GitHits CLI

The code context layer for AI coding agents.

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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"