AiDex

Persistent code index + memory, semantic search & live telemetry for AI coding agents — 50x less context than grep.

Unverified

stdio (local)

No auth

TypeScript

View repo 37 Website npm

Add to your client

Copy the config for your MCP client and paste it into its config file.

Install / run

npm install -g aidex-mcp

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aidex": {
      "command": "aidex",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Step-by-step guides: Add to Claude Desktop · Add to Cursor · Add to Windsurf

Before you start

Node.js >= 18
An MCP-compatible client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, or VS Code Copilot)
Optional: an LLM API key (Anthropic / OpenAI / OpenRouter / Ollama / HuggingFace) only if you enable the optional LLM reranking/translation layer

About AiDex

AiDex bundles 33 tools in one stdio MCP server to give AI coding agents persistent memory, fast/precise code search, and live telemetry. It indexes your project once with Tree-sitter into a portable SQLite database (.aidex/index.db), then answers 'where is X defined?' or 'what methods does this file have?' in ~50 tokens instead of the 2,000+ a grep+read loop costs. Beyond search it adds a task backlog with scheduled/recurring tasks, cross-session notes, cross-project and global search, shared AI guidelines, screenshots optimized for LLM context, a universal HTTP Log Hub with a hardware-monitor-style Debug Dashboard, a Control API that lets the AI drive any HTTP-capable app, and an interactive browser Viewer. v2.0 added local-embedding semantic search with an optional, privacy-gated LLM layer.

Tools & capabilities (31)

aidex_init

Index a project (creates .aidex/); pass embeddings:true to enable semantic search.

aidex_query

Search identifiers by term with mode exact/contains/starts_with and optional time filtering.

aidex_search

Hybrid / semantic / exact retrieval over embedded code, docs and workspace items.

aidex_settings

Configure embeddings, LLM provider/model and the llm_send_code privacy switch (Settings tab in Viewer).

aidex_signature

Get the classes + methods of a single file without reading it.

aidex_signatures

Get signatures for multiple files via a glob pattern.

aidex_update

Re-index a single changed file (incremental).

aidex_remove

Remove a deleted file from the index.

aidex_status

Show index statistics for a project.

aidex_summary

Project overview: entry points and language breakdown.

aidex_tree

File tree with statistics.

aidex_describe

Add documentation to the project summary.

aidex_files

List project files by type (code/config/doc/asset/test/other/dir), with time filtering.

aidex_link

Link another indexed project as a dependency.

aidex_unlink

Remove a linked project.

aidex_links

List linked projects.

aidex_scan

Find indexed projects within a directory tree.

aidex_global_init

Scan a directory tree and register all indexed projects in the global DB (optionally auto-index).

aidex_global_query

Search identifiers across ALL registered projects.

aidex_global_signatures

Search methods/types by name across all projects (filter by kind).

aidex_global_status

List all registered projects with stats.

aidex_global_refresh

Update stats and remove stale projects from the global DB.

aidex_global_guideline

Store/retrieve persistent AI guidelines and coding conventions (key-value, global).

aidex_session

Start a session, detect external changes, auto-reindex, and check scheduled tasks across all projects.

aidex_note

Read/write/append/clear session notes with searchable archived history and summaries.

aidex_task

Create/read/update/delete tasks with priority, tags, summaries, history log, due dates and recurring intervals.

aidex_tasks

List and filter tasks by status, priority or tag.

aidex_log

Universal HTTP log receiver — start the Log Hub, query logs, live-stream in the Viewer.

aidex_screenshot

Cross-platform screen capture (fullscreen/window/region/rect) with scale + color reduction to save up to 95% tokens.

aidex_windows

List open windows for screenshot targeting.

aidex_viewer

Open/close an interactive browser UI with file tree, signatures, tasks, logs and live reload.

When to use it

Replace grep/glob for code navigation so the AI burns ~50 tokens per search instead of 2,000+, keeping context for real work
Give an AI assistant persistent memory across sessions via notes, a task backlog, and scheduled/recurring reminders
Run exact, semantic, or hybrid search over code, docs and workspace — find a function by concept even without knowing its name
Search every repo at once ('Have I ever written a transparent window?') and store shared coding conventions/review checklists
Stream live logs from any program over HTTP and let the AI watch (and even drive, via the Control API) your running app

Security notes

Local-first: works fully offline with pure embeddings; the index lives in your project at .aidex/index.db (SQLite). The optional LLM layer (Anthropic / OpenAI / OpenRouter / Ollama / HuggingFace) is opt-in and requires an API key configured in Settings — never required for the MCP connection itself. Privacy switch `llm_send_code` defaults to OFF, so only your literal query and metadata (paths, names, anchors) are sent to the LLM; code bodies stay local. Auto-setup (run on `npm install -g`) detects installed AI clients and registers AiDex, and writes usage instructions into client config files (e.g. ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md); skip it with AIDEX_NO_SETUP=1. The Log Hub / Debug Dashboard / Viewer open local HTTP servers (ports 3333/3334/3335) that accept unauthenticated POSTs from any local program.

AiDex FAQ

Does AiDex require an LLM API key or send my code to the cloud?

No. It is local-first and works fully offline with pure local embeddings. The LLM layer (Anthropic / OpenAI / OpenRouter / Ollama / HuggingFace) is opt-in. Even when enabled, the llm_send_code privacy switch defaults to OFF, so only your literal query and metadata are sent — code bodies stay local.

Which AI clients and languages are supported?

Any MCP-compatible client, with documented setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI and VS Code Copilot. It parses 12 languages: C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, Rust, Python, C, C++, Java, Go, PHP, Ruby and HCL/Terraform.

Where is the index stored and does it persist between sessions?

Each project keeps its own .aidex/index.db (SQLite with WAL mode) as the single source of truth; a global registry lives at ~/.aidex/global.db. The index persists indefinitely and survives sessions, with incremental single-file updates after changes.

How do I install and register it?

Run `npm install -g aidex-mcp`; auto-setup detects your installed AI clients and registers AiDex (skip with AIDEX_NO_SETUP=1). Or register manually by adding an mcpServers entry with command "aidex" (both `aidex` and `aidex-mcp` work as commands).

#code-search #code-indexing #semantic-search #memory #tree-sitter #sqlite #logging #developer-tools #local-first

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