agentmako
agentmako is a local-first codebase intelligence engine for AI coding
tools.
It gives agents like Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, and local harnesses a
compact Reef-first tool surface for understanding a project before they edit
it. Mako indexes your repo, builds local SQLite-backed facts, tracks
diagnostics and review notes, and answers evidence-backed questions instead of
making the agent orchestrate broad tool chains or rediscover everything with
raw grep.
Mako is built for the first mile of coding-agent work:
What files matter? What routes, symbols, tables, diagnostics, and prior
findings are relevant? What should the agent read next?
What You Get
- MCP server for coding agents:
agentmako mcp
- Local dashboard:
agentmako dashboard
- Primary project query:
reef_ask across code, database, findings,
diagnostics, instructions, freshness, and literal checks
- Queryable workflow orientation:
mako_help
- Deterministic context expansion:
context_packet
_hints on tool results so agents get result-specific next steps- Central MCP annotations so clients can distinguish safe reads, live reads,
and local-state mutations
- Compact loop/fallback tools:
reef_status, reef_verify, reef_impact,
live_text_search, lint_files, and tool_batch
- Reef Engine facts and findings across indexed,
working-tree, and staged state
- Reef convention extraction for auth guards, runtime boundaries, generated
paths, route patterns, and schema usage
- TypeScript, ESLint, Oxlint, Biome, and staged git diagnostic ingestion
- Hot-reloaded
.mako/rules YAML rule packs, including primitive
cross-file helper-bypass rules via canonicalHelper
- Optional Postgres/Supabase schema snapshots and read-only DB inspection
- Local DB review comments for notes on tables, RLS, triggers,
publications, subscriptions, and replication
- Recall, acknowledgements, and agent feedback for repeated review work
Everything important runs locally. No hosted service is required.
Install
Requires Node.js 20 or newer.
npm install -g agentmako
Confirm the CLI is available:
agentmako --version
agentmako doctor
You should see green checks for configuration and the local API service.
Prefer to build from source (e.g. to contribute)? See
Develop From Source at the bottom of this
file.
Happy Path Setup
1. Attach your real project
Go to the project you want Mako to understand:
cd C:/path/to/your/project
Attach and index it:
agentmako connect . --no-db
Use --no-db for the first run. It gets the code intelligence path
working before adding database scope.
2. Confirm Mako sees the project
agentmako status .
agentmako tool list
Run a real Reef query:
agentmako --json tool call . reef_ask "{\"question\":\"where should I inspect auth route state?\"}"
If that returns an evidence-backed answer, facts, findings, or next queries,
the core setup is working.
reef_ask plans over code, database, durable findings, diagnostics, and exact
literal evidence. App-flow questions favor file, route, and finding evidence;
RLS/schema questions favor database facts and review comments. To inspect
project rules of thumb directly:
agentmako --json tool call . project_conventions "{}"
3. Configure your MCP client
Add this to your MCP client config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"mako-ai": {
"command": "agentmako",
"args": ["mcp"]
}
}
}
Restart the MCP client and confirm the mako-ai server starts.
In the agent, default to reef_ask. The compact starting surface is:
reef_ask for project questions across code, database, findings,
diagnostics, freshness, and quoted literal checksreef_status for maintained issues, changed files, stale diagnostics, and
watcher/schema healthreef_verify for the completion gate over diagnostic freshness and open loopsreef_impact for changed-file blast radius and convention risksmako_help for an ordered workflow recipe with prefilled argumentslive_text_search for exact current-disk regex/glob inventorieslint_files for bounded diagnostics and .mako/rules findingstool_batch for independent read-only follow-upstool_search to discover specialized route, graph, DB, finding, refresh, or
context-expansion tools only when the compact surface points at a concrete
need
4. Optional: use an agent plugin
Plain MCP works anywhere, but the bundled plugins add Mako-specific skills and
include the same agentmako mcp wiring.
