LienLocal-First Semantic Code Search

Quick Start ​

Claude Code (recommended) — one-time plugin install ​

/plugin marketplace add getlien/lien
/plugin install lien

That's it. Lien's MCP tools and the Explore agent are available in every Claude Code session, in every repo — no per-project setup. First use in a new git repo triggers a one-time index automatically.

Other editors (Cursor, Windsurf, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Antigravity) ​

1. Install Lien:

npm install -g @liendev/lien

2. Configure your editor:

lien init

This writes the correct MCP config for your editor.

3. Restart your editor and start asking questions about your codebase!

Lien auto-detects your project structure and indexes on first use.

How It Works ​

1. Index: Lien scans your codebase, chunks code into manageable pieces, and generates embeddings using a local ML model
2. Store: Embeddings are stored in a local vector database in ~/.lien/indices/
3. Search: When you query through Cursor, Lien finds the most semantically similar code chunks
4. 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?"
• Tech Debt Analysis: "What are the most complex functions?"
• Impact Analysis: "What depends on this file?"

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