codesynapse

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AI coding tools answer questions about individual files well. They cannot reason about architecture — class hierarchies, call chains, blast radius of a change, which module owns a concept. grep and file search return noise, not signal.

Codesynapse fixes this. It builds a structural knowledge graph from your source code (nodes = classes, functions, files; edges = calls, extends, implements, contains), merges graphs from multiple modules into a single global graph, and exposes 32 MCP tools backed by hybrid BM25 + dense vector search. Every session with Claude Code or Cursor starts with full graph context — not a blank slate.

Runs entirely local. No GPU, no cloud APIs, no infrastructure.

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Demo

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Why codesynapse?

	Python graphify	graphify-rs	semble	code-review-graph	codegraph	cbm	Sourcegraph Cody	continue.dev	codesynapse
Language	Python	Rust	Python	Python	TypeScript	C	Cloud	VS Code ext.	Rust
MCP tools	✗	✗	2	30	10	~8	✗	✗	32
Structural graph	Partial	General KG	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✓
Blast radius	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✓	✗	✓
Hybrid BM25 + dense	✗	BM25 only	✓	Optional	✗ (FTS5)	✗	✓	✗	✓
Fully local	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✓
No cloud API needed	✓	✓	✓	✗ (semantic)	✓	✓	✗	✗	✓
Multi-module graph	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✓	✗	✓
Cross-module hierarchy	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✓	✗	✓
File reads eliminated	—	—	—	—	100%	partial	—	—	100%
No telemetry by default	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗ (opt-out)	✓	✗	✗	✓ (opt-in)
Runtime	Python	Rust	Python	Python	Node.js	C binary	Cloud	Node.js	Rust binary

codegraph is the closest alternative — TypeScript, local, 10 MCP tools, blast radius, multi-module. Key gap: lexical FTS5 search only (no dense embeddings), so synonym and concept queries miss results that BM25+dense RRF catches. cbm (codebase-memory-mcp) is a C binary with a SQLite graph store — fast cold-start indexing (no embedding pass), but no hybrid search and requires multiple file reads per query (8–10 observed vs 0 for codesynapse). semble uses the same Model2Vec + BM25 + RRF search stack but is search-only — no structural graph, no blast radius, no hierarchy. code-review-graph has graph + MCP but is Python and requires a cloud API for semantic search. graphify-rs is the Rust rewrite of the original Python graphify tool — general-purpose knowledge graphs, not MCP-native or code-intelligence-focused.

Codesynapse is the Rust rewrite of Python graphify with full MCP integration, structural graph analysis, and zero cloud dependencies.

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Benchmarks

Measured on real open-source repos (redis, tokio, django-framework). Docker, --cpus=4 --memory=8g, 3 runs median. Full methodology and per-question scores: BENCHMARKS.md.

Competitors: codegraph (TypeScript, SQLite FTS5), cbm/codebase-memory-mcp (C, SQLite graph store, no embeddings).

Indexing speed — cold-start index time:

Repo	codesynapse	codegraph	cbm
redis (C, ~700 files)	3.8s	60.8s	5.9s
tokio (Rust, ~900 files)	4.6s	36.8s	2.0s
django-framework (Python, ~2k files)	17.5s	306s	12.4s

codesynapse indexes 8–17× faster than codegraph. cbm is faster than codesynapse on indexing because it skips the embedding pass — but that means every query requires multiple file reads (8–10 observed), while codesynapse queries return zero file reads.

Query accuracy (Claude judge, 0–10 scale, on questions where the answer symbol name doesn't appear in the question — e.g. "what handles access control?" → IsAuthenticated):

	codesynapse	codegraph	cbm	baseline
avg score	8.9	9.0	8.7	8.6
file reads per query	0	0	8–10	—

Scores are comparable across tools. The codesynapse advantage is operational: zero file reads means lower token cost per session and no context blowout on large codebases. codegraph's lexical-only search (SQLite FTS5) should struggle on synonym queries, but Claude compensates with follow-up tool calls — so both reach similar scores via different paths.

