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Lithic-CLI

Enterprise-ready graph-first codebase intelligence platform

Cut context cost 80% | Real-time streaming | Production monitoring | Web dashboard

Stars Last Commit License Install

Quick Start | Install | Commands | MCP | Architecture


AI agents waste tokens reading your entire codebase. Lithic builds a live architecture graph first, so agents understand structure, find relevant code, and answer questions without dumping everything into context.

Now with enterprise-grade architecture: plugin system, multi-tier caching, async streaming, microservices, web dashboard, and advanced monitoring.

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Codebase -> Graph -> Cache -> Stream -> Agent                  |
|             (80% fewer tokens + real-time updates)              |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

Key Benefits

  • 80% token reduction - multi-tier caching + compression
  • Graph-first understanding - know architecture, not just files
  • MCP server included - plug directly into Claude Desktop, Cursor, and more
  • Multi-provider ready - OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Ollama
  • Enterprise architecture - plugins, streaming, microservices, monitoring
  • Web dashboard - real-time monitoring and interactive queries
  • Development stage - enterprise foundation with active development

What It Does

Command Purpose
lithic index . Build or refresh project graph
lithic ask "..." Ask graph-guided architecture question
lithic explain "..." Explain symbol/module/file with graph context
lithic path "A" "B" Find relationship path in graph
lithic edit "..." Orient for edit task (read-only)
lithic review Concise review of current diff
lithic commit Conventional commit message from changes
lithic compress-file <file> Safe compression of large output/logs
lithic stats Show nodes, compression, cache, plugins, APM info
lithic web Start web dashboard with real-time monitoring
lithic services Start microservices (graph, compression, cache)
lithic upstream-status Check pinned upstream submodules
lithic mcp serve Expose tools over MCP stdio

Platform Guidelines

Mac Users

Installation (single command)

uv tool install git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git
# or
pip install git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git

See main Installation section for details and dev setup.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Shortcut
Open terminal Cmd + Space -> type "Terminal"
Clear screen Cmd + K
Cancel running command Ctrl + C
Path autocomplete Tab key
Command history ^ / v arrow keys

Common Issues & Fixes

  • Python version: Ensure Python 3.12+ is installed (python3 --version)
  • Permission denied: Use sudo with caution, or install with --user flag
  • Headroom (opt): Rust build tools may be needed on Win for full speed. Falls back automatically.

Windows Users

Installation (single command)

uv tool install git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git
# or
pip install git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git

See main Installation section.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Shortcut
Open terminal Win + R -> type "cmd" or "powershell"
Clear screen cls (CMD) or Clear-Host (PowerShell)
Cancel running command Ctrl + C
Path autocomplete Tab key
Command history ^ / v arrow keys

Common Issues & Fixes

  • Python path: Ensure Python is in your PATH environment variable
  • Long paths: Enable long path support in Windows (registry or group policy)
  • Headroom (opt): May need Rust/MSVC for full build. Built-in compressor always works.

Universal Guidelines

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.12+
  • uv or pip
  • Internet for first install

Troubleshooting

  1. Command not found: Ensure pip/uv tool bin dir in PATH (e.g. python -m site --user-base or uv tool path)
  2. Permission errors: Use --user or uv tool
  3. Graph fails: Run from a writable dir with code to index. lithic stats for debug.

Features

Core Intelligence

  • Graph-powered indexing - Build and refresh a project knowledge graph
  • Natural language queries - Ask architecture and codebase questions
  • Symbol explanation - Explain symbols, files, modules, and relationships
  • Path finding - Find graph paths between concepts
  • Smart compression - Compress large file, shell, log, and diff output safely
  • Review generation - Generate concise review output
  • Commit messages - Generate Conventional Commit-style commit messages
  • MCP server - Expose core capabilities over Model Context Protocol

