Open SourceMIT License

Prelude

Codebase telemetry for technical analysis. Extracts structured ground truth from any repository: stack, architecture, dependencies, decisions, and changes. Machine-readable from the start.

npm install View on GitHub

# Extract ground truth

$ prelude init

# Emit structured telemetry

$ prelude export

# Run as MCP server

$ prelude serve

Ready for agents.

The sensor for technical assets

Before you can analyze a technical asset, you need to know what is actually in it. Prelude scans any repository or folder and emits structured telemetry: what technologies are present, how the codebase is organized, what constraints exist, what decisions were made, and what has changed.

This is the ground truth layer. Living feeds ingest it. Diligence processes rely on it. Attested lineage records it. Agents reason over it. Without structured input, analysis is guesswork.

What Prelude extracts

Technology stack

Language, runtime, frameworks, database, ORM. Auto-detected from package files and configuration.

Architecture

Project structure, component patterns, key directories, monorepo layout, and how the codebase is organized.

Dependencies

What the asset depends on. Direct and transitive. The supply chain that underpins the investment.

Decisions

Architecture Decision Records. Why the team chose one approach over another. The reasoning behind the code.

Constraints

Must-use technologies, patterns, and policies. The rules the team follows and why.

Changes

Timeline of modifications. What changed, when, and what the trajectory looks like over time.

Language support

JavaScript / TypeScript

package.json, frameworks, build tools, testing, styling

Python

pyproject.toml, requirements.txt, FastAPI, Django, Flask

Rust

Cargo.toml, dependencies, workspace detection

Go

go.mod, dependencies, module detection

Where Prelude fits

Technical diligence

What is actually in this codebase? Prelude answers that question with structured data, not opinions.

Portfolio monitoring

Track what changed across portfolio company codebases. Structured telemetry that compounds inside intelligence pipelines.

Honeymoon pipeline

Prelude feeds structured context into Honeymoon. The security intelligence pipeline understands the asset before it begins.

Attested lineage

Prelude output becomes part of the evidence record. What was in the codebase at the time of analysis, preserved and attestable.

Core commands

prelude init

Scans the repository and creates a .context/ directory with structured telemetry: project metadata, stack, architecture, constraints, decisions, and changelog. Use --from-claude-md to bootstrap from an existing CLAUDE.md.

prelude export

Emits a structured document optimized for agent consumption. Supports --format claude-md, --format cursorrules, and --format json for different tool integrations.

prelude update

Re-scans and updates telemetry. Preserves manual annotations while refreshing auto-detected data. Edited fields are never overwritten.

prelude query

Scoped context lookup with topic, directory, and type filtering. Returns only the relevant slice of your codebase context.

prelude validate

Validates all context files against the Prelude Specification JSON schemas. Catches drift and malformed entries.

prelude decision

Records an architecture decision with rationale. Captures the reasoning behind technical choices for future analysis.

prelude serve

Runs Prelude as an MCP server. Exposes 3 tools (query, compact, status) and 3 resources for direct agent integration.

prelude watch

Monitors file changes in real time. Tracks development activity for session continuity and change analysis.

MCP server

Prelude runs as a Model Context Protocol server, giving AI agents direct access to your codebase context. Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor can query your stack, architecture, and constraints without manual copy-paste.

Tools

prelude_query - filtered context by topic, scope, type

prelude_compact - ~800 token context summary

prelude_status - which context files exist

Resources

prelude://context/full - complete context

prelude://context/compact - token-efficient summary

prelude://context/{type} - individual files

Generate config for your editor: prelude mcp-config

Ground truth starts here.

Open source. MIT licensed. The sensor that turns codebases into analyzable intelligence.

npm install -g prelude-context View Source