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How it works

flowchart TD
    A[("Source code\n(any repo)")] -->|parallel tree-sitter AST\n30+ languages| B["per-module graph.json"]
    B -->|global_add — prefix node IDs, merge| C[("global-graph.json\n~/.codesynapse/")]
    C -->|embed_global_graph\npotion-code-16M · CPU-only · mtime-gated| D[("embeddings.json\n~/.codesynapse/")]
    C & D --> E[["MCP server\n32 tools · hybrid BM25 + dense RRF"]]
    E --> F["Claude Code · Cursor · OpenCode\nCodex CLI · Hermes · Kiro · any MCP client"]

    style A fill:#f6f8fa,stroke:#57606a,color:#24292f
    style B fill:#ddf4ff,stroke:#54aeff,color:#0550ae
    style C fill:#dafbe1,stroke:#4ac26b,color:#1a7f37
    style D fill:#fff8c5,stroke:#d4a72c,color:#4d2d00
    style E fill:#ede9fe,stroke:#8957e5,color:#512a97
    style F fill:#ffeef8,stroke:#bf3989,color:#6e1e5c

Key design choices:

Decision	Reason
Hybrid BM25 + dense RRF	BM25 handles symbol names precisely; dense closes the synonym gap. RRF fusion gives best of both.
Model2Vec potion-code-16M	Static embeddings — no forward pass at query time, ~1.5ms queries, CPU-only, 64 MB model.
Sled embedded DB	Zero-dependency, file-based, fast random access by node ID. No server process.
Tree-sitter AST extraction	Grammar coverage across 30+ languages. No language server or build system required.
Per-module → global merge	Enables cross-module blast radius and hierarchy without loading all modules into memory.
Mtime-gated embedding regen	Embeddings only regenerated when global-graph.json is newer. Zero overhead for unchanged graphs.

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Language support

Group	Languages
Systems	Rust, C, C++, Go, Zig, Fortran, Verilog
JVM	Java, Kotlin, Scala, Groovy
Web / Frontend	JavaScript, TypeScript, Svelte, Vue, PHP
Scripting	Python, Ruby, Lua, Bash, PowerShell
Mobile / Apple	Swift, Objective-C, Dart
Functional	Haskell, Elixir, Racket, Julia
Other	SQL, C#, CMake, Pascal

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Installation

Prerequisites:

• ~500 MB free disk (graph store + model, downloaded on first setup)
• Internet connection on first run (model download only)

Option A — One-liner

Linux / macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sohilladhani/codesynapse/master/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sohilladhani/codesynapse/master/install.ps1 | iex

Or download a specific binary from releases:

Platform	Binary
Linux x86_64	codesynapse-linux-x86_64
macOS Apple Silicon	codesynapse-macos-aarch64
Windows x86_64	codesynapse-windows-x86_64.exe

chmod +x codesynapse-*
sudo mv codesynapse-* /usr/local/bin/codesynapse

Option B — Package managers

macOS (Homebrew):

brew tap sohilladhani/codesynapse
brew install codesynapse

Windows (Scoop):

scoop bucket add cs https://github.com/sohilladhani/scoop-codesynapse
scoop install codesynapse

Nix:

nix run github:sohilladhani/codesynapse        # run directly
nix profile install github:sohilladhani/codesynapse  # install permanently

Or add to your flake:

inputs.codesynapse.url = "github:sohilladhani/codesynapse";
# then: inputs.codesynapse.packages.${system}.default

Option C — Build from source

Requires Rust stable toolchain (install):

cargo install codesynapse-cli

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Quick start

# 1. Register the MCP server with Claude Code and/or Cursor (auto-detects both)
codesynapse setup

# Other clients (if not auto-detected):
codesynapse opencode install  # OpenCode
codesynapse codex install     # Codex CLI
codesynapse hermes install    # Hermes Agent
codesynapse kiro install      # Kiro

# 2. Index a repository
codesynapse module add myrepo /path/to/your/repo

# 3. Restart your AI client

# 4. Ask architecture questions — the 32 MCP tools are now available

That's it. From this point, queries like "what handles auth token expiry?" or "show blast radius of UserService" are answered from the graph — not from file search.

