svn-usage

SVN usage

This plugin exposes the local svn CLI to Claude as MCP tools prefixed svn_*. Use those tools whenever the user asks anything about a Subversion working copy or repository.

Tool inventory

Read-only:

• svn_status — current state of the WC
• svn_log — commit history
• svn_diff — local edits or revision-to-revision diff
• svn_info — metadata (URL, revision, last author, etc.)
• svn_list — list directory contents (WC or repo URL)
• svn_cat — file contents at a revision
• svn_blame — annotate a file with revision/author per line

Working-copy mutations (no repo writes):

• svn_update — pull latest from server
• svn_checkout — create a new working copy
• svn_add — schedule paths for addition
• svn_revert — discard local edits (DESTRUCTIVE)
• svn_merge — merge changes into WC (does not commit)
• svn_resolve — mark conflicts resolved

Note: svn commit is intentionally NOT exposed. The user always runs commits themselves.

Workflow rules

1. Before suggesting any change, run svn_status so you know the actual state of the WC. Don't assume.
2. Before invoking any mutation tool (svn_update, svn_revert, svn_merge, svn_add, svn_resolve, svn_checkout), confirm with the user in chat. State exactly which paths and what will happen. svn_revert and svn_merge are especially worth flagging because they overwrite local content.
3. Prefer read-only tools to investigate before proposing actions. Almost every question about "what's going on" is answerable with status + log + diff.
4. Pass cwd (working-copy directory) when the user has multiple checkouts or when the default working copy isn't set. If a default is configured via SVN_DEFAULT_WC, omit cwd to use it.
5. For long history, use limit on svn_log rather than dumping thousands of revisions.
6. For binary files, prefer svn_info and svn_blame over svn_cat / svn_diff.
7. If a tool returns a non-zero exit and the message mentions authentication, tell the user — credentials may have expired. Do not attempt to enter credentials yourself.

Common tasks

• "What did I change?" → svn_status then svn_diff.
• "Who last touched this file?" → svn_blame (then svn_log on that file for context).
• "Get me up to date" → confirm, then svn_update.
• "What's on the branch vs trunk?" → svn_diff with old/new set to the two URLs.
• "Where does this WC point?" → svn_info.

Output handling

Tool output is prefixed with the exact svn command and a (cwd=..., exit=...) header so you can see what ran. Output is capped at ~200 KB; if you see a [output truncated...] marker, narrow the query (specific path, smaller -r range, or --limit).