LLMem - Codebase Graph & Documentation Tool

LLMem is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides interactive graph visualization of your codebase's import dependencies and function calls, alongside tools for generating architectural documentation.

Works with:

• Claude Code — as a CLI plugin with live-reloading webview
• Antigravity IDE / VS Code — as an extension with integrated panel

By pre-computing dependency graphs and structural summaries, LLMem allows MCP agents to provide rich codebase context without additional reasoning or searching. This reduces output tokens and enables broader codebase understanding in a single query.

Note: This project started December 11th, 2025 and is in the alpha stage. I am a team of one, developing this as a hobby. It will always stay free and open-source. If you find issues or have suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me. You can find more information on the design of the project, and other topics on my personal website and (soon) substack.

🚀 Key Features

• Dual Platform: Works as a Claude Code CLI plugin or VS Code/Antigravity extension
• MCP-Native: Full Model Context Protocol support for AI-powered codebase analysis
• Graph Visualization: Interactive visualization of import dependencies and function calls
• Code Intelligence: Structural analysis (imports, exports, function signatures) using Tree-sitter parsers
• Shadow Filesystem: Maintains a parallel .arch/ directory with AI-generated documentation
• Live Reload: Graph server watches for changes and auto-updates the visualization

Important

Call graphs are TypeScript/JavaScript only. Other languages (Python, C++, Rust, R) support import graphs only.

🌐 Supported Languages

LLMem uses tree-sitter for fast, reliable parsing. TypeScript/JavaScript also uses the compiler API for full call graph support.

Language	Extensions	Parser	Import Graph	Call Graph
TypeScript	.ts, .tsx	TS Compiler API	✅	✅
JavaScript	.js, .jsx	TS Compiler API	✅	✅
Python	.py	tree-sitter	✅	❌
C/C++	.c, .h, .cpp, .hpp, .cc, .cxx, .hxx	tree-sitter	✅	❌
Rust	.rs	tree-sitter	✅	❌
R	.R, .r	tree-sitter	✅	❌

To enable additional languages, install the corresponding tree-sitter grammar:

npm install tree-sitter-python    # Python support
npm install tree-sitter-cpp       # C/C++ support
npm install tree-sitter-rust      # Rust support
npm install @davisvaughan/tree-sitter-r  # R support

Tip

TypeScript/JavaScript works out of the box. Other languages require installing their grammar package.

📦 Installation

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (v18+)
• Claude Code CLI, Antigravity IDE, or VS Code

Option A: Claude Code Plugin

1. Clone and build

   git clone https://github.com/llmem/llmem.git
   cd llmem
   npm install
   npm run build:claude

2. (Optional) Add language support — install grammars for languages you need:

   npm install tree-sitter-python tree-sitter-cpp  # etc.

3. Add to Claude Code config (~/.config/claude/config.json or settings.json):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "llmem": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/path/to/llmem/dist/claude/index.js"]
       }
     }
   }

4. Start the graph server (in your project directory):

   npm run serve

   This starts a live-reloading webview at http://localhost:3000.

Note

dist/claude/index.js (the MCP server) and npm run serve (the graph server) are two separate processes. The MCP server handles tool calls from Claude; the graph server serves the visualization UI. Both must be running for the full experience.

Option B: VS Code / Antigravity Extension

1. Clone and build

   git clone https://github.com/llmem/llmem.git
   cd llmem
   npm install
   npm run package

   This creates a .vsix file in the project root.

2. (Optional) Add language support — install grammars for languages you need:

   npm install tree-sitter-python tree-sitter-cpp  # etc.

3. Install the VSIX

   code --install-extension llmem-0.1.0.vsix
   # or for Antigravity:
   antigravity --install-extension llmem-0.1.0.vsix

Development Mode

For contributors:

1. Clone and install

   git clone https://github.com/llmem/llmem.git
   cd llmem
   npm install

2. Build

   npm run build:all    # Build both VS Code extension and Claude CLI

3. Run

   • VS Code/Antigravity: Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
   • Claude CLI: Run npm run serve to start the graph server

🎯 Usage Workflow

LLMem works in two stages: graph visualization and documentation generation (via MCP tools).

