Documentation · Changelog
What
Context Daddy is a sophisticated code understanding plugin for Claude Code that fundamentally changes how AI assistants explore and comprehend large codebases. By combining tree-sitter parsing, intelligent caching, and a custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, we're creating a system that can quickly generate semantic maps of entire repositories and provide fast, targeted code retrieval without overwhelming context windows. The project now includes narrative documentation tools that capture the evolving "tribal knowledge" of codebases - the stories, gotchas, and hard-won insights that traditional documentation misses.
Built in tools include:
- Fast symbol search - 10-100x faster than grep via MCP tools
- Living narratives - Capture the "why", not just the "what"
- Tribal knowledge - Dragons, gotchas, and hard-won insights that survive context compaction
Why
Understanding code isn't just about parsing syntax. It's about the stories - "here be dragons", "we did X because Y", "this is WTF but it works". That knowledge lives in people's heads and gets lost.
context daddy captures both: fast code exploration AND the narrative that makes codebases actually understandable.
Quick Start
# Install
claude plugin marketplace add chipflow/context-daddy
claude plugin install context-daddy
# Verify MCP tools work
claude mcp list # Should show: repo-map: ✓ Connected
# Generate a narrative for your project
cd /path/to/your-project
/context-daddy:story
Or load directly without installing:
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/context-daddy
Features
🔍 Fast Symbol Search
search_symbols("*Handler") → Find all handler classes
get_symbol_content("AuthService") → Full source with docstrings
get_file_symbols("src/api.py") → Everything in a file
list_files("*.py") → Find files by pattern
Pre-built SQLite index with FTS5. Claude explores your codebase without drowning in context.
📖 Living Narratives
Not changelogs. Stories:
- Summary - What and why
- Current Foci - What we're working on now
- How It Works - Architecture in plain language
- The Story So Far - How we got here
- Dragons & Gotchas - Warnings for future-us
- Open Questions - Things we're still figuring out
/context-daddy:story # Bootstrap from git history
/context-daddy:refresh # Revise after sessions
Written in "we" voice. Opinionated. Updated after context compaction.
🎯 Cross-Session Goals
Track multi-session objectives that persist across sessions and projects:
/context-daddy:goal-new → Guided goal creation with plan steps
/context-daddy:goal-done → Complete current step, advance to next
/context-daddy:goal-focus → Set which step you're working on
/context-daddy:goal → List, switch, or archive goals
Goals have human-readable slugs and step IDs. The active goal and focused step appear automatically in every session's context.
🧠 Learnings
Hard-won insights that persist:
.claude/learnings.md - Project-specific~/.claude/learnings.md - Global- Prompted to save before compaction
Commands
| Command | Purpose |
|---|
/context-daddy:story | Bootstrap narrative from git |
/context-daddy:refresh | Update narrative after a session |
/context-daddy:readme | Generate README from narrative |
/context-daddy:map | Regenerate repo map |
/context-daddy:scan | Regenerate project manifest |
/context-daddy:status | Indexing status |
/context-daddy:learn | Manage learnings |
/context-daddy:goal-new | Create a new goal |
/context-daddy:goal | Manage goals |
/context-daddy:goal-done | Complete current step |
/context-daddy:goal-focus | Set focused step |
/context-daddy:help | MCP tools guide |
How It Works
Three components:
- Tree-sitter indexing → Semantic symbols from Python, C++, Rust
- SQLite + FTS5 → Fast retrieval and search
- MCP server → Tools Claude can query
Multiprocess design: Indexing runs in isolated subprocesses (4GB memory, 20 min CPU limit, watchdog). MCP server stays responsive.
Hooks: SessionStart loads context, Stop hook guides reorientation after compaction.