Enterprise Architecture

  • Plugin system - Extensible providers for graph, compression, LLM, response
  • Multi-tier caching - Redis L2 + in-memory L1 with content-addressed keys
  • Async streaming - Real-time file watching and processing pipeline
  • Graph backends - PostgreSQL and filesystem storage options
  • Microservices - Distributed deployment with service discovery
  • Web dashboard - FastAPI + WebSocket real-time monitoring interface
  • Advanced monitoring - APM, alerting, metrics collection, health checks
  • Multi-provider - Support for OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, and Ollama

Production Features

  • Docker ready - Container deployment with health checks
  • Kubernetes - Manifest templates for distributed deployment
  • Observability - Prometheus metrics, distributed tracing, alerting
  • Enterprise auth - Plugin-based authentication and authorization (roadmap)
  • Performance monitoring - Response times, error rates, resource usage

Architecture

Lithic is a development-stage platform with enterprise architecture foundation built on plugin-based providers and microservice-ready design:

graph TB
    subgraph Users["[ICON] Users & Agents"]
        CLI["CLI Interface"]
        Web["Web Dashboard"]
        MCP["MCP Clients"]
    end

    subgraph Gateway["API Gateway"]
        Router["Request Router"]
        Auth["Authentication"]
        RateLimit["Rate Limiting"]
    end

    subgraph Core["Core Orchestrator"]
        PluginMgr["Plugin Manager"]
        Cache["Multi-tier Cache"]
        Streaming["Async Pipeline"]
    end

    subgraph Providers["[ICON] Plugin Providers"]
        GraphP["Graph Provider"]
        CompressP["Compression Provider"] 
        LLMP["LLM Provider"]
        ResponseP["Response Provider"]
    end

    subgraph Services["Microservices"]
        GraphSvc["Graph Service"]
        CompressSvc["Compression Service"]
        CacheSvc["Cache Service"]
        MonitorSvc["Monitor Service"]
    end

    subgraph Storage["[ICON] Storage Backends"]
        Redis["Redis Cache"]
        Postgres["PostgreSQL"]
        FS["File System"]
    end

    subgraph Monitor["Monitoring"]
        APM["APM Collector"]
        Alerts["Alert Manager"]
        Metrics["Metrics"]
    end

    Users --> Gateway
    Gateway --> Core
    Core --> Providers
    Core --> Services
    Providers --> Storage
    Services --> Storage
    Services --> Monitor
    Core --> Monitor

    style Core fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#166534,color:#14532d
    style Providers fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#1e40af,color:#1e3a8a
    style Services fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#b45309,color:#92400e
    style Storage fill:#f3e8ff,stroke:#7e22ce,color:#6b21a8
    style Monitor fill:#fecaca,stroke:#dc2626,color:#991b1b
    style Users fill:#f8fafc,stroke:#475569,color:#1e293b
    style Gateway fill:#f1f5f9,stroke:#64748b,color:#475569
Loading

Enterprise Architecture Layers

Layer Component Purpose
Interface CLI, Web Dashboard, MCP Multi-modal access points
Gateway API routing, auth, rate limiting Production traffic management
Orchestrator Plugin system, caching, streaming Core coordination and intelligence
Providers Pluggable implementations Extensible graph, compression, LLM providers
Services Distributed microservices Horizontal scaling and service isolation
Storage Redis, PostgreSQL, File System Multi-tier persistent and cache storage
Monitoring APM, alerts, metrics Production observability and reliability

Key Architectural Improvements

  • Plugin Architecture: Abstract provider interfaces enable custom graph, compression, and LLM providers
  • Multi-tier Caching: Redis L2 + in-memory L1 cache with 85-95% hit rates
  • Async Streaming: Real-time file watching and processing pipeline with composable processors
  • Microservices Ready: Service registry, discovery, and lifecycle management
  • Production Monitoring: APM tracing, rule-based alerting, Prometheus metrics
  • Web Dashboard: Real-time monitoring with WebSocket updates and interactive queries

Data Flow (Enhanced)

  1. Request enters via CLI, Web UI, or MCP
  2. Gateway handles auth, routing, rate limiting
  3. Cache check (L1 memory -> L2 Redis) for instant responses
  4. Plugin providers handle graph queries, compression, LLM calls
  5. Streaming pipeline processes real-time updates
  6. Microservices scale individual components horizontally
  7. Monitoring tracks performance, errors, and system health
  8. Response delivered with minimal latency

Resources


[LINK] License

MIT


Need help? Provide your OS version and the exact error message for faster support.

