v0.5.3 — Now with VS Code Extension

Understand any
codebase in
seconds.

Archexa is a CLI tool that gives you instant architectural intelligence on any repository — from quick gists to deep agentic impact analysis.

Get Started →Read the Docs

bash — ~/projects/my-api

❯ archexa gist --path ./src ── Architecture Gist ───────────────────Type: REST API, Layered ArchitectureStack: Python · FastAPI · PostgreSQLModules: 14 (auth, billing, users, …)Patterns: Repository, DI, CQRS (partial)Hotspots: billing/processor.py · high coupling ── Insights ──────────────────────────── ⚡ 3 circular deps in auth layer ⚡ Webhook module has no retry logic ✓ Test coverage: 78% (controllers) ❯

Quick installcurl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ereshzealous/archexa/main/install.sh | bash

The Problem

Codebases are opaque.
They don't have to be.

Engineers lose hours every sprint just trying to understand the shape of unfamiliar code. Archexa fixes that.

Onboarding takes weeks

New engineers spend their first sprint reading code instead of shipping. Architectural context is tribal knowledge that never gets written down.

PRs ship without blast radius clarity

Reviewers approve changes without knowing downstream impact. One change in a shared utility ripples into six unexpected breakages.

Architecture drifts invisibly

No one runs architecture checks in CI. Patterns degrade, coupling creeps in, and the original design intent becomes archaeology.

Commands

Eight commands.
Complete architectural clarity.

Each command targets a different phase of your workflow — from initial exploration to production-grade review.

archexa gist

Instant Architecture Summary

Get a high-level architectural gist of any repository in seconds. Stack detection, pattern recognition, module map, and hotspot identification.

--path--format json--deep--exclude

archexa query

Ask Your Codebase

Natural language questions answered with precise architectural context. “Where does auth happen?” “What calls the payment processor?” Just ask.

--deep--target--format

archexa impact

Blast Radius Analysis

Before changing a file, function, or module — know exactly what breaks. Traces call graphs, dependency chains, and downstream consumers.

--file--function--deep--output

archexa review

Architecture-Aware Review

Code review that goes beyond syntax. Finds security vulnerabilities, resource leaks, interface mismatches, and pattern violations.

--changed--branch--deep--format json

archexa analyze

Full Architecture Documentation

Two-phase pipeline that generates comprehensive architecture docs with diagrams, component tables, data flows, and file citations.

--deep--output--format

archexa diagnose

Root Cause Analysis

Feed it a stack trace, log file, or error message. It traces the call chain, reads referenced files, and explains why the error occurred.

--log--since--timezone

archexa chat

Interactive Exploration

Multi-turn conversational codebase exploration with memory. Auto topic detection, /deep toggle, and /save to export responses.

/deep/format/save

archexa doctor

Configuration Diagnostics

Validates your config file, API key, endpoint connectivity, and model response. One command to verify your setup is healthy.

--verbose

◆ Agentic Mode

Go deeper with `--deep`

Every command supports --deep mode — a multi-step agentic reasoning pass that produces substantially richer, cross-referenced output.

Traces multi-hop dependency chains, not just direct imports
Identifies architectural anti-patterns and explains why they're problematic in your specific context
Cross-references patterns across the entire repo — not just the targeted file
Agent uses 4 tools: read_file, grep_codebase, list_directory, find_references

Deep Impact Analysis

❯ archexa impact --file auth/session.py --deep 🔍 Tracing dependency graph…🤖 Running agentic analysis… ── Direct Consumers (6) ───────────── api/middleware.py · auth guard billing/checkout.py · user context ws/handler.py · token refresh ── Transitive Impact (14) ─────────── HIGH webhooks/sender.py · auth propagation MED tests/e2e/* · 23 test files affected ── Recommendation ────────────────── Changing session.expire() signature requires coordinated update in 3 callers

VS Code Extension

Archexa inside
your editor.

The VS Code extension brings architectural intelligence directly into your coding flow — no terminal context switching required.

✓
Inline architecture hints — hover any function to see its callers, consumers, and blast radius
✓
Command Palette integration — run Archexa: Gist, Impact, Review from anywhere
✓
Sidebar Architecture Panel — live module map and dependency tree for the open workspace
✓
Pre-commit review gate — trigger archexa review automatically before you push

Extension Details →VS Code Marketplace ↗

Under the Hood

How Archexa works

Static Analysis

Tree-sitter AST parsing across 15+ languages. Extracts imports, classes, interfaces, and communication patterns.

Evidence Extraction

Identifies architecturally significant code blocks, dependency graphs, and structural metrics across modules.

LLM Reasoning

A constrained LLM pass interprets the graph with architectural intent — using your repo as full context.

Structured Output

Returns Markdown with Mermaid diagrams, tables, and file citations — or JSON for CI gates and dashboards.

Who It's For

Built for every role
on an engineering team.

New Team Members

Understand the shape of an unfamiliar codebase in minutes, not weeks. Generate a gist before your first standup.

Code Reviewers

Run archexa impact on any PR before approving. Know the blast radius. Ship with confidence.

Architects

Validate that implementation aligns with design. Detect pattern drift before it becomes technical debt.

SREs & DevOps

Understand blast radius before deploying changes. Feed stack traces to archexa diagnose for instant root cause analysis.

Comparison

Why not just use ChatGPT?

Archexa is purpose-built for architectural intelligence — not a general-purpose AI with a big paste buffer.

Capability	Archexa	ChatGPT paste	Manual reading	Sourcegraph
Full repo context	✓	✗ Context window limit	Slow	✓
Dependency graph	✓ Static + semantic	✗	✗	Partial
Impact / blast radius	✓	✗	✗	✗
Architecture review	✓	Inconsistent	✗	✗
CLI-first / scriptable	✓	✗	✗	Partial
VS Code native	✓	✗	—	✓
Root cause diagnosis	✓	Inconsistent	✗	✗

Understand anycodebase inseconds.

Codebases are opaque.They don't have to be.