# Cortex – Local context retrieval for AI coding agents

> Source: <https://github.com/DanielBlomma/cortex>
> Published: 2026-08-25 10:45:53+00:00

**Give AI coding agents the right context from your repository.**

Cortex builds a local map of your code, symbols, relationships, and project rules. Coding agents query that map through the CLI instead of guessing or reading the whole repository.

Your code stays on your machine. MCP is not required.

Requires Node.js 20.9+ and Git.

```
npm install --global @danielblomma/cortex-mcp
cd your-project
cortex init --bootstrap
```

This indexes the repository, adds Cortex instructions to `AGENTS.md`

, installs
Git hooks, and starts the background watcher.

Check the setup:

```
cortex doctor
# Find relevant code.
cortex search "where is authentication handled?" --json

# Follow relationships from a search result.
cortex related <entity-id> --json

# See what a change may affect.
cortex impact "authentication" --json

# Read repository rules.
cortex rules --json

# Compare a changed file with nearby patterns.
cortex pattern-evidence src/auth.ts --json
```

Agents can run these commands directly. `cortex init`

adds instructions that
tell them to search before answering and check impact before refactoring.

Git hooks and the watcher normally update Cortex automatically.

```
cortex status
cortex watch status
cortex update
```

Run `cortex update`

manually after a large change or when results look stale.

Make lexical and graph search available first while semantic indexing continues in the background:

```
cortex bootstrap --background --profile interactive
cortex indexing status --json
```

This mode supports macOS, Linux, and WSL. Native Windows should use normal foreground bootstrap.

```
npm install --global @danielblomma/cortex-mcp@latest
cortex init --force
cortex bootstrap
cortex update
```

Project configuration and rules are preserved. See
[CHANGELOG.md](/DanielBlomma/cortex/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md) for version-specific notes.

The normal Cortex workflow uses the CLI. If a client explicitly requires MCP,
run `cortex connect`

.

MIT