Using with Claude Code

1. Start the graph server in your project:

   npm run serve

   This opens the webview at http://localhost:3000 with live reload.

2. Toggle watched files in the left panel — click the circles next to files/folders to include them in the graph.

3. Use MCP tools via Claude:

   • "Run mcp folder_info on src/graph"
   • "Run mcp file_info on src/mcp/tools.ts"

Using with VS Code / Antigravity

1. Open the LLMem Panel via command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

   LLMem: Open View Panel
   

2. Toggle watched files — grey circles = unwatched, green = watched.

3. Use MCP tools via the IDE's agent.

Navigating the Graph

The graph displays:

• Import edges: File-to-file import dependencies (all languages)
• Call edges: Function-to-function call relationships (TypeScript/JavaScript only)

Controls:

• Pan: Click and drag
• Zoom: Mouse wheel
• Select: Click a node to highlight connections

Tip

Toggle an entire folder to watch all files within it at once.

---

💡 MCP Tools Reference

Tool	Purpose
folder_info	Get folder structure + prompt for LLM documentation
file_info	Get file details + prompt for LLM documentation
report_folder_info	Save LLM-generated folder docs to .arch/{folder}/README.md
report_file_info	Save LLM-generated file docs to .arch/{file}.md
inspect_source	Read specific line ranges from source files
open_window	Open the LLMem panel in the IDE

Important

MCP documentation tools require the graph to be computed first. Make sure to toggle watched files before generating summaries.

🏗️ Architecture

User → MCP Agent (Claude Code / Antigravity) → LLMem MCP Server

• User: Asks a question about the codebase
• Agent: Calls MCP tools to gather context
• LLMem:
  1. Parses code using Tree-sitter (TS Compiler API for TypeScript/JavaScript)
  2. Builds import/call graphs from edge list data
  3. Generates documentation prompts for the LLM
  4. Saves documentation to .arch/ directory
• Agent: Uses the context to answer the User

🛠️ Development

Command	Description
npm run build:all	Build everything (VS Code + Claude CLI)
npm run build:vscode	Build VS Code extension only
npm run build:claude	Build Claude CLI only
npm run watch	Watch mode for TypeScript
npm run serve	Start graph server with live reload
npm test	Run tests

📁 Directory Structure

Directory	Description
src/extension	VS Code/Antigravity IDE integration
src/claude	Claude Code CLI plugin and graph server
src/mcp	MCP server implementation and tool handlers
src/parser	Tree-sitter parsers for code analysis
src/graph	EdgeList data structures for imports and calls
src/info	Information extraction for documentation
src/webview	Interactive graph visualization UI
src/artifact	Shadow filesystem (.arch/) management

Configuration

LLMem exposes three settings (configurable in VS Code settings or via environment):

Setting	Default	Description
artifactRoot	.artifacts	Directory for edge lists and generated webview files
maxFilesPerFolder	20	Maximum files processed per folder analysis
maxFileSizeKB	512	Files larger than this are skipped during analysis

Workspace Root Detection

The MCP server determines the workspace root in this priority order:

1. Root stored in extension context (set when the extension activates)
2. LLMEM_WORKSPACE environment variable
3. Auto-detect by walking up from cwd, looking for .arch, .artifacts, or package.json
4. Fallback to current working directory

Client Configuration

Claude Desktop — config file location:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "llmem": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/llmem/dist/claude/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "LLMEM_WORKSPACE": "/absolute/path/to/your/project"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code — config file location:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.config/claude/config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "llmem": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/llmem/dist/claude/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code — .vscode/settings.json in your project:

{
  "llmem.artifactRoot": ".artifacts",
  "llmem.maxFilesPerFolder": 20,
  "llmem.maxFileSizeKB": 512
}

Known Issues

report_file_info and report_folder_info save to wrong path

When running as a standalone MCP server (Claude Code / Claude Desktop), report_file_info and report_folder_info may save the generated .arch/ files to the application data directory instead of your project workspace.

Workaround: After calling report_file_info or report_folder_info, copy the generated content manually to the correct .arch/ path in your workspace.

This is a known limitation of the standalone MCP server mode and will be fixed in a future release.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.