Does ctx send my data to the cloud?

No. ctx runs entirely locally; no prompts, transcripts, or indexed history are sent to any external service.

Which agent histories does ctx support?

ctx supports Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Pi, OpenCode, Antigravity/Gemini CLI, Factory AI Droid, and Copilot CLI. Run `ctx sources --json` to see which are importable on your machine.

Yes, ctx is fully free and open-source.

How do I install the ctx skill for agents?

Run `npx skills add ctxrs/ctx` or follow the agent-specific plugin install guide in the documentation.

AI Developer Tools

ctx

An open-source CLI for fast local search across your past coding agent sessions.

ctx

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What is ctx?

ctx is an open-source command-line tool that indexes local coding agent history into a SQLite database, enabling fast, token-efficient search through past sessions, events, and file interactions.

ctx vs Similar AI Tools

	ctx	mcploitable	Cynative	Magpie
Pricing Model	Free	Free	Free	Free
Free Credits
Key Features	Indexes local agent history from Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Pi, OpenCode, and more Local SQLite storage for fast, private, scriptable search Token-efficient: returns ranked cited matches using 50x fewer tokens than raw transcript search	Seven breakable boxes covering OWASP Agentic Top-10 vulnerabilities Three guided simulations for cascading failures, human-agent trust, and rogue agents Network-isolated Docker containers for safe execution	Code-to-runtime reasoning across cloud, Git, and Kubernetes Action-gate enforces read-only policy on every API call Sandboxed JavaScript execution for concurrent research	Append-only, SHA-256-addressed event history through Jaybase AES-256-GCM encryption for stored node payloads Unified RBAC for ledger, notes, snapshots, and audit reads
Pros	Completely local and private by default Supports multiple coding agent harnesses out of the box	Covers full OWASP Agentic Top-10 in a realistic manner Docker isolation prevents accidental damage	Read-only by construction prevents accidental writes Evidence-backed verification cross-checks every finding	Opinionated and secure accounting CLI with immutable audit trail Designed for AI agent integration with JSON output
Cons	Requires initial setup and indexing (new sessions only after indexing) Limited to supported agent history sources	Requires Docker and technical setup Not for production use; only for lab environments	Requires an LLM API key, incurring token costs Limited to read-only operations, cannot remediate	Pre-1.0, limited feature set No native QuickBooks import (agents must normalize data)
Best For	Developer teams using coding agents who need to retain context across sessions Individual developers wanting to avoid repeating mistakes or rediscover past decisions	Security researchers focusing on AI agent vulnerabilities Developers building MCP-based applications	Security engineers DevOps teams	Small teams needing secure, auditable accounting with AI agent support Developers integrating automated bookkeeping workflows

How to use ctx?

1Install: curl -fsSL https://ctx.rs/install | sh
2Initialize and index existing sessions: ctx setup
3Search: ctx search "your query"
4Explore results: ctx show event <event-id> or ctx show session <session-id>
5(Optional) Install agent skill: npx skills add ctxrs/ctx

ctx Key Features

Indexes local agent history from Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Pi, OpenCode, and more
Local SQLite storage for fast, private, scriptable search
Token-efficient: returns ranked cited matches using 50x fewer tokens than raw transcript search
Supports natural language queries and file-based search
Read-only SQL access to indexed data
Self-upgrading via official installer; open-source (Rust)

ctx Use Cases

Recover decisions, constraints, and rejected approaches from past agent sessions
Find previous failed attempts or bug investigations to avoid repeating them
Search for commands, patches, or file paths agent touch in earlier work
Provide current agent with context from historical sessions using cited IDs

ctx Pricing & Free Credits

ctx currently operates on a Free model.

This tool is completely free to use

Free

Open-source CLI with full features, no usage limits or cloud dependencies

ctx Pros & Cons

Pros

Completely local and private by default
Supports multiple coding agent harnesses out of the box
Significant token savings compared to raw transcript search
Open-source and scriptable (SQL queries, JSON output)
No API keys or cloud service required

Cons

Requires initial setup and indexing (new sessions only after indexing)
Limited to supported agent history sources
Transcript text is stored in plain text (caution with sensitive data when sharing)
Only indexes sessions on the local machine

What is ctx best for?

Developer teams using coding agents who need to retain context across sessions
Individual developers wanting to avoid repeating mistakes or rediscover past decisions
AI agent workflows that benefit from cited historical evidence

ctx FAQ

Top free alternatives to ctx

Openbase

A voice-controlled IDE that enables developers to initiate AI coding sessions with Codex or Claude Code, approve commands, and review diffs from their phone.