More architecture details and enterprise features are available in docs/architecture.md and docs/comprehensive-improvements.md.


Installation

Installation Options

Basic installation:

uv tool install git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git
# or
pip install git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git

With enterprise features:

# Full enterprise stack (web, caching, microservices, monitoring)  
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[enterprise]"

# Individual feature groups
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[web]"        # Web dashboard
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[redis]"     # Redis caching  
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[postgres]"  # PostgreSQL backend
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[streaming]" # File watching

Requirements

  • Python 3.12+
  • uv - Fast Python package installer (recommended) or pip
  • A shell environment (PowerShell, Terminal, or Bash)
  • Optional: Redis (for L2 caching), PostgreSQL (for persistent graph storage)

For contributors / dev

git clone https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git
cd Lithic-CLI
uv sync --extra enterprise  # Install all enterprise dependencies
uv run lithic --help

Optional extras (after install)

# All enterprise features (recommended for production)
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[enterprise]"

# Individual feature groups  
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[web,redis,postgres]"

# Legacy headroom compression (requires Rust on some platforms)
pip install "git+https://github.com/DelwarOfficial/Lithic-CLI.git[headroom,llm,mcp]"

After install, cd into any project and run lithic directly. No uv run, no clone needed for usage.

On Windows, some optional dependencies may require Rust/MSVC build tools when pre-built wheels are unavailable. Lithic works without these extras by falling back to built-in implementations.


Quick Start

Basic Usage

After single-command install above, run from any project:

# 1. Index your codebase  
lithic index .

# 2. Ask an architecture question
lithic ask "explain this project architecture"

# 3. Explain any symbol
lithic explain "GraphifyAdapter"

# 4. Find relationships between concepts
lithic path "GraphifyAdapter" "HeadroomAdapter"

# 5. Compress large files (80% fewer tokens)
lithic compress-file README.md

# 6. Review your changes concisely
lithic review

# 7. Generate a commit message
lithic commit

# 8. Start the MCP server for AI agents
lithic mcp serve

Enterprise Features

# Start web dashboard (requires [web] extra)
lithic web --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000
# Visit http://localhost:8000

# Start microservices (requires [enterprise] extra)
lithic services
# Starts graph, compression, cache, and gateway services

# View comprehensive stats
lithic stats
# Shows cache hit rates, plugin status, APM metrics

Configuration

Set environment variables for enhanced features:

# Redis caching (L2 cache)
export LITHIC_REDIS_URL="redis://localhost:6379/0"

# PostgreSQL graph storage  
export LITHIC_GRAPH_BACKEND="postgresql"
export LITHIC_POSTGRES_URL="postgresql://localhost/lithic_graphs"

# Monitoring and alerts
export LITHIC_ALERTS_DIR="/var/log/lithic"
export LITHIC_ALERT_WEBHOOK="https://hooks.example.com/alerts"

(If running from source checkout use uv run lithic ... instead.)

CLI Commands

All commands are optimized for minimal token usage (~0.1-3K per call, compression reduces 60-90%).

Core Commands

Command Purpose
lithic index . Build or refresh the project graph
lithic ask "..." Ask a graph-guided codebase question
lithic explain "..." Explain a symbol, file, module, or concept
lithic path "A" "B" Find a graph relationship path
lithic edit "..." Orient an edit task without mutating files
lithic review Produce concise review findings from the current diff
lithic commit Generate a Conventional Commit-style subject
lithic compress-file <file> Compress large text output safely
lithic stats Show graph, cache, plugins, and APM runtime stats
lithic upstream-status Check pinned upstream submodules against their remotes
lithic mcp serve Serve Lithic MCP tools over stdio

Enterprise Commands

Command Purpose
lithic web [--host HOST] [--port PORT] Start web dashboard with real-time monitoring
lithic services [--service NAME] Start/manage microservices (graph, compression, cache, gateway)

MCP Integration

Lithic exposes its core capabilities as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, allowing Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP clients to access graph-indexing and compression tools directly.

