Skip to content

QUICKSTART.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
186 lines (129 loc) · 3.93 KB

QUICKSTART.md

File metadata and controls

186 lines (129 loc) · 3.93 KB
Raw

Arbor Quickstart

Get AI-ready code context in 5 minutes.

Updated for the March 2026 CLI surface.

Install

For reproducible environments (CI/team onboarding), prefer pinning a release tag in your install command.

No-build install (recommended):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Anandb71/arbor/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Anandb71/arbor/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Cargo alternative:

cargo install arbor-graph-cli

Note: The GUI is included in the binary. Run arbor gui after installation. Need version pinning/manual assets? See INSTALL.md.

Initialize (Optional)

cd your-project
arbor init

This creates .arbor/ with default configuration.

Prefer a one-shot start? Use arbor setup to initialize and index in a single command.

Index

arbor index

Parses your codebase and builds a relationship graph. Subsequent runs use caching for faster updates.

# Fast refresh during active refactors
arbor index --changed-only

If .arbor/ doesn't exist, Arbor now auto-creates it on first index/query/refactor/explain.

Query

# Show project stats
arbor status

# List all indexed files
arbor status --files

# Search for a symbol
arbor query parse_file

# Search in a different path
arbor query parse_file ../another-project

# Get refactoring context
arbor refactor UserService

# Explain a function's dependencies
arbor explain validate_input

# Preview impact for current git diff
arbor diff

# CI safety gate (fails on risky blast radius)
arbor check --max-blast-radius 30

# Machine-readable output for CI bots
arbor check --json --max-blast-radius 30

# Jump directly to a symbol in your editor
arbor open parse_file

Use the GUI

arbor gui

Opens the native graphical interface for impact analysis:

  • Enter a symbol name
  • Click "Analyze" to see callers, dependencies, and confidence
  • File paths are hidden by default for privacy (click to reveal)
  • Copy results as Markdown for PRs

Arbor GUI

Watch Mode

Auto-refresh the index when files change:

arbor watch

Great for development workflows where you want continuous indexing.

Generate PR Summaries

arbor pr-summary parse_file,validate_input

Generates a Markdown summary of impact for multiple changed symbols.

Use with Cursor

  1. Add to .cursor/mcp.json:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arbor": {
      "command": "arbor",
      "args": ["bridge"]
    }
  }
}

  1. Restart Cursor.

  2. Ask questions like:

    • "What depends on UserService?"
    • "What does parse_file call?"
    • "Show me the context for refactoring validate"

CLI Flags

Flag Description
--no-cache Force full re-index (skip cache)
--follow-symlinks Include symlinked directories
--files Show detailed file stats in status
--depth N Set impact analysis depth (default: 5)
--why Show detailed reasoning for each affected node
--json Output as JSON instead of formatted text

Health Check

arbor doctor

Runs environment diagnostics (ports, workspace layout, visualizer and extension presence).

Team Workflow (Recommended)

# after pulling changes
arbor index --changed-only

# before opening a PR
arbor diff
arbor check --max-blast-radius 30

If arbor check fails, run focused tests before merge and include blast-radius notes in your PR description.

Next Steps