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. By default, gitingest writes to digest.txt; use -o - to stream to stdout.

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 (recommended default)
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 after pipx install, ensure ~/.local/bin is on PATH. Run pipx ensurepath, restart your shell, then verify command -v gitingest.
• •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