Gitingest

TRIGGER CONDITIONS

USE when user message contains:

• github.com/

  URL
• "look at this repo" or "analyze this codebase"
• Questions about third-party library internals

SKIP when:

• URL is user's own project
• User just wants to clone/fork

Convert GitHub repos into text format using the CLI - output streams to stdout by default.

STREAMING ONLY (HARD DEFAULT)

ALWAYS stream to stdout with

-o -

. DO NOT:

• Clone repos locally
• Write output files (

  -o file.txt

  )
• Redirect to disk (

  > out.txt

  )
• Create temp files

Only write to disk if user EXPLICITLY requests it.

# CORRECT - streams to stdout
gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -o -
gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -i "*.ts" -o -

# WRONG - writes to disk (avoid unless user asks)
gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -o output.txt
gitingest https://github.com/user/repo > dump.txt

Gitingest CLI Commands for External Codebase Analysis

Key lesson: Always search broadly first (-i ".ts" for TypeScript, -i ".py" for Python, etc.) before narrowing down. The commands are powerful, but your search scope determines what you find.

Installation

pipx install gitingest

Linux Notes

• If

  pip install --user

  fails with PEP 668 error, use

  pipx install gitingest

  instead.
• If

  gitingest: command not found

  , ensure

  ~/.local/bin

  is on PATH. Run

  pipx ensurepath

  then restart your shell.
• Verify:

  gitingest --help

  or

  pipx list | grep gitingest

Default Usage (Streaming to stdout)

# Stream output directly (no file created)
gitingest https://github.com/username/repo -o -

# Capture in variable for processing
output=$(gitingest https://github.com/username/repo -o -)

Private Repositories

# Set token as environment variable
export GITHUB_TOKEN=github_pat_...
gitingest https://github.com/username/private-repo -o -

# Or pass directly
gitingest https://github.com/username/private-repo --token github_pat_... -o -

Subdirectories

# Analyze only specific part of repo
gitingest https://github.com/user/repo/tree/main/src -o -

Basic Usage

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -o -

  - Get full repo overview (stdout)

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo --include-submodules -o -

  - Include submodules

File/Content Search

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -i "pattern" -o -

  - Search files containing pattern

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -i "*filename*" -o -

  - Find files by name/glob

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -i "path/to/file" -o -

  - Get specific file content

Filtering

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -e "pattern" -o -

  - Exclude files matching pattern

• gitingest https://github.com/user/repo -i "*.ts" -e "node_modules/*" -o -

  - Include TS files, exclude node_modules

Key Options

• -o -

  or

  --output -

  : Stream to stdout (no temp file)

• --token

  or

  -t

  : GitHub token for private repos

• --include-submodules

  : Include git submodules

• --include-gitignored

  : Include files normally ignored by .gitignore

Output Structure

The CLI returns formatted text with:

• Summary: File count, size, token count
• Tree: Directory visualization
• Content: All code combined and formatted