Tool reference · Tasks, workflows & decisions
ingest_codebase
Splits a file or directory into functions, classes and methods using a syntax tree and reports what it found.
local stdio server writes
Caution. The tool only parses and returns counts and a sample; it does not save the chunks into memory. Large directories can take a while.
When to use
- You want a quick inventory of the functions and classes in an unfamiliar repository.
- You need to check which parts of a codebase the parser can read.
- You want to limit parsing to certain extensions such as .py or .go.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
pathrequired | string | — | — |
include | string[] | — | Extension allowlist e.g. ['.py','.go'] |
sample_limit | integer | 5 | — |
Example
Arguments
{
"path": "~/projects/billing-api/src",
"include": [
".py"
],
"sample_limit": 1
}Result shape
{
"path": "/Users/dev/projects/billing-api/src",
"total_chunks": 214,
"by_kind": {
"function": 131,
"class": 38,
"method": 45
},
"sample": [
{
"file": "/Users/dev/projects/billing-api/src/billing/invoice.py",
"language": "python",
"kind": "function",
"name": "total_with_tax",
"signature": "def total_with_tax(lines: list[Line], rate: Decimal) -> Decimal:",
"content": "def total_with_tax(lines, rate):\n ...",
"docstring": null,
"start_line": 12,
"end_line": 24,
"parent": null,
"extras": {}
}
]
}Recognises Python, TypeScript/TSX, JavaScript, Go, Rust, C++, Java, Ruby and C#. Files it cannot parse come back as a single chunk of kind "file".
Values are illustrative; the keys follow the server's handler. MCP clients receive the result as JSON text content.
Server description
The description the server sends to your agent in tools/list, captured from the v14.7.0 source:
Parse a file or directory into semantic AST chunks (functions, classes, methods) across 8 languages. Returns chunk count + sample.