Add more repositories:

codesynapse module add backend /path/to/backend
codesynapse module add frontend /path/to/frontend
# Graphs are merged — cross-module queries work automatically

Refresh after code changes:

codesynapse module refresh myrepo

List indexed modules:

codesynapse module list

Remove a module:

codesynapse module remove myrepo
# Prunes its nodes from the global graph and deregisters it

Keep the graph current with git (optional):

codesynapse hook install   # installs a post-merge git hook — auto-refreshes on pull

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MCP tools

32 tools across six categories, callable from Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

Category	Tools
Graph search	codesynapse_query_vector, codesynapse_query_semantic, codesynapse_blast_radius, codesynapse_blast_radius_scored, codesynapse_blast_radius_multi, codesynapse_hierarchy, codesynapse_list_graphs, codesynapse_module_summary, codesynapse_build
Code reading	codesynapse_resolve, codesynapse_outline, codesynapse_read, codesynapse_read_method, codesynapse_read_with_callees
Navigation	codesynapse_find_callers, codesynapse_find_usages
Graph analysis	codesynapse_query_graph, codesynapse_get_node, codesynapse_get_neighbors, codesynapse_get_community, codesynapse_god_nodes, codesynapse_graph_stats, codesynapse_shortest_path, codesynapse_find_all_paths, codesynapse_weighted_path, codesynapse_community_bridges, codesynapse_diff, codesynapse_pagerank, codesynapse_detect_cycles, codesynapse_smart_summary, codesynapse_find_similar
Observability	codesynapse_stats

Full parameter reference and examples: docs/MCP-TOOLS.md

Common queries in Claude Code:

"What handles auth token expiry?"          → codesynapse_query_vector
"Show blast radius of UserService"         → codesynapse_blast_radius
"What does UserRepository extend?"         → codesynapse_hierarchy
"Read the validate() method"               → codesynapse_read_method
"Who calls PaymentService.charge()?"       → codesynapse_find_callers

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Configuration

Place codesynapse.toml in your project root. All fields are optional.

# Output directory for exported graph (default: codesynapse-out/)
output = "codesynapse-out"

# Skip LLM extraction for doc/paper files (default: false)
no_llm = false

# Index source code only, skip docs and papers (default: false)
code_only = false

# Export formats: "json", "html", "graphml", "obsidian"
formats = ["json", "html"]

# LLM config for semantic extraction of docs/papers (optional)
[llm]
provider = "anthropic"           # "anthropic" | "openai" | any OpenAI-compatible
model = "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
api_key = "sk-..."               # or set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY / OPENAI_API_KEY env var
base_url = "https://..."         # optional, for OpenAI-compatible providers

# Custom model path (default: auto-resolved by codesynapse setup)
[embeddings]
model_path = "./models/potion-code-16M"

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Repository layout

codesynapse/
├── codesynapse-core/       # Extraction, graph, embedding, global graph
├── codesynapse-cli/        # CLI binary (module add/refresh/list, build, setup)
├── codesynapse-mcp/        # MCP server — 32 tools, JSON-RPC over stdio
├── codesynapse-serve/      # BM25 + dense hybrid search engine
├── codesynapse-tui/        # Terminal UI
├── codesynapse-grpc/       # gRPC server
├── codesynapse-graphql/    # GraphQL API
├── codesynapse-wasm/       # WebAssembly bindings
├── models/
│   └── potion-code-16M/    # Static embedding model (downloaded by setup)
├── tests/                  # Integration tests
└── docs/
    ├── ARCHITECTURE.md
    └── MCP-TOOLS.md

