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System requirements

Before installing GitNexus, ensure your system meets these requirements:
RequirementVersion
Node.js>= 18.0.0
GitAny recent version
Operating SystemLinux, macOS, or Windows
GitNexus uses native bindings for Tree-sitter and KuzuDB. These are pre-compiled for most platforms and installed automatically.

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Installation methods

The fastest way to use GitNexus is with npx — no installation required: 
npx gitnexus analyze
This downloads the latest version, runs the indexing, and exits. Perfect for trying GitNexus or one-off analysis.

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Global installation

For regular use, install GitNexus globally: 
npm install -g gitnexus
Now you can run gitnexus commands from anywhere: 
gitnexus analyze
gitnexus setup
gitnexus list

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Local installation

You can also install GitNexus as a dev dependency in a specific project: 
npm install --save-dev gitnexus
Then use it via npm scripts:
package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "index": "gitnexus analyze",
    "index:force": "gitnexus analyze --force"
  }
}
Local installation means each project gets its own copy of GitNexus. This is useful for CI/CD but not recommended for general development (use global install instead).

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Verify installation

Check that GitNexus is installed correctly: 
gitnexus --version
You should see the current version number (e.g., 1.3.6).

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Supported languages

GitNexus supports parsing and indexing for these languages:

TypeScript

Full support for TS syntax, imports, and type resolution.

JavaScript

ES6+, CommonJS, and ESM.

Python

Classes, functions, imports.

Java

Classes, methods, inheritance.

C

Functions, headers.

C++

Classes, templates, inheritance.

C#

Classes, methods, namespaces.

Go

Packages, functions, interfaces.

Rust

Modules, functions, traits, impls.

PHP

Classes, functions, namespaces.

Swift

Classes, protocols, extensions.
Language support is based on Tree-sitter grammars. If you need support for additional languages, open an issue on GitHub.

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Post-install setup

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1. Index your first repository

Navigate to any git repository and run: 
cd ~/projects/my-app
gitnexus analyze
This creates a .gitnexus/ directory with the knowledge graph. The directory is automatically added to .gitignore.
1

Scanning files

GitNexus walks the file tree and identifies source files.
2

Parsing code

Tree-sitter extracts functions, classes, methods, and interfaces.
3

Resolving imports

Language-aware import resolution maps dependencies.
4

Tracing calls

Call chain detection builds the execution graph.
5

Detecting communities

Leiden algorithm groups related symbols into functional clusters.
6

Detecting processes

Execution flows traced from entry points through call chains.
7

Creating indexes

Full-text search and vector embeddings for hybrid search.

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2. Configure MCP for your editor

Run the auto-setup: 
gitnexus setup
This detects your installed editors and writes the correct global MCP config. Supported editors:
  • Claude Code: Full support (MCP + skills + hooks)
  • Cursor: MCP + skills
  • Windsurf: MCP only
  • OpenCode: MCP + skills
See the quickstart guide for manual configuration.

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3. Verify MCP connection

Restart your editor, then ask your AI agent: 
List all indexed repositories
You should see your repo with stats like: 
my-app
  Path: /Users/you/projects/my-app
  Symbols: 1,348
  Relationships: 3,469
  Processes: 104
  Last indexed: 2 minutes ago

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CLI commands reference

Here are all the commands you’ll use:

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Core commands

# Index a repository (or update stale index)
gitnexus analyze

# Force full re-index
gitnexus analyze --force

# Skip embedding generation (faster, but no semantic search)
gitnexus analyze --skip-embeddings

# Configure MCP for your editors (one-time)
gitnexus setup

# Start MCP server (stdio) — serves all indexed repos
gitnexus mcp

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Management commands

# List all indexed repositories
gitnexus list

# Show index status for current repo
gitnexus status

# Delete index for current repo
gitnexus clean

# Delete all indexes (requires --force)
gitnexus clean --all --force

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Advanced commands

# Start local HTTP server for web UI connection
gitnexus serve

# Generate repository wiki from knowledge graph
gitnexus wiki

# Wiki with custom LLM model
gitnexus wiki --model gpt-4o

# Wiki with custom LLM API base URL
gitnexus wiki --base-url https://api.anthropic.com/v1
The serve command starts a local HTTP server that the web UI can connect to. This lets you browse all your CLI-indexed repos in the browser without re-uploading or re-indexing.

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Storage and privacy

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Where data is stored

GitNexus stores data in two places:
  1. Per-repo index: .gitnexus/ inside each indexed repository
    • Knowledge graph database (KuzuDB)
    • Search indexes (BM25 + embeddings)
    • Metadata (last commit, indexed date)
    • Automatically added to .gitignore
  2. Global registry: ~/.gitnexus/registry.json
    • List of all indexed repos
    • Paths and metadata only (no code)
    • Used by MCP server to discover repos

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Privacy guarantees

No network calls

GitNexus CLI runs 100% locally. No telemetry, no analytics, no phone-home.

No cloud uploads

Your code stays on your machine. Nothing is uploaded to any server.

Gitignored by default

The .gitnexus/ directory is automatically added to .gitignore.

Open source

Audit the code yourself: github.com/abhigyanpatwari/GitNexus

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Troubleshooting

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”Not inside a git repository”

GitNexus only indexes git repositories. If you see this error: 
cd /path/to/repo
git init  # if not already a git repo
gitnexus analyze

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“Module did not self-register”

This error means native bindings (Tree-sitter or KuzuDB) failed to load. Usually caused by Node version mismatch. Fix:
  1. Check Node version: node --version (must be >= 18)
  2. Reinstall GitNexus: npm install -g gitnexus
  3. If still failing, open an issue with your Node version and OS

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Large repos / out of memory

GitNexus automatically increases heap size to 8GB for large repos. If you still hit memory limits: 
# Skip embeddings to reduce memory usage
gitnexus analyze --skip-embeddings
Note: This disables semantic search, but all other features work.

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Stale index warning

If you see “Index is stale” warnings from MCP resources: 
cd /path/to/repo
gitnexus analyze  # re-index to pick up new commits
GitNexus automatically detects when the repo has new commits and needs re-indexing.

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Next steps

Quickstart

Get up and running in under 2 minutes.

MCP integration

Learn about tools, resources, and prompts.

Web UI

Try the browser-based graph explorer.

CLI reference

Full CLI command documentation.

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