--- title: "Ask questions about a GitHub repo without cloning it" canonical: "https://xerj.org/answers/ask-questions-about-a-github-repo-without-cloning" updated: "2026-10-20" source: "content/answers/ask-questions-about-a-github-repo-without-cloning.md" --- # Ask questions about a GitHub repo without cloning it **TL;DR** — To ask questions about a GitHub repo without cloning it, run `xerj ask "your question"`. If the repo is in the Corpus Hub catalogue, xerj pulls a signed, pre-indexed pack and answers with file:line, the pinned commit and the licence. Measured 2026-10-19: first answer 2,356 ms including the download, later answers 30 to 40 ms. ## Agent prompt ```text Read https://xerj.org/llms.txt. Install xerj, then answer my question about the library with xerj ask (add --corpus and --def for an exact symbol). Quote the corpus, the pinned commit, the file:line and the licence line it prints, and say so when it exits 1 with no match. ``` ## Commands ### Command 1 Note: Install the release binary into ~/.local/bin. ```sh curl -fsSL https://xerj.org/get | sh ``` ### Command 2 Note: Route the question to a corpus, pull its signed pack once and answer with file:line. ```sh xerj ask "how does snappy decompress a literal" ``` ### Command 3 Note: Exact definition lookup in one corpus, as JSON with the pin, licence class and hits. ```sh xerj ask --corpus zstd --def ZSTD_CLEVEL_DEFAULT --json ``` ### Command 4 Note: List cached packs, the automatic node and the hosted setting. ```sh xerj hub status ``` ## Run it This ran in a fresh HOME with v1.0.0-rc.97. No node was running. `xerj ask` started a node on port 9300, pulled the snappy pack and answered. ```sh curl -fsSL https://xerj.org/get | sh xerj ask "how does snappy decompress a literal" ``` ```text xerj hub: no node answers at http://127.0.0.1:9555; starting a local node on port 9300 (data: ~/.xerj/hub/node, log: ~/.xerj/hub/node.log) xerj hub: node ready on port 9300 (pid 1822371) xerj hub: pulling 'snappy' (10.8 MB) — one-time download, later questions answer locally xerj hub: pulled snappy 9c28114a 11338487 → 4 indices, 382 definitions snappy pin 2026-10-02 (18 days old) BSD-3-Clause snappy/snappy.cc:1643 DecompressAllTags(Writer* writer) { const char* ip = ip_; ResetLimit(ip); auto op = writer->GetOutputPtr(); ... ... [method DecompressAllTags truncated at 800 chars] ``` Paths are shortened to `~` and the passage is cut for the page. The run set `XERJ_URL` to an unused port, because a test node was already on 9200. With nothing on 9200, the first line names that port. Ask for one symbol and get one line back: ```sh xerj ask --corpus zstd --def ZSTD_CLEVEL_DEFAULT --json ``` ```json { "corpus": "zstd", "pin_sha": "01b7154f1172432f8abe9b3bb9909e14a1176b7d", "pin_date": "2026-10-02", "age_days": 18, "licence_spdx": "mixed: BSD-3 (lib) / GPL-2.0 (cli)", "licence_class": "approach-only", "answered_from": "local_pack", "mode": "def", "hits": [ { "file": "zstd/lib/zstd.h", "line": 134, "kind": "const", "text": "# define ZSTD_CLEVEL_DEFAULT 3", "value": "3", "score": 17.131968, "licence_warning": "approach-only licence (mixed: BSD-3 (lib) / GPL-2.0 (cli)): read, do not copy" } ], "truncated": false, "warnings": [ "approach-only licence (mixed: BSD-3 (lib) / GPL-2.0 (cli)): read, do not copy" ] } ``` `xerj hub status` shows what is cached and where the node runs: ```text pack: lz4 0774d055 18 days old 5.2 MB last used today pack: snappy 9c28114a 18 days old 11.5 MB last used today pack: zstd 01b7154f 18 days old 23.5 MB last used today node: running pid 1822371 port 9300 hosted: auto last sync: never catalogue: 2 days old ``` The exit code tells an agent the result. 0 is answered, 1 is no match and 2 is an unknown corpus. 