Runtime data lives in ~/.codesynapse/:

~/.codesynapse/
├── global-graph.json       # Merged graph (all modules)
├── embeddings.json         # node_id → Vec<f32> dense embeddings
├── modules.conf            # name|/path module registry
├── global-manifest.json    # Per-module hash + metadata
├── tool_stats.jsonl        # MCP tool call log
├── models/potion-code-16M/
└── modules/<name>/graph.json

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Uninstall

Remove from all AI clients:

# Re-run setup and remove the entry manually from the config files setup wrote:
#   Claude Code:  ~/.claude.json       (key: mcpServers.codesynapse)
#   Cursor:       ~/.cursor/mcp.json   (key: mcpServers.codesynapse)
#   Windsurf:     ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
#   OpenCode:     ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json

Remove a specific module:

codesynapse module remove myrepo

Full cleanup (removes all indexed data):

rm -rf ~/.codesynapse/

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Manual MCP setup

If codesynapse setup doesn't auto-detect your client, add this entry manually:

Claude Code (~/.claude.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codesynapse": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "codesynapse",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codesynapse": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "codesynapse",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

For other clients, pass the same command/args pair to their MCP server config.

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CLI skill (MCP-free fallback)

If MCP is blocked by your org's network policy, codesynapse ships a CLI skill for Claude Code and a rules file for Cursor. Your AI client shells out to codesynapse directly instead of using the MCP protocol.

Claude Code — copy into your project:

mkdir -p /path/to/your/project/.claude/skills
cp -r integrations/claude-code/skills/codesynapse-cli /path/to/your/project/.claude/skills/

Cursor — copy into your project:

mkdir -p /path/to/your/project/.cursor/rules
cp integrations/cursor/rules/codesynapse-cli.mdc /path/to/your/project/.cursor/rules/

The integrations/ directory ships with the repository. Restart your client after copying.

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pi extension

For pi users, install the codesynapse extension:

pi install npm:codesynapse-pi

This wires up 12 curated codesynapse tools and injects graph-awareness into every pi session automatically.

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Troubleshooting

MCP server not connecting

• Verify codesynapse is on your PATH: which codesynapse
• Run codesynapse setup again — it re-writes the client config
• Restart your AI client after setup

No results from graph queries

• Check modules are indexed: codesynapse module list
• Rebuild the global graph: codesynapse build
• Ensure the model downloaded: codesynapse setup (downloads potion-code-16M on first run)

Stale results after code changes

• Refresh the module: codesynapse module refresh myrepo
• Or install the git hook for automatic refresh: codesynapse hook install

codesynapse setup says no embedding model

codesynapse setup downloads the model automatically. If it fails:

1. Check your internet connection and re-run codesynapse setup
2. Download manually from HuggingFace:

   https://huggingface.co/minishlab/potion-code-16M/resolve/main/model.safetensors
   https://huggingface.co/minishlab/potion-code-16M/resolve/main/tokenizer.json
   https://huggingface.co/minishlab/potion-code-16M/resolve/main/config.json
   

   Place all three files in ~/.codesynapse/models/potion-code-16M/, then re-run codesynapse setup.

Graph query is slow

• First query after startup is slower — embeddings load from disk
• Subsequent queries are fast (~1.5 ms encode + BM25 + cosine)

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Telemetry

Telemetry is off by default. Enable it explicitly if you want to help improve codesynapse:

codesynapse telemetry on    # opt in
codesynapse telemetry off   # opt out + delete local queue

When enabled, codesynapse sends anonymous daily rollups: tool names, call counts, and coarse token-savings buckets. No query content, no file paths, no source code, no IPs. See TELEMETRY.md for the full data contract.

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Contributing

Contributions welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a PR.

• Bug reports: use the bug report template
• Feature requests: use the feature request template
• Code: run cargo test --workspace and cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings before submitting

This project follows the Contributor Covenant code of conduct.

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.