CICADA

mcp-name: io.github.wende/cicada

Code Intelligence: Contextual Analysis, Discovery, and Attribution

Context compaction for AI code assistants – Give your AI structured, token-efficient access to 17+ languages including Elixir, Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, Rust, and more.

Up to 50% less waiting · Up to 70% less tokens · Up to 99% less explanations to do Tighter context = Better Quality

Quick Install · Security · Developers · AI Assistants · Docs

Why CICADA?

The core problem: AI code assistants waste context on blind searches. Grep dumps entire files when you only need a function signature, leaving less room for actual reasoning.

The Context Compaction Approach

Instead of raw text dumps, CICADA gives your AI structured, pre-indexed knowledge:

What You Get

• AST-level indexing – Module/function/class definitions with signatures, specs, docs
• 17+ language support – Elixir, Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, Rust, Go, Java, Kotlin, Scala, C/C++, Ruby, C#, Visual Basic, Dart, PHP, Erlang (beta)
• Complete call-site tracking – Aliases, imports, dynamic references across all supported languages
• Semantic search – Find code by concept with keyword extraction or embeddings (Ollama integration)
• Git + PR attribution – Surface why code exists, not just what
• Dependency analysis – Bidirectional tracking (what calls this, what does this call)
• Automatic language detection – Works seamlessly across polyglot codebases

Install

# 1. Install uv (if needed)
# curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv tool install cicada-mcp

# In your repo
cicada claude   # or: cicada cursor, cicada vs, cicada gemini, cicada codex, cicada opencode, cicada zed

uvx cicada-mcp claude   # or cursor, vs

claude mcp add cicada uvx cicada-mcp

gemini mcp add cicada uvx cicada-mcp

codex mcp add cicada uvx cicada-mcp

kimi mcp add --transport stdio cicada -- cicada-mcp

Available commands after installation:

• cicada [claude|cursor|vs|gemini|codex|opencode|zed] - One-command interactive setup per project
• cicada-mcp - MCP server (auto-started by editor)
• cicada serve - Start REST API server for HTTP access to all MCP tools
• cicada status - Show index status, PR index, link status, agent files, MCP configs
• cicada stats [repo] - Display usage statistics (tool calls, tokens, execution times)
• cicada watch - Watch for file changes and automatically reindex
• cicada index - Re-index code with custom options (-f/--force, --keywords, --embeddings, --watch)
• cicada index-pr - Index pull requests for PR attribution
• cicada run [tool] - Execute any of the 7 MCP tools directly from CLI
• cicada agents install - Install Claude Code agents to ./.claude/ directory
• cicada link [parent_dir] - Links current repository to an existing index
• cicada clean - Completely removes cicada integration from your folder as well as all settings

Ask your assistant:

# Elixir
"Show me the functions in MyApp.User"
"Where is authenticate/2 called?"

# Python
"Show me the AuthService class methods"
"Where is login() used in the codebase?"

# Both languages
"Find code related to API authentication"

Privacy & Security

• 100% local: parsing + indexing happen on your machine; no external access.
• No telemetry: CICADA doesn't collect usage or any telemetry.
• Read-only tools: MCP endpoints only read the index; they can't change your repo.
• Optional GitHub access: PR features rely on gh and your existing OAuth token.
• Data layout:
  Code

  Copy

  ~/.cicada/projects/<repo_hash>/
  ├─ index.json      # modules, functions, call sites, metadata
  ├─ config.yaml     # indexing options + mode
  ├─ hashes.json     # incremental indexing cache
  └─ pr_index.json   # optional PR metadata + reviews
  

  Your repo only gains an editor config (.mcp.json, .cursor/mcp.json, .vscode/settings.json, .gemini/settings.json, .codex/mcp.json, or .opencode.json).

For Developers

Wire CICADA into your editor once, and every assistant session inherits the context.

Install & Configure

cd /path/to/project
cicada claude   # or cicada cursor / cicada vs / cicada gemini / cicada codex / cicada opencode / cicada zed

Enable PR Attribution (optional)

brew install gh    # or apt install gh
gh auth login
cicada index-pr .     # incremental
cicada index-pr . --clean   # full rebuild

Unlocks questions like "Which PR introduced line 42?" or "What did reviewers say about billing.ex?"

Automatic Re-indexing with Watch Mode

Enable automatic reindexing when files change by starting the MCP server with the --watch flag:

** .mcp.json**

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cicada": {
      "command": "cicada-mcp",
      "args": ["--watch"],
      "env": {
        "CICADA_CONFIG_DIR": "/home/user/.cicada/projects/<hash>"
      }
    }
  }
}

When watch mode is enabled:

• A separate process monitors .ex, .exs (Elixir) and .py (Python) files for changes
• Changes are automatically reindexed (incremental, fast)
• 2-second debounce prevents excessive reindexing during rapid edits
• The watch process stops automatically when the MCP server stops
• Excluded directories: deps, _build, node_modules, .git, assets, priv, .venv, venv

CLI Cheat Sheet

Note: Language detection is automatic – CICADA detects Elixir (mix.exs) and Python (pyproject.toml) projects automatically.

Troubleshooting

cicada index /path/to/project

cicada index .

# Install GitHub CLI
brew install gh  # macOS
sudo apt install gh  # Ubuntu
# or visit https://cli.github.com/

# Authenticate
gh auth login

# Index PRs
cicada index-pr