Quick Start

This guide walks from a fresh install to a fully wired agent integration in five steps.

Step 1: Install

pip install navegador
navegador --version

Python 3.12+ is required. For additional languages (Kotlin, C#, PHP, Ruby, Swift, C, C++) install the [languages] extra. See Installation for all extras and Redis setup.

Step 2: Ingest a repo

Point navegador at any local source tree:

navegador ingest ./my-repo

On first run this builds the graph from scratch. Re-run anytime to pick up changes. Use --incremental to skip files that haven't changed (based on content hashing — much faster on large repos):

navegador ingest ./my-repo --incremental

Use --watch to keep the graph in sync as files change:

navegador ingest ./my-repo --watch

Use --clear to wipe and rebuild from scratch:

navegador ingest ./my-repo --clear

Use --json to get a machine-readable summary of what was indexed:

navegador ingest ./my-repo --json

Navegador walks the tree, parses source files in 13 languages with tree-sitter, and writes nodes and edges for: files, modules, classes, functions, methods, imports, decorators, and call relationships. Framework enrichers automatically detect and annotate Django models, FastAPI routes, React components, Rails controllers, Spring Boot beans, and more.

Step 3: Query the graph

Explain anything by name — works for functions, classes, files, concepts, rules, and decisions:

navegador explain AuthService
navegador explain validate_token
navegador explain src/payments/processor.py

Search across code and knowledge together:

navegador search "rate limit" --all
navegador search "authentication" --docs --limit 10

Inspect a function (callers, callees, decorators, source):

navegador function validate_token
navegador function validate_token --depth 2 --format json

Inspect a class (hierarchy, methods, references):

navegador class PaymentProcessor
navegador class PaymentProcessor --format json

Step 4: Add business knowledge

Code alone doesn't capture why. Add concepts, rules, and decisions and link them to code.

Add a concept:

navegador add concept "Idempotency" \
  --desc "Operations that can be retried safely without side effects" \
  --domain Payments

Add a rule:

navegador add rule "PaymentsMustBeIdempotent" \
  --desc "All payment endpoints must handle duplicate submissions" \
  --domain Payments \
  --severity critical \
  --rationale "Card networks retry on timeout; double-charging causes chargebacks"

Annotate code with a concept or rule:

navegador annotate process_payment \
  --type Function \
  --concept Idempotency \
  --rule PaymentsMustBeIdempotent

Add a decision:

navegador add decision "UseStripeForPayments" \
  --desc "Stripe is the primary payment processor" \
  --domain Payments \
  --rationale "Best fraud tooling for SaaS" \
  --alternatives "Braintree, Adyen" \
  --date 2025-01-15 \
  --status accepted

Now navegador explain process_payment returns code structure and the rules that govern it.

Step 5: Wire an agent hook

Use the bootstrap script to ingest your repo and install the hook for your AI coding assistant in one command:

./bootstrap.sh --repo owner/repo --wiki --agent claude

Options:

After bootstrap, every file the agent edits triggers a re-ingest so the graph stays in sync. See Agent Hooks for manual setup and the NAVEGADOR.md template.

Step 6 (optional): SDK quick start

All CLI functionality is available through the Python SDK:

from navegador import Navegador

nav = Navegador(".navegador/navegador.db")

# ingest (incremental by default in SDK)
nav.ingest("./my-repo", incremental=True)

# query
bundle = nav.explain("AuthService")
print(bundle.to_markdown())

# analysis
impact = nav.impact("validate_token")
churn = nav.churn(days=30)
cycles = nav.cycles()

The Navegador class wraps GraphStore, ContextLoader, all ingesters, and the analysis commands into one interface.

Step 7 (optional): Code analysis

Once the graph is populated, use the analysis commands to understand your codebase:

# impact of changing a function
navegador impact validate_token

# trace execution flow
navegador trace process_payment --depth 3

# find dead code
navegador deadcode

# detect dependency cycles
navegador cycles

# map tests to source files
navegador testmap

# code churn (files that change most)
navegador churn --days 30

# diff — what changed between two refs
navegador diff HEAD~1 HEAD