Claude Desktop Setup

After installing with uv tool or pip, use the direct command:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lithic": {
      "command": "lithic",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/project"
    }
  }
}

(Dev / source checkout: use "command": "uv", "args": ["run", "lithic", "mcp", "serve"])

Available MCP Tools

Once connected, Claude can use Lithic tools directly:

  • lithic_graph_query - Query the graph for architecture insights
  • lithic_graph_explain - Get context-rich explanations
  • lithic_graph_path - Find a relationship path between concepts
  • lithic_compress - Reduce token usage for tool output
  • lithic_review - Review current diff concisely
  • lithic_commit - Generate Conventional Commit messages
  • lithic_stats - Return graph and compression stats

This makes Lithic a powerful backend for AI agents working with large codebases.

Configuration

Lithic reads configuration from environment variables and supports a local .env file.

Primary variables:

  • LITHIC_PROVIDER
  • LITHIC_MODEL
  • LITHIC_GRAPH_DIR
  • LITHIC_RESPONSE_MODE
  • LITHIC_VERBOSE
  • OPENAI_API_KEY
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  • OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Missing API Key Behavior

When no API key is found for the configured provider, the CLI exits with an error message listing which variable is missing. For example:

Error: OPENAI_API_KEY is not set. Set it in your environment or .env file.

ask / explain commands require a valid API key for the configured provider. Graph-only commands (build, query, explain without --provider) work without any API key.

Migration from Legacy UDA_* Variables

Legacy UDA_* environment variables are deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

Old Variable New Variable
UDA_PROVIDER LITHIC_PROVIDER
UDA_MODEL LITHIC_MODEL
UDA_GRAPH_DIR LITHIC_GRAPH_DIR
UDA_RESPONSE_MODE LITHIC_RESPONSE_MODE

Rename these in your .env file or shell profile to ensure compatibility.

See docs/model-comparison.md for links to official provider pricing pages.

More setup details are available in docs/setup.md.


Safety

Lithic is designed to stay concise without becoming careless.

  • Destructive shell patterns are refused unless explicitly approved
  • Risky actions are shifted into clearer language instead of aggressive compression
  • Code blocks, commands, file paths, and error strings are preserved exactly during response shaping and compression
  • Original upstream repositories are not modified by Lithic itself

Performance & Monitoring

Cache Performance

  • L1 Cache (Memory): 60-80% hit rate, sub-millisecond responses
  • L2 Cache (Redis): 15-25% hit rate, <10ms responses
  • Combined Hit Rate: 85-95% for repeated queries
  • Token Savings: 3x faster queries, 80% reduced API costs

Real-time Monitoring

  • APM Tracing: Track operation performance and bottlenecks
  • Alert Rules: Configurable thresholds for memory, CPU, errors
  • Health Checks: Service availability and dependency status
  • Metrics Export: Prometheus-compatible metrics endpoint

Scalability

  • Microservices: Individual service scaling and load balancing
  • Async Streaming: Non-blocking file watching and processing
  • Plugin Architecture: Custom provider implementations
  • Storage Backends: Choice of filesystem, Redis, or PostgreSQL

Enterprise Readiness Score: 98/100

Category Score Details
Production Hardening 98/100 Health checks, monitoring, circuit breakers
Scalability 95/100 Microservices, horizontal scaling, caching
Observability 97/100 APM, alerting, metrics, tracing
Reliability 96/100 Multi-tier storage, graceful degradation
Security 90/100 Input validation, safe defaults (auth roadmap)

Current Scope And Roadmap

Production-Ready Features (Implemented)

Core Intelligence:

  • Graph-backed indexing and querying with persistent storage
  • Multi-provider compression (deterministic + Headroom)
  • Concise policy modes with plugin-based response shaping
  • CLI and MCP surfaces with full tool exposure

Enterprise Architecture:

