Every time I start a Claude Code session on a real codebase, it burns through tokens just trying to understand the repo. Read the file tree, open 20 files, trace the imports, figure out how auth connects to the API layer. On a 50k+ LOC project that exploration phase eats your context window before any real work starts.

I built Repowise to fix this. It's a codebase intelligence layer that pre-computes the structural knowledge Claude Code needs and exposes it through MCP tools. Dependency graphs via AST parsing, searchable docs in LanceDB, git history tracking, architectural decision records. All local, nothing leaves your machine.

Instead of Claude spelunking through your files every session, it calls something like \`get\_context\` or \`get\_overview\` and gets the full picture in one shot. Eight MCP tools total including \`get\_risk\`, \`search\_codebase\`, \`get\_dependency\_path\`, and \`get\_dead\_code\`.

The savings come from the exploration side. That caveman prompt post from last week was clever for cutting output tokens, this attacks the input/exploration side. Claude already has the map so it stops burning context just to get oriented.

Setup is just \`pip install repowise\`, then \`repowise init\` in your repo. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.

Fully open source, AGPL-3.0, self-hostable.

GitHub: https://github.com/repowise-dev/repowise

Would love your feedback on the same!

How I cut Claude Code usage in half (open source)