githits

Code examples from global open source for developers and AI assistants.

GitHits gives your AI coding assistant access to verified, canonical code examples drawn from all of open source. When your assistant is stuck, needs an up-to-date API example, or encounters a vague error, GitHits helps it find a working solution in seconds.

Quick Start

npx githits login

This opens your browser to authenticate with your GitHits account. Once logged in, set up your AI assistant:

Claude Code

claude mcp add githits -- npx -y githits mcp start

Cursor / VS Code

Add to your MCP settings JSON:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "githits": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "githits", "mcp", "start"]
    }
  }
}

That's it. Your assistant now has a search tool it will use automatically when it needs code examples.

How It Works

GitHits runs as an MCP server that your AI assistant connects to over stdio. The assistant gets three tools:

| Tool | Purpose | |---|---| | search | Find code examples by describing what you need in natural language | | search_language | Look up supported programming language names | | feedback | Rate search results to improve future quality |

The assistant decides when to call these tools on its own — typically when it's stuck, needs a working example for an unfamiliar API, or encounters an error it can't resolve from its training data alone.

License Filtering

Search results respect license filtering by default, excluding copyleft-licensed code. Three modes are available:

• strict (default) — excludes copyleft licenses
• yolo — includes all licenses, no filtering
• custom — uses your custom blocklist configured at githits.com

Authentication

GitHits requires authentication. There are two options:

Browser Login (recommended)

npx githits login

Opens your browser for secure OAuth authentication. Tokens are stored locally and refreshed automatically on next use. If a refresh fails (e.g., after an extended idle period), run githits login again.

Useful flags:

• --no-browser — prints a URL instead of opening a browser (for SSH sessions, CI, or headless environments)
• --force — re-authenticate even if already logged in
• --port <port> — use a specific port for the local callback server

API Token

For CI or environments where browser login isn't practical, set an environment variable:

export GITHITS_API_TOKEN=ghi-your-token-here

Commands

githits login          Authenticate with your GitHits account
githits logout         Remove stored credentials
githits mcp            Show setup instructions in a terminal; starts MCP server when piped
githits mcp start      Always start MCP server (for use in MCP config files)
githits auth status    Show current authentication status

Environment Variables

| Variable | Purpose | Default | |---|---|---| | GITHITS_API_TOKEN | API token for authentication | — | | GITHITS_MCP_URL | Override MCP server URL | https://mcp.githits.com | | GITHITS_API_URL | Override REST API URL | https://api.githits.com |

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later

License

Apache-2.0