Quickstart

Install

pip install repowise

uv tool install repowise

Python 3.11+ required. Verify with repowise --version.

Set an API key

Repowise calls an LLM to generate the wiki. Bring your own key:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
# or OPENAI_API_KEY, or run fully offline with Ollama

See Environment variables for the full provider list.

Index the repo

cd path/to/your/repo
repowise init

First run analyses the entire codebase: AST parsing, 500-commit git history, LLM doc generation, embeddings, decision archaeology. Plan ~25 minutes for a 3,000-file project — it's a one-time cost. Subsequent updates after a commit run in under 30 seconds.

Add --index-only to skip the LLM stages (graph + git + dead code only, no API spend) if you just want to try it out.

Connect Claude Code

repowise init already wrote .mcp.json at the project root and registered the server in ~/.claude/settings.json. Restart Claude Code and you're done.

To wire up another editor, the MCP server config is:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "repowise": {
      "command": "repowise",
      "args": ["mcp", "/path/to/your/project"]
    }
  }
}

Drop it in ~/.cursor/mcp.json, Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json, or any other MCP-aware client.

Verify it works

In Claude Code, ask:

Give me a tour of this codebase.

The agent should call get_overview and reply with the architecture summary. If it falls back to Grep and Read instead, the MCP server isn't connected — see Troubleshooting.

(Optional) Browse the wiki locally

repowise serve

Starts the MCP server and a local dashboard at http://localhost:3000: interactive graph, hotspots, ownership, dead code, the generated wiki, decision records, and cost tracking.

(Optional) Auto-sync on commit

repowise hook install

Installs a post-commit git hook that runs repowise update automatically. The wiki stays current without you thinking about it. Other sync methods (file watcher, GitHub webhook, polling) live in Auto-sync.

Sign in

Open repowise.dev and sign in with GitHub.

Index a repo

Click + Index a new repo and paste a GitHub URL. Public repos are free; private repos need the Repowise GitHub App installed (one click from the same dialog).

Indexing runs on managed infrastructure. You'll get an email when it's done — typically 10–30 minutes for the first index, seconds for each subsequent push (auto-synced via webhook).

Connect your editor

Open Settings → Editor, mint an API key, and copy the snippet for Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, or Windsurf. Paste it into your MCP client config and restart.

Verify it works

Ask your agent: "What does this codebase do?" It should call get_overview against the hosted endpoint and answer in one round-trip.

Lay out the parent directory

my-workspace/
├── backend/
├── frontend/
└── shared-libs/

Each subdirectory must be its own git repo.

Initialise

cd my-workspace/
repowise init .

Repowise scans for git repos, asks which to include, indexes each, then runs cross-repo analysis (co-change detection, API contract matching, package dependency mapping).

Serve the workspace

repowise serve

The dashboard shows aggregated stats, repo cards, contracts, and co-change pairs. The MCP server is federated — pass repo="backend" or repo="all" to any of the seven tools.

Connect Claude Code

Same .mcp.json is written at the workspace root.