GitHits CLI

The code context layer for AI coding agents.

skills.sh

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GitHits connects AI coding agents to public open-source evidence across the full software development lifecycle: discovery, planning, research, implementation, debugging, and maintenance.

The CLI runs a local MCP server that your coding tool starts on demand. Agents can then search indexed package and repository source, read exact files and documentation pages, inspect package health, compare dependency upgrades, and find source-cited examples from real open-source projects when model knowledge and local repository context are not enough.

Want to use GitHits as part of your agent harness or software factory? Check out our public API documentation.

Quick Start

npx githits@latest init

init signs you in, detects supported coding tools, and configures GitHits for the tools you select. It uses the local stdio MCP except for Cursor, whose direct setup uses the hosted remote MCP.

Automatic setup currently supports Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code / Copilot, Cline, Claude Desktop, Codex CLI, Pi, Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity, OpenCode, Hermes Agent, Zed, Junie, Qwen Code, Kiro, Kilo Code, Factory Droid, and Amazon Q CLI.

After setup, open your coding agent and work normally. Many agents call GitHits when they need source-backed context. If your agent starts guessing, prompt it directly:

Use GitHits Code Navigation to inspect npm:express. Find how middleware
errors are handled, read the relevant source, and explain the fix before
editing code.

What GitHits Adds

GitHits is designed for the point where an agent needs evidence from the broader open-source ecosystem, not just model memory or local repo context:

Use GitHits when your agent needs to:

• discover, plan, or research how OSS projects solve a vague issue or unfamiliar error
• find broad prior art or rare needle-in-the-haystack examples across repositories
• inspect source, tests, symbols, or docs for a known package or repository
• verify how a dependency actually behaves before changing code
• debug stack traces that point into third-party code
• review package health, licenses, vulnerabilities, dependencies, and changelogs
• compare dependency upgrades using factual evidence

Examples

Find prior art across open source:

npx githits@latest example "HTTP retries with exponential backoff in Python"

Search indexed code, docs, and symbols for a dependency:

npx githits@latest search "router middleware" --in npm:express
npx githits@latest search '"body parser" OR multer' --in npm:express --source docs
npx githits@latest search "debounce" --in npm:lodash --source symbol

Read and grep dependency source without cloning:

npx githits@latest code files npm:express lib
npx githits@latest code read npm:express lib/router/index.js --lines 120-200
npx githits@latest code grep npm:express "router.use" lib --regex

Inspect package health and upgrade evidence:

npx githits@latest pkg info npm:express
npx githits@latest pkg vulns npm:lodash@4.17.20 --severity high
npx githits@latest pkg deps npm:express@4.18.2 --depth 2
npx githits@latest pkg changelog npm:express --from 4.18.2 --to 5.2.1
npx githits@latest pkg upgrade-review npm:zod@4.3.6 --to 4.4.3

Browse and read package documentation:

npx githits@latest docs list npm:express
npx githits@latest docs read <docs-read-target> --lines 20-80

Experimental Tools

GitHits 0.10 adds two opt-in local tools for early dogfooding:

• resolve_target / githits resolve turns a fuzzy or ambiguous package, repository, or documentation-site name into grouped canonical targets with related project identities kept together.
• code_diff / githits code diff compares repository trees resolved from exact package versions or public GitHub refs.

They are hidden and disabled by default. They are available only through the local githits CLI and local stdio MCP server; the hosted MCP and plugin or extension installs keep the stable tool set. Enable them in the GitHits host config, then restart the coding agent so it restarts the local MCP server:

# macOS/Linux: ~/.config/githits/config.toml
# Windows: %APPDATA%\githits\config.toml
[experimental]
tools = true

See Experimental tools for platform-specific config discovery, CLI examples, limitations, and how to disable the tools.

Supported Sources

GitHits works with package and repository targets such as:

• package specs: npm:react, npm:react@18.2.0, pypi:requests, crates:serde
• GitHub repos: https://github.com/expressjs/express, github:expressjs/express#main

Package inspection supports npm, PyPI, Hex, Crates, NuGet, Maven, Packagist, RubyGems, Go, Swift, vcpkg, and Zig. Advisory data is unavailable for vcpkg and Zig; dependency graph support varies by registry.

