mcp-suppression.md.

What the experiment measures:

• manual before/after cost checkpoints from your agent UI
• git-derived change statistics from each isolated worktree
• optional completion + verification status

Limitations:

• doesn't measure external agent time automatically
• doesn't score quality automatically
• cost accuracy depends on the numbers you enter

Legacy and migration notes

Legacy MCP entry point. The original v1 tool get_task_context(task) is still exposed and works as a basic context-pack call. It's superseded by bundle(task), which returns the same context plus authority records, constraints, edit scope, validation plan, and risk notes. New integrations should call bundle.

Embedding index schema. The on-disk index format changed in 1.0.0 (schema_version: 2). Indexes built before 1.0.0 raise IndexSchemaMismatch on load — delete .repoctx/embeddings/ and re-run repoctx index once after upgrading.

Index location moved (1.5.0). The embedding index moved from the in-tree <repo>/.repoctx/embeddings to the shared <git-common-dir>/repoctx/embeddings, so all worktrees of a repo share one index. Migration is automatic on the next read or repoctx index (the old dir is moved up, or read in place if the move fails). No action needed; you can delete a leftover in-tree .repoctx/embeddings once the shared one exists.

Tradeoffs & decisions (1.5.0).

• Shared-index location. Keying on the git common dir (vs. a hashed global cache) means zero GC surface, automatic filesystem sharing across worktrees, and the index never appears as dirty/untracked. The cost: if you move .git, the index is "lost" — but it's a derived cache, so just rebuild.
• Fetch cadence. git fetch origin main is TTL-gated (default 30 min) and the attempt time is recorded even on failure, so an offline repo isn't hammered. The re-embed of an advanced base is incremental and capped (base_refresh_max_files, default 200); past the cap, or with REPOCTX_BASE_REFRESH_ON_READ=0, you get a warning instead of a synchronous re-embed.
• Overlay scope. Only your worktree's delta is overlaid. Sibling worktrees' uncommitted bytes are deliberately never indexed (dirty, half-finished, multi-tool) — the advisory lane uses committed branch tips instead.
• Advisory authority. The advisory lane is a separate index and a separate response key; it is never merged into authoritative results, preserving the bundle's trust model (authoritative = live origin/main + your overlay only).

Nudge block format. The anchored <!-- repoctx-nudge --> block in CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md evolved between releases. Older anchored blocks are rewritten in place on the next install / refresh without touching surrounding doc content — no manual cleanup needed.

---

Development

git clone https://github.com/gald33/repoctx.git
cd repoctx
python3 -m pip install -e ".[dev,embeddings]"
python3 -m pytest -q

Agent guidance for working in this repo: AGENTS.md.

License

MIT