explore
Explore a project's file structure. Returns project metadata, subprojects (if any), and files grouped by directory. Use 'path' to scope to a subdirectory. Files are capped per directory if total exceeds max_entries (default: 200).
LABSCO SUMMARY
The index is a file you commit, so a fresh clone — or a CI runner, or a dependency you installed — already has the map.
That is what separates it from a local cache: .codeindex is plain JSONL in the repository, and a library author can ship it so consumers get navigation of the API with no indexing step. Day to day the payoff is fewer round trips — one query returns the symbol, its file, line range, signature and parent, instead of a grep, a file read and another grep.
What it is
A Rust code indexer with an MCP front end. It parses source with tree-sitter into a .codeindex directory of JSONL files you commit alongside the code, so a fresh clone already knows the codebase.
What you get
- search across symbols, files and prose with BM25 ranking and a real query syntax — implicit AND, | or OR for either, * for prefixes, quotes for exact phrases, NOT to exclude — scoped by kind, path or project
- Prose as its own scope: comments, docstrings and string literals, so you can find a TODO or the exact error message a user reported without matching code that merely mentions it
- explore for a project's shape — metadata, subprojects and files grouped by directory, capped at 200 entries unless you raise it
- get_file_symbols for everything declared in a file, in line order, returned as code snippets
- get_children for the members of a class or module
- get_callers and get_callees to walk the call graph in either direction, sorted by file and line, with the context lines you ask for
- flush_index to persist pending index changes before a git operation
Requirements
Nothing to authorize and no runtime dependencies — it ships as a single binary through npx codeix, uvx codeix, cargo install codeix or brew install codeix. codeix build parses the source and writes the .codeindex directory; running codeix starts the stdio server and watches for changes, codeix serve --no-watch turns the watcher off, and -r points it at another directory. It walks downward and treats every directory containing .git as its own project, so monorepos, sibling repos and submodules need no configuration. Languages: Python, Rust, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Java, C, C++, Ruby, C# and Markdown, with embedded scripts extracted from HTML, Vue, Svelte and Astro files.
Setup effort
One command — npx -y codeix
USE CASES
01
Finding a function without grepping for it
Search the symbol index, then list everything declared in the file it lives in.
02
Seeing what would break if you change something
Find every call site and reference, with enough surrounding lines to judge each one.
03
Understanding what a function depends on
Walk outward from it to everything it calls or references.
04
Getting oriented in a repository you have just cloned
Explore the directory structure and subprojects, then open the files that look central.
05
Finding the TODO or the error message rather than the code
Search the text scope, which covers comments, docstrings and string literals only.
06
Reading a class's members
Pull its direct children as code snippets instead of scrolling the file.
7 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
flush_index
Flush pending index changes to .codeindex/ files on disk. Call this when you need the index persisted (e.g., before git operations). Returns the number of projects flushed.
get_callees
Find all symbols that a given function/method calls or references. Returns references sorted by file and line. Useful for understanding dependencies and call chains.
get_callers
Find all places that call or reference a symbol. Returns references sorted by file and line. Useful for finding callers of a function/method. Note: For struct/class fields and methods, use get_children instead.
get_children
Get direct children of a symbol (e.g. methods of a class). Returns code snippets by default.
get_file_symbols
Get all symbols in a file, ordered by line number. Returns code snippets by default.
search
Search symbols, files, and texts. FTS5 with BM25 ranking.
Query syntax:
foo bar— match both (implicit AND)foo|barorfoo OR bar— match eitherfoo*— prefix (matches fooBar, fooHandler)"exact phrase"— literal matchfoo NOT test— exclude term
Tip: Use | to search multiple terms efficiently: handler|middleware|context
Params: query (required), limit (default 10), snippet_lines (default 10)
Optional filters: scope, kind, path, project, visibility
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
7 tools when we connected. search_symbols, search_files and search_texts were replaced by search, and get_project_commands and get_project_docs are only proposals.
Requires
npx on PATH
Where it runs
Both documented clients run the server on your machine.
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 7 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y codeixMCP Clients
Claude Desktop, Cursor
This runs the codeix binary from your PATH, and npx -y codeix does not put it there. Install it first — brew install codeix or cargo install codeix, both from the project's install list.
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"codeix": {
"command": "codeix"
}
}
}
