GitWhy — The Context Layer for Git

io.github.gitwhy-cliPublished by GitHub account gitwhy-cliv0.7.9Updated Oct 24, 2026

The shared AI context engine for git — save, search, and share the reasoning behind code changes.

VerifiedSTDIODesktop onlyKnowledge & MemoryDeveloper Tools

Overview

AI-generated overview

GitWhy MCP server that lets an AI coding agent save, search and share the reasoning behind git commits as structured context.

What you can do
  • Save the reasoning, decisions and trade-offs behind a coding session, linked to git commits
  • Retrieve and search saved context, for example what context exists on a topic such as authentication
  • Show the context tree of stored context
  • Publish context to a pull request as a comment
  • Works through MCP tools or the GitWhy CLI commands
When to use it
Useful when you want AI-generated code changes to carry their rationale, so later sessions or teammates can look up why a change was made. Suited to teams that review pull requests and want context attached to commits.
Requirements
Runs as a local stdio process on the desktop, installed from the npm package gitwhy-mcp. The GitWhy CLI must be installed first and set up with git why setup. Cloud sync, publish and PR comment features need a GitWhy API key in GITWHY_API_KEY; local-only context saving does not.
Before you install
The GITWHY_API_KEY secret enables cloud sync, publishing and PR comments, which send context off your machine and post comments to pull requests. Local-only saving avoids this. Review what context is published before posting it to a PR.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open GitWhy — The Context Layer for Git in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

GitWhy Agent Skills

Agent skills for GitWhy — save the reasoning, decisions, and trade-offs behind AI-generated code.

Install

bash
npx skills add gitwhy-cli/gitwhy

Or install for a specific agent:

bash
npx skills add gitwhy-cli/gitwhy --agent claudenpx skills add gitwhy-cli/gitwhy --agent cursornpx skills add gitwhy-cli/gitwhy --agent codex

What's Included

gitwhy skill

Teaches your AI coding agent to save, retrieve, and search structured context linked to git commits. Works via MCP tools or CLI commands.

Trigger phrases:

  • "Save this session with GitWhy"
  • "What context do we have on authentication?"
  • "Show me the context tree"
  • "Post the context to the PR"

Prerequisites

Install the GitWhy CLI first:

bash
curl -fsSL https://gitwhy.dev/install.sh | sh

Or via Homebrew:

bash
brew install gitwhy-cli/tap/git-why

Then run setup:

bash
git why setup

Links

Source: README.md at commit df07cae

Tools

0
SourceWeft has not started this package in its sandbox yet, so its tools are not known.

Version history

1
  1. v0.7.9LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

40% of the applicable checks met

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  • Reached in the last 30 days25 pts

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  • Auth declared10 pts

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  • Tools listed15 pts

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  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts

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