For humans
Fast, focused code reading
Jump into unfamiliar repositories with a clear tree view, immediate file content, and cross‑referenced call chains. ctx keeps the noise down so you can reason about behaviour instead of fighting the file system.
Proven in day-to-day engineering workflows
CLI for high-signal code context
ctx turns any repo into a context pack for you and your AI tools.
Stop copy‑pasting trees and snippets. ctx walks your codebase once and streams a precise, compact view of the files, call chains, and docs you actually care about — ready for reviews, refactors, and AI sessions.
Why ctx
Built for engineers, friendly to agents
ctx is a small Go binary designed to be the “context generator” for your day‑to‑day work. It understands directory trees, call chains, documentation, and token budgets so you don’t have to maintain ad‑hoc scripts or huge copy‑paste buffers when pairing with an LLM.
For AI workflows
High‑signal prompts without manual curation
Feed agents and chat models a compact, structured snapshot of the code that matters. ctx estimates tokens, respects ignore rules, and can enrich content with documentation to keep prompts sharp and affordable.
For teams
Repeatable, scriptable context
Capture onboarding, debugging, and release review workflows in a single command you can commit to the repo. Everyone runs the same ctx invocation and gets the same trustworthy view.
For automation
MCP & CI ready
Use ctx as a standalone CLI or run it as an MCP server so agents can ask for trees, content, and docs on demand. Integrate it into CI to snapshot context for regression investigations or release notes.
Core capabilities
Four commands, one mental model
ctx is intentionally small. Each command focuses on a single kind of context, and all of them share the same ignore rules, output formats, and documentation settings.
- Respects .gitignore and .ignore files at every directory level.
- Streams output so large repositories stay responsive.
- Generates Toon, JSON, or XML output for humans and machines.
- Optional documentation enrichment for local and remote packages.
ctx tree
See the structure, not just the size
Summarize repositories, filter out generated noise, and get per‑directory token estimates. Ideal for onboarding, PR reviews, and “what even is this repo?” moments.
ctx content
Stream the files that matter
Dump the exact subset of files you care about — by directory, glob, or explicit path — with optional embedded docs. Perfect for feeding into an LLM or attaching to a ticket.
ctx callchain
Follow behaviour through the stack
Explore who calls what without opening an IDE. ctx traces call chains through Go packages and presents them in a compact, streaming view.
ctx doc
Harvest real documentation
Discover READMEs and external docs for your dependencies (Go, JavaScript, Python) and emit them alongside your code context so humans and AI always see the “why”, not just the “what”.
Workflows
Drop ctx into your existing tooling
ctx is designed to live next to your editor, issue tracker, and agent stack. You decide how much context to collect; ctx keeps it consistent and reproducible.
- Code review companion. Attach a ctx tree + content snapshot to tricky pull requests so reviewers see the full picture of the change, including upstream callers and downstream docs.
- Onboarding accelerator. Commit a docs/ctx-onboarding.sh script that runs your preferred ctx command set, giving new team members a curated tour of the codebase in minutes.
- Agent context generator. Wire ctx into your MCP or CLI agent so it can ask for high‑signal trees, call chains, and docs instead of scraping raw directories.