What is Codebase Context Dumper

codebase-context-dumper is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to automate the process of dumping codebase context into Large Language Models (LLMs).

Use cases

Use cases include automating the extraction of code context for training LLMs, enhancing code understanding in IDEs, and improving code-related AI applications.

How to use

To use codebase-context-dumper, configure your MCP client (like Claude Desktop or VS Code extensions) to run the command ‘npx @lex-tools/codebase-context-dumper’. This allows the client to invoke the ‘dump_codebase_context’ tool.

Key features

Key features include recursive scanning of project directories, respect for .gitignore rules, automatic skipping of binary files, concatenation of content with file path markers, support for chunking large codebases, and seamless integration with MCP-compatible clients.

Where to use

codebase-context-dumper is useful in software development environments where large codebases need to be processed and analyzed by LLMs for tasks like code generation, documentation, or code review.

codebase-context-dumper MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to easily dump your codebase context into Large Language Models (LLMs).

Why Use This?

Large context windows in LLMs are powerful, but manually selecting and formatting files from a large codebase is tedious. This tool automates the process by:

• Recursively scanning your project directory.
• Including text files from the specified directory tree that are not excluded by .gitignore rules.
• Automatically skipping binary files.
• Concatenating the content with clear file path markers.
• Supporting chunking to handle codebases larger than the LLM’s context window.
• Integrating seamlessly with MCP-compatible clients.

Usage (Recommended: npx)

The easiest way to use this tool is via npx, which runs the latest version without needing a local installation.

Configure your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop, VS Code extensions) to use the following command:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codebase-context-dumper": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@lex-tools/codebase-context-dumper"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The MCP client will then be able to invoke the dump_codebase_context tool provided by this server.

Features & Tool Details

Tool: dump_codebase_context

Recursively reads text files from a specified directory, respecting .gitignore rules and skipping binary files. Concatenates content with file path headers/footers. Supports chunking the output for large codebases.

Functionality:

• Scans the directory provided in base_path.
• Respects .gitignore files at all levels (including nested ones and .git by default).
• Detects and skips binary files.
• Reads the content of each valid text file.
• Prepends a header (--- START: relative/path/to/file ---) and appends a footer (--- END: relative/path/to/file ---) to each file’s content.
• Concatenates all processed file contents into a single string.

Input Parameters:

• base_path (string, required): The absolute path to the project directory to scan.
• num_chunks (integer, optional, default: 1): The total number of chunks to divide the output into. Must be >= 1.
• chunk_index (integer, optional, default: 1): The 1-based index of the chunk to return. Requires num_chunks > 1 and chunk_index <= num_chunks.

Output: Returns the concatenated (and potentially chunked) text content.

Local Installation & Usage (Advanced)

If you prefer to run a local version (e.g., for development):

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [email protected]:lex-tools/codebase-context-dumper.git
   cd codebase-context-dumper
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Build the server:

   npm run build
   

4. Configure your MCP client to point to the local build output:

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details on development, debugging, and releasing new versions.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See the LICENSE file for details.