License Filtering

Code example search supports license filtering:

• strict is the default and filters repositories with copyleft or undeclared licenses
• custom uses your account blocklist configured at githits.com
• yolo disables license filtering

npx githits@latest example "async file reading" --lang python --license strict

Authentication

Normal local setup is handled by:

npx githits@latest init

For manual login:

npx githits@latest login

Browser OAuth is recommended for local development. Credentials are stored in the system keychain by default and refreshed automatically. Useful flags:

• init --no-browser or login --no-browser prints the login URL instead of launching a browser
• init --port <port> or login --port <port> fixes the loopback callback port
• login --force re-authenticates even if you are already logged in

The OAuth callback always listens on the machine where GitHits is running. When GitHits runs over SSH and the browser runs locally, forward the selected port from the browser machine:

ssh -N -L 8765:127.0.0.1:8765 user@remote-host

With that tunnel open, run GitHits on the remote machine using the same port:

npx githits@latest init --no-browser --port 8765

Open the URL printed by GitHits in the local browser. Replace user@remote-host with the SSH destination you normally use. The same flags work with githits login after setup.

Browser OAuth is interactive. For CI and other unattended environments, supply GITHITS_API_TOKEN through the environment's secret manager.

Keychain Prompts and File Storage

GitHits uses the system keychain by default because OAuth credentials include a refresh token. On macOS this means Keychain Access; on Windows it means Credential Manager; on Linux it means the available Secret Service or keyring backend.

If macOS shows a prompt such as "githits wants to access ... in your keychain", choose Always Allow when you trust the installed githits CLI. GitHits cannot customize that operating-system prompt; it is generated by macOS.

GitHits also writes a small non-secret metadata file so recent startup checks do not need to read the keychain. The keychain is only read when GitHits needs the token, for example during a tool call, token refresh, githits auth status, or a login check after metadata is stale or expired.

If your agent keeps showing keychain prompts even after Always Allow, switch OAuth storage to file mode:

# macOS/Linux: ~/.config/githits/config.toml, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/githits/config.toml
# Windows: %APPDATA%\githits\config.toml
[auth]
storage = "file"

The config directory may be empty until you create config.toml or GitHits writes auth metadata. Older macOS installs may have used ~/Library/Application Support/githits; GitHits still reads that location for migration, but new auth config and file storage use ~/.config/githits.

You can also opt in for one process:

GITHITS_AUTH_STORAGE=file githits login --force

File mode stores OAuth credentials as JSON files under the GitHits config directory. The files are written with private permissions where the platform supports it, but they are not encrypted. Any process that can read files as your operating-system user may be able to read the tokens.

Use file mode only on machines where you trust local user-account access. For CI and automation, prefer GITHITS_API_TOKEN instead of browser OAuth.

Inspect auth and runtime state with:

npx githits@latest auth status
npx githits@latest doctor

See the authentication docs for keychain behavior, file storage mode, CI setup, and troubleshooting.

Manual MCP Setup

If your coding tool is not auto-configured by init, add GitHits to its MCP configuration manually:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "githits": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "githits@latest", "mcp", "start"]
    }
  }
}

Your tool runs this command over stdio. No background daemon or global install is required.

To remove configuration written by init:

npx githits@latest uninstall

This removes GitHits MCP configuration and guidance written by init, while preserving stored credentials. Run npx githits@latest logout separately to remove credentials. The compatibility form npx githits@latest init uninstall accepts the same --yes, --project, and --keep-guidance options.

Project Setup

For project-local MCP config, run:

npx githits@latest init --project

Project setup is available only for tools with verified project-local MCP support. Project config contains no secrets, but it may be committed like other tooling configuration, so review generated files before adding them to source control.

