scip-cli 1.1.0

Fast code intelligence via SCIP indexes

scip-cli

Fast code intelligence CLI for TypeScript/JavaScript and Python projects. Query SCIP indexes directly via SQLite for instant results.

Features

• Fast: Direct SQLite queries, eliminating skippable overhead
• Simple: Single binary with subcommands
• Auto-indexing: Automatically indexes projects on first query
• Token-efficient: Clean, minimal output optimized for AI consumption

Installation

1. Install scip-cli

From PyPI:

pip install scip-cli

From source (local development):

git clone https://github.com/flesler/scip-cli.git
cd scip-cli
pip install .

For editable development (where pip install -e . fails due to permissions):

export PYTHONPATH=/path/to/scip-cli:$PYTHONPATH
python -m scip_cli --help

2. Install prerequisites (optional)

scip-cli can automatically download the required indexing tools when needed, or you can install them globally for faster performance:

Option A: Let scip-cli handle it (recommended)

Just use scip-cli - it will automatically download the required tools via npx on first use. No global installation needed.

Option B: Install globally for better performance

# TypeScript/JavaScript indexer (also handles plain JS via --infer-tsconfig)
npm install -g @sourcegraph/scip-typescript

# Python indexer
npm install -g @sourcegraph/scip-python

# SCIP CLI for index conversion
npm install -g @sourcegraph/scip

Verify installation:

scip-cli --help
scip-typescript --version  # Only if you chose Option B
scip --version             # Only if you chose Option B

Usage

All commands are subcommands of scip-cli:

scip-cli <command> [arguments]

Commands

• refs <symbol> - Find all references to a symbol
• def <symbol> - Find symbol definition with source code
• search <pattern> - Search symbols by name pattern
• symbols <file> - List all symbols in a file
• rdeps <file> - Find files that depend on a file
• members <symbol> - List members of a class/interface
• reindex - Force re-indexing of the current project
• skill [path] - Install or dump the SKILL.md

Examples

# Find where useDictation is used
scip-cli refs useDictation

# Get definition of useDictation
scip-cli def useDictation

# Search for symbols matching "Dictation"
scip-cli search Dictation

# List symbols in a file
scip-cli symbols src/hooks/useDictation.ts

# Find files that import from useDictation.ts
scip-cli rdeps src/hooks/useDictation.ts

# List members of a class
scip-cli members UseDictationOptions

# Install skill file
scip-cli skill ~/.claude/skills/scip/SKILL.md

How It Works

1. On first query, automatically detects project language from package.json (TS/JS) or pyproject.toml/setup.py (Python)
2. Indexes using scip-typescript (adds --infer-tsconfig for JS-only projects) or scip-python
3. Converts the SCIP index to SQLite using scip expt-convert
4. Caches the database in ~/.cache/scip-cli/projects/<hash>/index.db
5. Subsequent queries are instant SQLite lookups

Performance

Inspired by scip-query, scip-cli is a lightweight Python reimplementation optimized for speed. Compared to the original bash wrapper scripts:

• refs: 6.4s → 0.03s (213x faster)
• def: 2.8s → 0.05s (56x faster)
• search: 2.6s → 0.03s (87x faster)
• symbols: 0.3s → 0.02s (15x faster)
• rdeps: 0.2s → 0.02s (10x faster)
• members: 3.1s → 0.03s (103x faster)

The speedup comes from direct SQLite queries instead of shell command chains, eliminating subprocess overhead.

Architecture

scip_cli/
├── __init__.py
├── __main__.py    # CLI entry point
├── lib.py         # Core utilities (indexing, symbol resolution)
└── commands/      # Subcommand implementations
    ├── refs.py
    ├── def_cmd.py
    ├── search.py
    ├── symbols.py
    ├── rdeps.py
    ├── members.py
    ├── reindex.py
    └── skill.py

Development

Debug Logging

Set SCIP_CLI_DEBUG=1 to enable SQL query logging to stderr:

SCIP_CLI_DEBUG=1 scip-cli refs MyFunction
# Shows: SQL: SELECT ... | params: (...)

This is useful for testing and debugging SQL queries without exposing a --debug flag to users.

License

MIT