Constellation CLI

Installation • Quick Start • Commands • Configuration

Overview

The Constellation CLI parses your source code locally using Tree-sitter and uploads Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) metadata to the Constellation service. This creates a shared code intelligence graph that powers AI development tools via the Constellation MCP server.

What it does: Keeps a centralized code intelligence graph up-to-date so your team's AI assistants (like Claude) can access instant, consistent codebase understanding without local indexing overhead.

Key benefits:

• Privacy-First: Parse locally, transmit only AST metadata—never your source code
• Team-Wide Intelligence: One shared graph serves all developers' AI tools
• Always Current: Incremental indexing keeps intelligence synchronized with your codebase
• Zero Local Overhead: AI assistants get instant context via MCP without indexing delays

Features

Smart Indexing

• Incremental Updates: Only processes files changed since last index
• Full Re-indexing: Force complete project re-analysis when needed
• Git-Aware: Automatically tracks changes using Git history
• CI/CD Ready: Integrate into pipelines to keep intelligence current

Multi-Language Support

Currently supports:

• JavaScript
• TypeScript
• Python

Additional languages (C, C++, C#, Go, Java, JSON, PHP, Ruby, Shell) coming soon

Security

• Local parsing of source code, never transmitted
• Only code metadata sent (compressed with gzip)
• API key based authentication
• Respects .gitignore and Git configuration

Installation

Globally Install NPM Package

npm install -g @constellationdev/cli@latest

Requirements

• Node.js 24.0.0 or higher
• Git installed and available in PATH
• Git repository

Quick Start

1. Initialize Your Project

constellation init

Creates constellation.json configuration file with interactive prompts:

• Project ID (from your Constellation web dashboard)
• Branch to track
• Programming languages used

2. Configure Authentication

constellation auth

Stores your Constellation access key in environment variables.

Alternative: Set manually:

export CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY="your-access-key"

3. Index Your Project

# Smart indexing (incremental if possible)
constellation index

# Force complete re-index
constellation index --full

Commands

constellation init

Initialize project configuration.

constellation init

Creates: constellation.json file in current directory Requires: Git repository Interactive: Prompts for project ID, branch, and languages

---

constellation auth

Configure authentication credentials.

constellation auth

Stores: Access key in CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY environment variable Interactive: Prompts for Constellation access key

---

constellation index

Parse codebase and upload intelligence to Constellation service.

constellation index [options]

Options:

• --full: Force complete re-index
• --incremental: Explicitly request incremental (default when previous index exists)

Process:

1. Validates Git branch and status
2. Pulls latest changes from remote
3. Determines index scope (full vs incremental)
4. Scans and parses relevant files
5. Compresses and uploads AST data

What gets indexed:

• Files matching configured language extensions
• Git-tracked files only (respects .gitignore)
• Files from configured branch

Configuration

The constellation.json file controls indexing:

{
	"projectId": "project-identifier",
	"branch": "main",
	"languages": {
		"typescript": {
			"fileExtensions": [".ts", ".tsx"]
		},
		"javascript": {
			"fileExtensions": [".js", ".jsx"]
		}
	},
	"exclude": ["**/node_modules/**", "**/dist/**"]
}

Fields:

• projectId (required): Unique project identifier (from your Constellation web dashboard)
• branch (required): Git branch to track
• languages (required): Language config with file extensions
• exclude (optional): Glob patterns to exclude

Supported Languages

Language	Identifier	Default Extensions
JavaScript	javascript	.js, .jsx, .mjs, .cjs
TypeScript	typescript	.ts, .tsx

Coming Soon: C, C++, C#, Go, Java, JSON, PHP, Python, Ruby, Shell, and more!

🔧 Advanced Usage

Environment Variables

• CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY: API authentication key

CI/CD Integration (Highly Recommended)

We strongly recommend setting up Constellation indexing in your CI/CD pipeline. This enables "set it and forget it" automation, whenever code is pushed or merged into your configured branch, the index automatically updates. Your team's AI development tools stay current without any manual intervention or developer overhead.

Benefits of CI/CD Automation:

• Zero Developer Overhead: Indexing triggers automatically
• Always Up-to-Date: Intelligence graph stays synchronized with your codebase
• Team Confidence: Developers trust their AI assistants to have current context
• Autopilot Mode: Configure once, never worry about indexing again

GitHub Actions Example

name: Constellation Auto-Index
on:
  push:
    branches: [main] # Match your configured branch
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
    types: [closed]

jobs:
  index:
    # Only run on merged PRs or direct pushes
    if: github.event_name == 'push' || github.event.pull_request.merged == true
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '24'
      - name: Install Constellation CLI
        run: npm install -g @constellationdev/cli
      - name: Run Incremental Index
        run: constellation index --incremental
        env:
          CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY }}

Setup Steps:

1. Add CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY to your CI/CD secrets/environment variables
2. Configure pipeline to run on pushes/merges to your configured branch
3. Install CLI and run constellation index --incremental
4. Let automation handle the rest, keeping your code intelligence data current

Incremental vs Full Indexing

Incremental (default when previous index exists):

• Processes only changed files since last index
• Faster for regular updates
• Tracks added, modified, renamed, and deleted files

Full (triggered with --full or no previous index):

• Processes all project files
• Use after significant configuration changes or first-time setup

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Could not find git client"	Install Git from git-scm.com
"Not a git repository"	Run from within a Git repository or git init
"Branch not configured"	Switch branches or update branch in constellation.json
"Outstanding changes detected"	Commit or stash changes: git add . && git commit or git stash
"Access key not found"	Run constellation auth or set CONSTELLATION_ACCESS_KEY
Parse errors	Some files may have syntax errors; CLI continues processing others

Get Help:

• Documentation: constellation --help
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: docs.constellationdev.io

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0)

Copyright © 2026 ShiftinBits Inc.

See LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Tree-sitter for fast, reliable parsing
• Commander.js for CLI framework
• simple-git for Git operations