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Lien

LienLocal-First Semantic Code Search

Give AI deep understanding of your codebase through semantic search. 100% local, 100% private.

Get Started

View on GitHub

🔒

100% Local & Private

Code never leaves your machine. All embeddings and search happen locally with no external API calls.

🚀

Semantic Search

Natural language queries to find relevant code. Ask "how does authentication work?" and get precise results.

🎯

MCP Integration

Works seamlessly with Cursor and other MCP-compatible AI coding assistants via Model Context Protocol.

⚡

Fast Performance

Queries return in <500ms. Indexing completes in minutes, not hours. Optimized for large codebases.

🆓

Free Forever

No API costs, no subscriptions, no usage limits. Run as many queries as you want on as many projects as you need.

📦

Framework-Aware

Auto-detects frameworks (Node.js, Laravel, Shopify) with zero config. Full monorepo support - index multiple frameworks in one repo seamlessly.

Quick Start

Install Lien globally via npm:

bash

npm install -g @liendev/lien

Initialize in your project:

bash

cd /path/to/your/project
lien init
lien index

Configure Cursor by creating .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lien": {
      "command": "lien",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor and start asking questions about your codebase!

How It Works

Index: Lien scans your codebase, chunks code into manageable pieces, and generates embeddings using a local ML model
Store: Embeddings are stored in a local vector database in ~/.lien/indices/
Search: When you query through Cursor, Lien finds the most semantically similar code chunks
Context: Results are returned to Cursor, providing better, context-aware responses

Use Cases

Understand New Codebases: "Show me how authentication works"
Find Implementations: "Where are API endpoints defined?"
Locate Patterns: "Find similar error handling code"
Discover Related Code: "What tests cover this module?"

Privacy First

Lien is built with privacy as a core principle:

All code analysis happens on your machine
No data is sent to external servers
No telemetry or usage tracking
Open source and auditable

Free & Open Source

Lien is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and free forever for local use. The license ensures:

✅ Use Lien locally without restrictions
✅ Modify and distribute freely
✅ Improvements benefit the community
✅ Sustainable long-term development

Questions about licensing? Contact alf@lien.dev

Lien /ljɛ̃/ — French for "link"

Linking semantic code understanding with AI tools, one query at a time.

Made with ❤️ for developers who care about privacy and local-first tools.