What it does
Sverklo is a local-first MCP server that gives AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Codex CLI, Aider, Continue) a real symbol graph instead of grep-based pattern matching. It indexes your codebase, builds an
import-dependency graph, computes PageRank, embeds chunks with a local ONNX model, and exposes 37 retrieval tools the agent calls to look up symbols, find call sites, measure refactor blast radius, review diffs with risk scoring, and
persist decisions across sessions with bi-temporal memory pinned to git SHAs.
Why it exists
AI coding agents hallucinate function names that don't exist in your codebase — they generate from training-data patterns rather than authoritative retrieval over your actual symbol graph. An agent writes getUserByEmail() when your
code has findByEmail(). Tests pass because they mock the dependency. Production breaks. Sverklo grounds the agent in your real code: sverklo_lookup resolves a name to its definition with file:line, sverklo_refs proves whether a
symbol exists with caller context, sverklo_verify re-checks that a quoted span is still present at the cited git SHA.
Install
npm install -g sverklo
cd your-project
sverklo init
sverklo init auto-detects which AI coding agents you have (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Antigravity) and writes the right MCP config files. The 37 tools appear in the agent's tool list immediately.
What's published
- https://sverklo.com/bench/ — reproducible harness, three baselines (naive grep, tuned grep, sverklo). Honest about where sverklo loses to grep on dead-code detection (F1 = 0.02). Same page as the wins.
- https://sverklo.com/vs/matrix/ — sverklo vs Cody, Greptile, Cursor, Aider, Continue, Codex CLI, Claude Code, Serena, Claude Context, GitNexus, codebase-memory-mcp.
- https://sverklo.com/research/sverklo-paper-preprint.pdf — 8-page acmart paper introducing channelized RRF.
- https://sverklo.com/report/ — sverklo audits of 47 popular OSS repos with A-F health grades.
Tool surface (37 tools)
- Search: sverklo_search, sverklo_search_iterative, sverklo_investigate, sverklo_ask, sverklo_lookup, sverklo_overview, sverklo_context, sverklo_ast_grep, sverklo_concepts, sverklo_clusters, sverklo_patterns
- Impact: sverklo_impact, sverklo_refs, sverklo_deps, sverklo_audit
- Review: sverklo_review_diff, sverklo_critique, sverklo_test_map, sverklo_diff_search, sverklo_verify
- Memory: sverklo_remember, sverklo_recall, sverklo_memories (with mode:"conflicts" for contradiction detection), sverklo_forget, sverklo_promote, sverklo_demote, sverklo_pin, sverklo_unpin
- Post-filter: sverklo_grep_results, sverklo_head_results, sverklo_ctx_peek, sverklo_ctx_slice, sverklo_ctx_grep, sverklo_ctx_stats
- Index health: sverklo_status, sverklo_wakeup
Compatibility
- Node 20+
- macOS, Linux, Windows
- 12 languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C, C++, Ruby, PHP, Vue, C#
- Embedded SQLite + ONNX (no external database, no Docker required)
- MIT licensed, runs entirely on your laptop, no API keys, no telemetry by default
Links
- https://sverklo.com
- https://github.com/sverklo/sverklo
- https://www.npmjs.com/package/sverklo
- https://sverklo.com/bench/
- https://sverklo.com/vs/
- https://sverklo.com/playground/
- https://sverklo.com/blog/
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19802051
Server Config
{
"mcpServers": {
"sverklo": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"sverklo"
]
}
}
}