scai/README.md

> **A local-first AI CLI for understanding, querying, and iterating on large codebases.** > **100% local • No token costs • No cloud • No prompt injection • Private by design**

# ⚙️ SCAI — Source Code AI 🌿

> **A local-first AI CLI for understanding, querying, and iterating on large codebases.**
> **100% local • No token costs • No cloud • No prompt injection • Private by design**

🔗 **Website:** [https://scai.dk](https://scai.dk)
🇪🇺 Built in Denmark / EU

---

## What is SCAI?

**SCAI** is an AI-powered command-line tool that helps developers explore and reason about source code using **local large language models only**.

Inspired by tools such as *Claude Code* and *Gemini CLI*, SCAI is designed to feel like a natural extension of the terminal. It enables natural-language interaction with your codebase while deliberately avoiding cloud dependencies and network-connected agents.

SCAI runs entirely on your local system:

* **No token costs** — no usage-based pricing
* **No internet access for agents**
* **No prompt injection from web content**
* No external AI APIs
* No telemetry or tracking
* No API keys

Your code never leaves your machine. All analysis and reasoning happens locally.

> **Local model tradeoff**
> SCAI uses local LLMs. Output quality depends on your hardware and selected model. Cloud-hosted systems may perform better on general reasoning tasks, but SCAI prioritizes privacy, predictability, and control.

---

## ⚠️ Alpha Status

SCAI is currently in **alpha**.

If you have previously installed SCAI, reset the local database before upgrading:

```bash
scai db reset
scai index start
```

Breaking changes and evolving behavior should be expected.

---

## Why SCAI?

### 🔐 Local-Only by Design

SCAI agents operate **entirely offline**.

They do not:

* Browse the web
* Fetch URLs
* Ingest external documents
* Execute remote prompts

**Security implications:**

* No prompt injection via web content
* No data exfiltration
* No hidden network calls
* Fully auditable execution

This makes SCAI suitable for **private repositories, regulated environments, and GDPR-compliant workflows**.

---

### 🧠 Codebase-Aware Analysis

SCAI builds and maintains a structured internal representation of your repository using:

* Language-aware parsing
* Symbol and dependency indexing
* Static and heuristic analysis
* Cross-file context tracking

This enables repository-level questions that go beyond single-file inspection.

---

### ✂️ Assisted Code Iteration (Early)

SCAI can assist with **lightweight, example-driven code iteration**, primarily focused on understanding and improving existing code rather than large-scale automated refactoring.

Current strengths include:

* Explaining what functions, files, or modules do
* Identifying patterns and responsibilities across files
* Generating or improving comments and documentation
* Highlighting structural or readability issues
* Suggesting small, localized improvements

Changes are **guided by indexed context and user prompts**, and are intended to support human review and decision-making.

Large-scale or fully automated repository-wide refactoring should currently be considered **experimental**.

---

### 🛠 Built for Developer Workflows

SCAI is a **terminal-native tool** designed to integrate cleanly into daily development:

* Natural-language queries over your codebase
* Code understanding and exploration
* Assisted iteration and suggestions
* Commit message generation
* Background indexing and analysis
* Interactive REPL

No browser UI. No cloud login. No vendor lock-in.

---

### 🇪🇺 Privacy & Compliance First

* Fully local execution
* No telemetry
* No cloud services
* Developed in Denmark / EU
* GDPR-friendly by default

---

## Language Support

SCAI is currently **tested and supported** for:

* **JavaScript**
* **TypeScript**
* **Java**

Other languages may work partially, but indexing quality, analysis accuracy, and agent behavior are **not guaranteed**.

SCAI should currently be considered **JS / TS / Java-first**.

---

## Getting Started

### Install & Initialize

```bash
npm install -g scai
scai init
scai index start
```

This:

* Initializes local configuration
* Starts the background daemon
* Begins indexing the current repository

> **Note**
> Initial indexing can take **minutes to hours**, depending on repository size and enabled analysis.

---

### Starting SCAI

Running the `scai` command with no arguments starts the interactive shell:

```bash
scai
```

You can also start it explicitly:

```bash
scai shell
```

---

### View Available Commands

```bash
scai --help
```

---

## Interactive REPL

The REPL is the primary interface for working with SCAI.

### Ask questions about your codebase

Be specific for better results.

```text
scai> what does withContext function do in index.ts file?
scai> How many functions in config.js are missing tests?
scai> Write me comprehensive comments for componentMap.js and typescript.ts files
scai> Summarize utils/helpers.ts
scai> Where are all the database queries defined?
scai> List files involved in authentication
```

### Run CLI commands inside the REPL

```text
/index list
/index switch
/git commit
```

### Execute shell commands

```text
!git status
!ls -la
```

All interactions remain **offline and free**, with **no token usage**.

---

## Repository Indexing

Repositories must be indexed before querying:

```bash
scai index set /path/to/repo
scai index start
scai index list
scai index switch
scai index delete
```

Only indexed repositories are accessible to agents.

---

## Background Analysis (Daemon)

SCAI performs deep analysis in the background, including:

* File discovery
* AST parsing
* Dependency graph construction
* Symbol resolution
* Heuristic structure analysis

Daemon control:

```bash
scai daemon start
scai daemon stop
scai daemon restart
scai daemon status
scai daemon logs
```

Indexing progress resumes automatically after restart.

---

## Configuration

Set a local model (recommended):

```bash
scai config set-model qwen3-coder:30b
```

View configuration:

```bash
scai config show --raw
```

---

## Git Commit Assistant

Generate commit messages from staged changes:

```bash
git add .
scai git commit
```

All diff inspection and reasoning is performed locally.

---

## GitHub Authentication

Required only for GitHub-related features:

```bash
scai auth set
scai auth check
scai auth reset
```

---

## Privacy & Security Summary

* 100% local execution
* No internet access for agents
* No prompt injection from web content
* No API keys
* No token costs
* GDPR-friendly by default

---

## Feedback & Community

* 🌍 [https://scai.dk](https://scai.dk)
* 🧵 [https://threads.net/@scai.dk](https://threads.net/@scai.dk)

---

# License & Usage Terms

© SCAI — All rights reserved.

SCAI is **free for non-commercial use only**.

---

## Permitted Use

You may use SCAI free of charge for:

* Personal projects
* Educational use
* Research and experimentation
* Non-commercial open-source work
* Internal evaluation or proof-of-concepts

You may fork and modify the source code **for non-commercial purposes only**.

---

## Restricted Use

The following require a **commercial license**:

* Any commercial or enterprise use
* Consultancy or client work
* Paid products or services
* Internal enterprise tooling
* Commercial redistribution or resale

---

## Commercial Licensing

Commercial and enterprise use requires a **paid license** and explicit permission from the author.

Please contact the author to discuss licensing terms.

---

## Disclaimer

This software is provided **“as is”**, without warranty of any kind.

The author is not liable for any damages arising from its use.

---

### Non-Binding Summary

* Free for personal and non-commercial use
* Fully local, offline AI
* No token costs
* No prompt injection surface
* Commercial use requires a license