ripwire
A dependency-free CLI and MCP server that builds a call graph of a repository so the agent understands code without reading whole files
Medium risk
We rate an entry medium when the tool runs code, makes network calls or reads project files. Check what exactly it does before installing.
Why this level
- Reads the project source and runs static analysis on the machine
- The install script downloads a binary from GitHub Releases
Install
Manual install
RIPWIRE_REPO=redhat-et/ripwire bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/redhat-et/ripwire/main/scripts/install.sh)"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"Installs the prebuilt binary into ~/.local/bin without sudo and activates skills for the agents it finds. Older CPUs can build from source.
This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.
What it does
ripwire reads a repository and hands the agent a deterministic map of the code: what a change touches, what it breaks, which tests to run, who calls a function. Instead of grepping files and reading them whole, the agent asks a question through a command and gets an answer that costs a fraction of the tokens. The main interface is a single self-contained binary that runs offline, with no keys, servers or external index. Separate verbs cover change review: blast radius of an edit, the affected tests, contract checks. The MCP server is an optional second way in.
Who it is for. For developers and teams who let coding agents navigate large repositories while saving context.
Good fit when
- The agent needs to grasp an unfamiliar repository without reading every file
- You need the blast radius of an edit: what breaks and which tests to run
- You need every caller of a function, or to resolve a stack trace
Not a fit when
- The project is in a language ripwire does not yet parse
- The task is about building or running, not navigating code
Example request
Use ripwire on this repo and show what an edit to the auth function will touchLimitations
Prebuilt binaries cover macOS and Linux on arm64 and x86-64; older CPUs need a source build. Language support is limited to the vendored grammars, so uncovered languages give partial answers. Answers label where a count is a floor or a parse failed, but the map is a ranking, not a guarantee of completeness.
How to disable. Remove the binary at ~/.local/bin/ripwire and the staged files at ~/.local/share/ripwire. If you added the MCP server, remove it with claude mcp remove ripwire. The skill links are symlinks named ripwire-*.
Security check
- Reads the project source and runs static analysis on the machine
- The install script downloads a binary from GitHub Releases
README in short
The README frames ripwire as the answer to orienting an agent in a repository: give it a map before it reads files. Install is a single line that drops the binary and activates skills for the agents found on the machine, among them Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini, opencode and aider. Tables show token savings on everyday questions, from orientation to change review, with a reproducible command per row. Optional hooks and an MCP server configured via ripwire wrap are described separately. Apache 2.0 license.
FAQ
Do I need a key or the internet?
No. It is a single binary that indexes the repository locally and works offline, with no API keys or server.
CLI or MCP?
The authors suggest starting with the CLI as the cheaper interface. The MCP server is a second way in, and its verb schemas sit in the context every session.
Related
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Skills for real engineers by Matt Pocock
Skills For Real Engineers
Small composable skills for engineering with agents: plan grilling, TDD, bug diagnosis, code review and architecture
GitHub toolkit for spec-driven development: the specify CLI adds agent commands and skills to a project, from principles to implementation
Reference MCP servers
Model Context Protocol servers
Official reference MCP servers: Filesystem, Fetch, Git, Memory, Sequential Thinking, Time and Everything