What is the key difference between Repo Graph and Spiderbrain?

Repo Graph belongs to the Biology & Bioinformatics category with local stdio execution, while Spiderbrain belongs to the Biology & Bioinformatics category with local stdio execution.

How do I install Repo Graph or Spiderbrain in Claude Desktop or Cursor?

Copy the mcpServers JSON configuration snippet provided on this page into your claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json file and restart your AI client.

Are Repo Graph and Spiderbrain free or paid?

Repo Graph operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required). Spiderbrain operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required).

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

Repo Graph lists 6 tools with 2 views and 59 GitHub stars. Spiderbrain lists 0 tools with 1 views and 3 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Repo Graph and Spiderbrain together in the same MCP host?

Yes! MCP hosts like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and VS Code support configuring multiple servers under the mcpServers object simultaneously.

Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison

Repo Graph vs Spiderbrain

In-depth architectural comparison of the Repo Graph and Spiderbrain MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

At a Glance & Executive Verdict

Repo Graph

Biology & Bioinformatics · Local stdio

Quality: 63/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required

Spiderbrain

Biology & Bioinformatics · Local stdio

Quality: 43/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required

Verdict Summary: Choose Repo Graph if you need specialized Biology & Bioinformatics tools running via a local process. Choose Spiderbrain if your workspace requires Biology & Bioinformatics integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Repo Graph when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Biology & Bioinformatics domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
You have access to required keys: REPO_PATH.
Primary tools included: orient, find, impact.

Explore Repo Graph Details

Choose Spiderbrain when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Biology & Bioinformatics domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Spiderbrain Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Repo Graph James-Chahwan Biology & Bioinformatics	Spiderbrain Biology & Bioinformatics
Summary	Structural graph map of any codebase for AI coding assistants. Scans entities, relationships, and feature flows across 13 languages so LLMs navigate by structure instead of grepping through everything.	Deterministic context layer for your codebase: change impact, blast radius, answers with receipts.
Category & Scope	Biology & Bioinformatics

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Repo Graph Tools (6)

orient

Get the lay of the land — ALWAYS the first call on a codebase. With no arguments: a counts + entry-points overview plus a `blind spots` note flagging which (language, edge-kind) extractions are partial so you know where to fall back to grep. With `seed=<node>`: the dense structural map scoped to that node's neighbourhood. With `full=true`: the whole-repo dense map (the full context dump). Orient first, then `find` to jump to nodes, `impact` for blast radius, `trace` for flows.

find

Turn any text into the ranked nodes that matter — the on-ramp to the graph. A symbol or keyword returns matching nodes; a pasted stacktrace / failing-test id / diff is resolved to the code it implicates and ranked by relevance. Set `expand=true` to fan out to the surrounding neighbourhood (spreading activation). Every row carries `path:line`, so `read` the top hits directly — no grep.

impact

Blast radius in one call: fan out from one or more nodes to everything they affect (forward) or depend on / are used by (backward), returned as a complete, deduped, Personalized-PageRank-ranked, located closure. Each row carries `path:line`, the edge `via` reason it's in scope, and a `⊘` when the engine finds it unreachable from any entry point (likely dead). Structural import/containment fan-out is excluded — no noise. Depth-1 in both directions is a node's immediate neighbours. Pass several comma-separated nodes to assess a whole diff at once.

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

Repo Graph Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "james-chahwan-repo-graph": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-repo-graph"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REPO_PATH": "YOUR_REPO_PATH_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Spiderbrain Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spiderbrain": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "spiderbrain"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Repo Graph is categorized under Biology & Bioinformatics and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Spiderbrain belongs to Biology & Bioinformatics using local stdio subprocess. Select Repo Graph when you need capabilities focused on biology & bioinformatics and Spiderbrain when you require tools for biology & bioinformatics.

More alternatives to Repo Graph More alternatives to Spiderbrain Biology & Bioinformatics category hub