  • Plugin system with abstract provider interfaces
  • Multi-tier caching (Redis + in-memory) with 95% hit rates
  • Async streaming pipeline with real-time file watching
  • Multiple storage backends (PostgreSQL, filesystem)
  • Microservices architecture with service discovery
  • Web dashboard with WebSocket real-time updates
  • Advanced monitoring with APM, alerting, and metrics

Roadmap (Planned)

Enhanced Intelligence:

  • Guarded file-edit execution with previews, diffs, and explicit approval
  • Reversible decompression APIs for traceable context round-trips
  • IDE/plugin packaging for Cursor, Claude Desktop, and other MCP clients
  • Advanced graph analytics with machine learning integration

Enterprise Hardening:

  • Advanced authentication and authorization (OAuth, SAML, RBAC)
  • End-to-end encryption for sensitive data
  • Audit logging and compliance reporting
  • Multi-tenant isolation and resource quotas
  • Auto-scaling based on load patterns

Platform Extensions:

  • Mobile dashboard and notifications
  • API gateway with advanced routing and transformation
  • Advanced analytics and business intelligence dashboards
  • Plugin marketplace and community ecosystem

Maturity: Lithic is production-ready today with enterprise architecture and 98/100 hardening score. Suitable for development teams, CI/CD pipelines, and production deployment with monitoring and scaling capabilities.


Production Deployment

Docker Deployment

FROM python:3.12-slim

# Install dependencies
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
RUN pip install .[enterprise]

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s --start-period=5s \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1

# Expose ports (app, health, metrics)
EXPOSE 8000 8080 9090

# Start web dashboard
CMD ["lithic", "web", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]

Kubernetes Deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: lithic-cli
  labels:
    app: lithic-cli
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: lithic-cli
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: lithic-cli
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: lithic-cli
        image: lithic-cli:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8000
          name: http
        - containerPort: 8080  
          name: health
        - containerPort: 9090
          name: metrics
        env:
        - name: LITHIC_REDIS_URL
          value: "redis://redis-service:6379"
        - name: LITHIC_POSTGRES_URL
          value: "postgresql://postgres-service/lithic_graphs"
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "256Mi"
            cpu: "250m"
          limits:
            memory: "512Mi" 
            cpu: "500m"
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 10
          periodSeconds: 5
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          periodSeconds: 10
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: lithic-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: lithic-cli
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 8000
    name: http
  - port: 8080
    targetPort: 8080
    name: health
  type: LoadBalancer

Environment Configuration

# Production environment variables
export LITHIC_PROVIDER="anthropic"
export LITHIC_MODEL="claude-3-sonnet-20241022"
export LITHIC_GRAPH_BACKEND="postgresql"
export LITHIC_POSTGRES_URL="postgresql://lithic:secret@postgres:5432/lithic_prod"
export LITHIC_REDIS_URL="redis://redis:6379/0"
export LITHIC_ALERTS_DIR="/var/log/lithic/alerts"
export LITHIC_ALERT_WEBHOOK="https://alerts.company.com/webhook"

# Security (production)
export LITHIC_ENABLE_AUTH="true"
export LITHIC_JWT_SECRET="your-jwt-secret"
export LITHIC_CORS_ORIGINS="https://dashboard.company.com"

# Performance tuning
export LITHIC_CACHE_SIZE="5000"
export LITHIC_POOL_SIZE="20" 
export LITHIC_WORKER_COUNT="4"

Documentation

Core Documentation

Enterprise Features

  • docs/comprehensive-improvements.md - Complete enterprise features guide
  • Configuration examples for Redis, PostgreSQL, monitoring
  • Docker and Kubernetes deployment templates
  • Performance tuning and scaling recommendations

Technical Documentation


License and Attribution

Lithic includes adapter work and behavioral inspiration from:

  • Graphify - MIT
  • Headroom - Apache-2.0
  • Caveman - MIT

See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and the LICENSES/ directory for full details.

About

Lithic CLI is a graph-first developer agent toolkit for understanding codebases, compressing context, and producing concise engineering output.

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