3 is a failed pack check and 4 is more than one matching corpus. ## Measured on 2026-10-19 | Run | What happened | Wall time | | --- | --- | --- | | First question, fresh HOME | start node on 9300, pull 10.8 MB snappy pack, answer | 2,356 ms | | Second question | answer from the local pack | 341 ms | | Later questions | answer from the local pack | 30 to 40 ms | | First `--def` on zstd | pull 20.1 MB pack (7,874 definitions), answer | 962 ms | | Same `--def`, as JSON | answer from the local pack | 20 ms | The catalogue the client verified was signed with ed25519 and generated on 2026-10-18 with 14 corpora. Packs are downloaded from GitHub Releases of xerj-org/xerj, so the GitHub API is not involved. ## How it compares | Approach | Clone needed | Index on your machine | file:line | Pinned commit | Works for any repo | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `xerj ask` | no | no, pack is pre-indexed | yes | yes | no, catalogue only (14 corpora) | | Clone + `xerj autoindex` | yes | yes | yes | your checkout | yes | | Clone + ripgrep | yes | no | yes | your checkout | yes | | GitHub code search | no | no | yes | default branch | public repos, API rate limits | | Ask a chat model | no | no | no | no | whatever it was trained on | ## When not to use xerj - The repo is not in the catalogue. Clone it and use `xerj autoindex`; zero-setup asking for any source is issue #1800. - You need today's code. Packs are pinned; these were 18 days old, and each answer prints the age. - The question must not leave the machine and you have not set `--offline` or `--hosted off`. - You want to copy code from an approach-only corpus into your project. The licence class says read, do not copy. ## FAQ ### How can I ask questions about a GitHub repo without cloning it? If the repo is in the Corpus Hub catalogue, run `xerj ask "your question"`. xerj downloads a signed pack that is already indexed, at a pinned commit, and answers with file:line. Nothing is cloned or indexed on your machine. ### Which repos can I ask about? The signed catalogue generated on 2026-10-18 lists 14 corpora, including lz4, snappy, zstd, aiohttp and astro. hub.xerj.org lists 513 live corpora in its registry, but only catalogue entries have packs `xerj ask` can pull. ### Can I search a GitHub repo without cloning if it is not in the catalogue? Not with xerj today. Clone it and run `xerj autoindex`. Pointing `xerj ask` at any repository is tracked as issue #1800, which is open. ### Does my question leave my machine? It can. `--hosted auto` is the default: off inside a git repository, on elsewhere. Pass `--offline` or `--hosted off` to answer only from cached packs. Our runs printed `answered from: local pack`. ### Can Claude Code or Cursor use this over MCP? Yes. `xerj mcp` serves `xerj_hub_find`, `xerj_hub_def` and `xerj_hub_ask`. They answer from packs already on the machine and never download one; they name the `xerj hub pull` line instead. ### Can I copy the code it shows? Check the licence line. Each answer prints the SPDX licence and a class. zstd and lz4 are approach-only, and the output says read, do not copy. ## Evidence - Cold ask: node on 9300, 10.8 MB snappy pack, snappy.cc:1643 — `benchmarks/agent-intents-2026-10-19/04-ask-snappy-cold.txt` - zstd --def: 20.1 MB pack, 7874 definitions, zstd.h:134 — `benchmarks/agent-intents-2026-10-19/04-ask-zstd-def.txt` - JSON answer with pin_sha, licence_class and score 17.13 — `benchmarks/agent-intents-2026-10-19/04-ask-zstd-def.json` - Timings 2,356 ms cold, 341 ms, then 30 to 40 ms; 962 ms and 20 ms for --def — `benchmarks/agent-intents-2026-10-19/README.md` - Zero-setup xerj ask for any source is open as issue #1800 — [https://github.com/xerj-org/xerj/issues/1800](https://github.com/xerj-org/xerj/issues/1800) ## Related - [Local code search MCP for Claude Code that uses fewer tokens than grep](/answers/local-code-search-mcp-fewer-tokens-than-grep) - [Retrieval that says not found, and cites file and line when it does answer](/answers/retrieval-that-says-not-found-with-file-line-citations) - [I need my agent to find a passage and cite the file, not dump the whole tree. How?](/answers/code-search-mcp-for-claude-code) - [Is ripgrep enough for a coding agent, or do I need a code index?](/compare/xerj-vs-ripgrep-for-code-agents) - [The Corpus Hub](/blog/the-corpus-hub)