Prerequisites:
- Claude Code installed
- Node.js 20+ on
PATH (the plugin runs npx -y agentmako mcp, which fetches
the published agentmako package automatically — no separate global install
required)
- Your target project already attached with
agentmako connect
Claude Code stable path:
claude plugin validate .\mako-ai-claude-plugin
claude --plugin-dir .\mako-ai-claude-plugin
New generated plugin layouts:
claude plugin validate ./plugins/claude-code
codex marketplace add ./plugins
ln -s "$(pwd)/plugins/cursor" ~/.cursor/plugins/local/mako-ai
gemini extensions install ./plugins/gemini
Inside the agent, confirm the mako-ai MCP server is connected.
The plugin exposes these skills:
/mako-ai:mako-guide/mako-ai:mako-discovery/mako-ai:mako-trace/mako-ai:mako-neighborhoods/mako-ai:mako-graph/mako-ai:mako-database/mako-ai:mako-code-intel/mako-ai:mako-workflow
Use the plugin when you want Claude Code to load Mako-specific guidance for
which tools to call and how to interpret their results.
5. Optional: launch the dashboard
From your target project:
agentmako dashboard .
This starts the local API, harness service, and web dashboard.
6. Optional: add Supabase/Postgres awareness
Mako works without a database. Add this only after code intelligence is
working.
For a one-time interactive setup:
agentmako connect .
For CI or scripted setup using an environment variable:
set DATABASE_URL=postgres://...
agentmako connect . --db-env DATABASE_URL --yes
Then refresh and verify the local schema snapshot:
agentmako refresh .
agentmako verify .
Interactive mode stores database secrets in your OS keychain by default.
Project config stores references, not plaintext DB URLs.
Normal Daily Loop
From the target project:
agentmako status .
agentmako dashboard .
agentmako --json tool call . context_packet "{\"query\":\"fix the broken auth callback route\"}"
For staged review checks:
agentmako git precommit . --json
For database review notes:
agentmako --json tool call . db_review_comment "{\"objectType\":\"replication\",\"objectName\":\"supabase_database_replication\",\"category\":\"review\",\"comment\":\"Check publication coverage before relying on realtime events.\",\"tags\":[\"supabase\",\"replication\"]}"
Develop From Source
If you want to hack on Mako itself, clone and build instead of installing
from npm.
Prerequisites:
- Node.js 20 or newer
- Git
- Corepack (
corepack enable, included with modern Node.js)
git clone https://github.com/drhalto/agentmako.git
cd agentmako
corepack pnpm install
corepack pnpm run build
npm link ./apps/cli
npm link ./apps/cli makes the source-built CLI available as
agentmako on your PATH, replacing any global npm install. Re-run
corepack pnpm run build after pulling changes.
To go back to the published version: npm install -g agentmako.
Development Checks
corepack pnpm run typecheck
corepack pnpm run build
corepack pnpm run test:smoke:reef-tooling
corepack pnpm run test:smoke:reef-model-facing-views
Full verification:
corepack pnpm test
Repository Layout
apps/
cli/ agentmako CLI and MCP entrypoint (the published package)
web/ local dashboard
packages/
contracts/ public TypeScript contracts and tool schemas
config/ shared config helpers
logger/ shared logger
sdk/ programmatic SDK
store/ SQLite stores, migrations, and query helpers
tools/ shared tool implementations
harness-core/ local agent harness runtime
harness-tools/ action tools available to the harness
harness-contracts/ harness contracts and provider catalog
services/
api/ local API and MCP transports
engine/ Reef Engine fact/finding pipeline
harness/ local harness HTTP service
indexer/ repo and schema indexing logic
worker/ background worker
extensions/ provider and integration packages
storage/ schema migrations, models, queries
test/smoke/ smoke coverage
mako-ai-claude-plugin/ Claude Code plugin with Mako skills
More Docs
License
Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.