Agent-safe non-interactive setup uses staged discovery and explicit install:

npx githits@latest init --detect-agents --json
npx githits@latest init --install-agents cursor,codex-cli

Plugin and Extension Packaging

The repository and published package provide the plugin and extension assets used by compatible hosts. Git-based installs also retain the context-file symlinks (CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md) to the canonical AGENTS.md:

• .plugin/plugin.json
• .claude-plugin/plugin.json
• .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
• .codex-plugin/plugin.json
• .cursor-plugin/plugin.json
• .mcp.json
• gemini-extension.json
• plugin.json (Google Antigravity)
• mcp_config.json (Google Antigravity)
• AGENTS.md
• CLAUDE.md
• GEMINI.md
• skills/

The root skill tree is shared by all supported hosts. Every plugin and extension install uses the hosted remote MCP, including Claude, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity, and VS Code/GitHub Copilot OpenPlugin. Direct githits init setup is a separate path: it installs local stdio configurations for supported tools except Cursor, which remains remote-only. The repository root is a native Antigravity plugin through plugin.json, mcp_config.json, and the shared skills/ tree. Generated manifests are refreshed with bun run plugins:generate and validated with bun run plugins:check.

Guided init installs the four canonical skills (githits-code, githits-mcp, githits-onboarding, and githits-package) only for selected agents. Shared skill-capable agents use ~/.agents/skills/ at user scope or .agents/skills/ at project scope; native-only agents use their verified native skill directory. Compatible agents reading a shared root can discover those skills. A later guided run repairs missing skills, and migration removes only the historical Cline or Junie githits-mcp/SKILL.md after the complete shared set is verified.

For Claude Code marketplace installs:

claude plugin marketplace add githits-com/githits-cli
claude plugin install githits@githits-plugins

For Gemini CLI extension installs:

gemini extensions install https://github.com/githits-com/githits-cli

Command Reference

githits init             Connect GitHits to your coding agents
githits uninstall        Remove GitHits MCP configuration and guidance
githits init uninstall   Compatibility alias for `githits uninstall`
githits login            Sign in to your GitHits account
githits logout           Remove stored credentials
githits mcp              Show setup instructions or start the local MCP server
githits mcp start        Always start the local MCP server over stdio
githits example          Find real-world implementations from open source
githits languages        List or filter supported programming languages
githits doctor           Diagnose configuration and auth state
githits resolve          Experimental: resolve a fuzzy name to canonical targets
githits settings         View and update preferences, privacy, and terms
githits search           Explore repository code, dependencies, docs, and symbols
githits search-status    Check the status of a previous indexed search
githits code             List, read, grep, or experimentally diff indexed source
githits pkg              Inspect package metadata, vulnerabilities, deps, and changelogs
githits docs             Browse and read package documentation
githits auth             Manage authentication
githits auth status      Show authentication status

Full CLI reference: https://docs.githits.com/cli/commands

Environment Variables

Most users do not need environment variables. These are the common overrides for CI, auth storage, and local diagnostics:

Full reference: https://docs.githits.com/cli/environment-variables

Source Layout

This repository contains the GitHits CLI and reusable MCP package:

• src/ - CLI commands, local auth, setup flows, and local MCP stdio startup
• packages/mcp/ - public @githits/mcp package for transport-neutral MCP server APIs, tool registration, instructions, and smoke-test helpers
• packages/core-internal/ - shared workspace implementation used by the CLI and MCP package
• docs/ - implementation notes and contributor guidelines
• scripts/ - package validation, smoke tests, and development utilities

See CHANGELOG.md for released changes, pending work, and the current package-version impact.

Development

Requirements:

• Node.js ^20.18.1 || >=22.13.0
• Bun

Common commands:

bun install
bun run dev --help
bun test
bun run typecheck
bun run build

When changing MCP tools, CLI commands, shared formatters, auth/error envelopes, or MCP/CLI parity behavior, also run the relevant smoke suites:

bun run smoke:mcp
bun run smoke:cli

CI also checks the built product without credentials or live backend calls. Run the same checks locally after bun run build:

bun run smoke:cli:built
bun run smoke:mcp:built

The harness remains on Bun, while product subprocesses execute dist/cli.js with node from PATH. CI provisions that runtime from .node-version.

When changing MCP instructions, tool descriptions, or agent-facing behavior, use the targeted agent evals described in eval/agentic/README.md:

bun run agent:e2e

License

Apache-2.0