README
¶
grepai
grep for the AI era
Search code by meaning, not just text.
grepai is a privacy-first CLI for semantic code search. It uses vector embeddings to understand code meaning, enabling natural language queries that find relevant code—even when naming conventions vary.
Drastically reduces AI agent input tokens by providing relevant context instead of raw search results.
Features
- Search by intent — Ask "authentication logic" and find
handleUserSession - Trace call graphs — Know who calls a function before you change it
- 100% local — Your code never leaves your machine
- Always up-to-date — File watcher keeps the index fresh automatically
- AI agent ready — Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf out of the box
- MCP server — Your AI agent can call grepai directly as a tool
Installation
Homebrew (macOS):
brew install pprgva/tap/grepai
Linux/macOS:
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pprgva/grepai/main/install.sh | sh
Windows (PowerShell):
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pprgva/grepai/main/install.ps1 | iex
Requires an embedding provider — Ollama (default), LM Studio, or OpenAI.
Ollama (recommended):
ollama pull nomic-embed-text
Quick Start
grepai init # Initialize in your project
grepai watch # Start indexing daemon
grepai search "error handling" # Search semantically
grepai trace callers "Login" # Find who calls a function
What developers say
"I just hit my limit and it took 13% of my max5 plan just to read my codebase. I am very, very excited about your new tool." — u/911pleasehold on r/ClaudeAI (280K+ views)
"It works great! Takes 5 minutes to install. Crazy!" — @LesSaleGeek on X
"The results are incredible!" — Kenny Nguyen on LinkedIn
Why grepai?
grep was built in 1973 for exact text matching. Modern codebases need semantic understanding.
grep / ripgrep |
grepai |
|
|---|---|---|
| Search | Exact text / regex | Semantic understanding |
| Query | "func.*Login" |
"user authentication flow" |
| Finds | Pattern matches | Conceptually related code |
Documentation
Full docs, guides, and blog:
- Documentation — Configuration, AI agents, MCP setup
- Blog — Benchmarks, tutorials, release notes
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
License
MIT License - Paul P.R. 2026
Directories
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| Path | Synopsis |
|---|---|
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cmd
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gendocs
command
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grepai
command
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Package daemon provides lifecycle management for the grepai watch daemon.
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Package daemon provides lifecycle management for the grepai watch daemon. |
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Package detect provides automatic project type detection.
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Package detect provides automatic project type detection. |
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Package mcp provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for grepai.
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Package mcp provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for grepai. |
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Package trace provides symbol extraction and call graph analysis for code navigation.
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Package trace provides symbol extraction and call graph analysis for code navigation. |