grepai-init

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated

Initialize GrepAI in a project. Use this skill when setting up GrepAI for the first time in a codebase.

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Sourceyoanbernabeu/grepai-skills
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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills grepai-init

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
grepai-initializationai-code-searchproject-setupconfig-customizationmonorepo-workflow

SKILL.md Content

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GrepAI Init

This skill covers the 
grepai init
command and project initialization.

When to Use This Skill

  • Setting up GrepAI in a new project
  • Understanding what 
    grepai init
    creates
  • Customizing initial configuration
  • Troubleshooting initialization issues

Basic Usage

bash
cd /path/to/your/project
grepai init

What Init Creates

Running 
grepai init
creates the 
.grepai/
directory with:
.grepai/
├── config.yaml    # Configuration file
├── index.gob      # Vector index (created by watch)
└── symbols.gob    # Symbol index for trace (created by watch)

Default Configuration

The generated 
config.yaml
:
yaml
version: 1

embedder:
  provider: ollama
  model: nomic-embed-text
  endpoint: http://localhost:11434

store:
  backend: gob

chunking:
  size: 512
  overlap: 50

watch:
  debounce_ms: 500

trace:
  mode: fast
  enabled_languages:
    - .go
    - .js
    - .ts
    - .jsx
    - .tsx
    - .py
    - .php
    - .c
    - .h
    - .cpp
    - .hpp
    - .cc
    - .cxx
    - .rs
    - .zig
    - .cs
    - .pas
    - .dpr

ignore:
  - .git
  - .grepai
  - node_modules
  - vendor
  - target
  - __pycache__
  - dist
  - build

Understanding Default Settings

Embedder Settings

SettingDefaultPurpose
provider
ollama
Local embedding generation
model
nomic-embed-text
768-dimension model
endpoint
http://localhost:11434
Ollama API URL

Store Settings

SettingDefaultPurpose
backend
gob
Local file storage

Chunking Settings

SettingDefaultPurpose
size
512
Tokens per chunk
overlap
50
Overlap for context

Watch Settings

SettingDefaultPurpose
debounce_ms
500
Wait time before re-indexing

Ignore Patterns

Default patterns exclude:
  • Version control: 
    .git
  • GrepAI data: 
    .grepai
  • Dependencies: 
    node_modules
    , 
    vendor
  • Build outputs: 
    target
    , 
    dist
    , 
    build
  • Cache: 
    __pycache__

Customizing After Init

Edit 
.grepai/config.yaml
to customize:

Change Embedding Provider

yaml
embedder:
  provider: openai
  model: text-embedding-3-small
  api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}

Change Storage Backend

yaml
store:
  backend: postgres
  postgres:
    dsn: postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/grepai

Add Custom Ignore Patterns

yaml
ignore:
  - .git
  - .grepai
  - node_modules
  - "*.min.js"
  - "*.bundle.js"
  - coverage/
  - .nyc_output/

Init in Monorepos

For monorepos, init at the root:
bash
cd /path/to/monorepo
grepai init
Or use workspaces for separate indices:
bash
grepai workspace create my-workspace
grepai workspace add my-workspace /path/to/project1
grepai workspace add my-workspace /path/to/project2

Re-Initialization

If you need to reset:
bash
# Remove existing config
rm -rf .grepai

# Re-initialize
grepai init
Warning: This deletes your index. You'll need to re-run 
grepai watch
.

Verifying Initialization

After init, verify with:
bash
# Check config exists
cat .grepai/config.yaml

# Check status (will show no index yet)
grepai status

Common Issues

❌ Problem: 
.grepai
already exists ✅ Solution: Delete it first or edit existing config:
bash
rm -rf .grepai && grepai init
❌ Problem: Config created but Ollama not running ✅ Solution: Start Ollama before running 
grepai watch
:
bash
ollama serve
❌ Problem: Wrong directory initialized ✅ Solution: Remove 
.grepai
and init in correct directory

Best Practices

  1. Init at project root: Where your main code lives
  2. Add 
    .grepai/
    to 
    .gitignore
    :     Index is machine-specific
  3. Customize ignore patterns: Exclude generated/vendored code
  4. Review config after init: Adjust for your stack

Example .gitignore Addition

gitignore
# GrepAI
.grepai/

Output Format

After successful initialization:
✅ GrepAI Initialized

   Config: .grepai/config.yaml

   Default settings:
   - Embedder: Ollama (nomic-embed-text)
   - Storage: GOB (local file)
   - Chunking: 512 tokens, 50 overlap

   Next steps:
   1. Ensure Ollama is running: ollama serve
   2. Start indexing: grepai watch