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# chamnan > A context index for coding agents. It reads a repository once, writes one line per file plus sections for the data model, API surface, configuration and deployment, and hands that to an agent at the start of every session — so the agent stops rediscovering the shape of the codebase and starts from it. Pure Python standard library, no dependencies, MIT licence. chamnan is delivered as a Claude Code plugin and as a plain command-line tool. The index itself is text and belongs to no vendor: the same file is written for every other agent that reads project instructions, and the model in use only decides how much of it is worth sending. ## Installing - [Quick start](https://arcticfox2029.github.io/chamnan#quick-start): install as a Claude Code plugin, then `/chamnan:bootstrap` once. - [Installing it, per tool](https://arcticfox2029.github.io/chamnan#installing-it-per-tool): the three routes in — a plugin, a session hook, or a file. - [Requirements](https://arcticfox2029.github.io/chamnan#requirements): Python and nothing else. No packages, no virtualenv. ## What it works with - **Operating systems**: macOS, Linux, Windows and WSL, all exercised in CI on every commit. See [Running it on each operating system](https://arcticfox2029.github.io/chamnan#running-it-on-each-operating-system). - **Models**: any. `--model` recognises `claude`, `codestral`, `deepseek`, `gemini`, `gemma`, `glm`, `gpt`, `grok`, `kimi`, `mistral`, `openai` by name; `llama` and `qwen` ship in several sizes and are deliberately left out; anything unrecognised still works and `--window` takes an exact number. - **Agents**: 24 adapters. Claude Code and Gemini CLI receive a real session hook; every other agent receives a file at the path it reads. - **Hermes Agent**: writes `.hermes.md`, the project-instruction file Hermes gives highest priority. See [Using it with Hermes Agent](https://arcticfox2029.github.io/chamnan#using-it-with-hermes-agent). ### Agents and the file each one receives - `aider`: `CONVENTIONS.md` - `amazonq`: `.amazonq/rules/chamnan.md` - `antigravity`: `.agents/rules/chamnan.md` - `augment`: `.augment/rules/chamnan.md` - `cline`: `.clinerules/chamnan.md` - `codebuddy`: `CODEBUDDY.md` - `continue`: `.continue/rules/chamnan.md` - `copilot`: `.github/instructions/chamnan.instructions.md` - `cursor`: `.cursor/rules/chamnan.mdc` - `gemini`: `.gemini/settings.json` - `generic`: `AGENTS.md` - `goose`: `.goosehints` - `grok`: `.grok/rules/chamnan.md` - `hermes`: `.hermes.md` - `iflow`: `IFLOW.md` - `junie`: `.junie/AGENTS.md` - `kiro`: `.kiro/steering/chamnan.md` - `mistral`: `.vibe/AGENTS.md` - `qwen`: `QWEN.md` - `replit`: `replit.md` - `roo`: `.roo/rules/chamnan.md` - `trae`: `.trae/rules/project_rules.md` - `windsurf`: `.windsurf/rules/chamnan.md` - `zed`: `.rules` ## Commands - `chamnan-age`: which stored knowledge names a version no environment declares any more - `chamnan-candidates`: review what the workflow detector has found, quickly - `chamnan-context`: this repository's context block on stdout, for any tool on any OS - `chamnan-env`: the constraints nobody writes down and everybody re-learns - `chamnan-impact`: what breaks if I change this file, and what happened last time it changed - `chamnan-map`: build .chamnan/MAP.md from the repository's source, and report what it cost - `chamnan-peek`: read the shape of one file instead of the whole thing - `chamnan-promote`: turn a one-off script into a tool the repo keeps - `chamnan-report`: measure this repo's context cost per turn, before and after the workspace existed - `chamnan-timeline`: one line of work followed across the sessions it actually took ## Documentation - [README](https://arcticfox2029.github.io/chamnan): everything, including every measurement and its method. - [Repository](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan): source, releases and issues. - [Changelog](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md): what changed in each release. - [Architecture](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/architecture.md) · [Data flow](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/data-flow.md) · [Verification](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/verification.md) ## Other languages Translated pages cover what chamnan is, what it works with and how to install it, in 32 languages. They carry no figures by design — every measurement lives in the English README, which is the only page rewritten each release. - [ar](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.ar.md) - [bn](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.bn.md) - [cs](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.cs.md) - [da](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.da.md) - [de](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.de.md) - [el](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.el.md) - [es](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.es.md) - [fi](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.fi.md) - [fr](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.fr.md) - [he](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.he.md) - [hi](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.hi.md) - [hu](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.hu.md) - [id](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.id.md) - [it](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.it.md) - [ja](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.ja.md) - [ko](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.ko.md) - [nl](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.nl.md) - [no](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.no.md) - [pl](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.pl.md) - [pt-BR](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.pt-BR.md) - [pt-PT](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.pt-PT.md) - [ro](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.ro.md) - [ru](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.ru.md) - [sv](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.sv.md) - [th](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.th.md) - [tl](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.tl.md) - [tr](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.tr.md) - [uk](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.uk.md) - [ur](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.ur.md) - [vi](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.vi.md) - [zh-CN](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.zh-CN.md) - [zh-TW](https://github.com/ArcticFox2029/chamnan/blob/main/docs/i18n/README.zh-TW.md)