GrepAI Init

This skill covers the grepai init command and project initialization.

When to Use This Skill

• Setting up GrepAI in a new project

• Understanding what grepai init creates

• Customizing initial configuration

• Troubleshooting initialization issues

Basic Usage

cd /path/to/your/project grepai init

What Init Creates

Running grepai init creates the .grepai/ directory with:

.grepai/ ├── config.yaml # Configuration file ├── index.gob # Vector index (created by watch) └── symbols.gob # Symbol index for trace (created by watch)

Default Configuration

The generated config.yaml :

version: 1

embedder: provider: ollama model: nomic-embed-text endpoint: http://localhost:11434

store: backend: gob

chunking: size: 512 overlap: 50

watch: debounce_ms: 500

trace: mode: fast enabled_languages: - .go - .js - .ts - .jsx - .tsx - .py - .php - .c - .h - .cpp - .hpp - .cc - .cxx - .rs - .zig - .cs - .pas - .dpr

ignore:

• .git
• .grepai
• node_modules
• vendor
• target
• pycache
• dist
• build

Understanding Default Settings

Embedder Settings

Setting Default Purpose

provider

ollama

Local embedding generation

model

nomic-embed-text

768-dimension model

endpoint

http://localhost:11434

Ollama API URL

Store Settings

Setting Default Purpose

backend

gob

Local file storage

Chunking Settings

Setting Default Purpose

size

512

Tokens per chunk

overlap

50

Overlap for context

Watch Settings

Setting Default Purpose

debounce_ms

500

Wait time before re-indexing

Ignore Patterns

Default patterns exclude:

• Version control: .git

• GrepAI data: .grepai

• Dependencies: node_modules , vendor

• Build outputs: target , dist , build

• Cache: pycache

Customizing After Init

Edit .grepai/config.yaml to customize:

Change Embedding Provider

embedder: provider: openai model: text-embedding-3-small api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}

Change Storage Backend

store: backend: postgres postgres: dsn: postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/grepai

Add Custom Ignore Patterns

ignore:

• .git
• .grepai
• node_modules
• "*.min.js"
• "*.bundle.js"
• coverage/
• .nyc_output/

Init in Monorepos

For monorepos, init at the root:

cd /path/to/monorepo grepai init

Or use workspaces for separate indices:

grepai workspace create my-workspace grepai workspace add my-workspace /path/to/project1 grepai workspace add my-workspace /path/to/project2

Re-Initialization

If you need to reset:

Remove existing config

rm -rf .grepai

Re-initialize

grepai init

Warning: This deletes your index. You'll need to re-run grepai watch .

Verifying Initialization

After init, verify with:

Check config exists

cat .grepai/config.yaml

Check status (will show no index yet)

grepai status

Common Issues

❌ Problem: .grepai already exists ✅ Solution: Delete it first or edit existing config:

rm -rf .grepai && grepai init

❌ Problem: Config created but Ollama not running ✅ Solution: Start Ollama before running grepai watch :

ollama serve

❌ Problem: Wrong directory initialized ✅ Solution: Remove .grepai and init in correct directory

Best Practices

• Init at project root: Where your main code lives

• Add .grepai/ to .gitignore : Index is machine-specific

• Customize ignore patterns: Exclude generated/vendored code

• Review config after init: Adjust for your stack

Example .gitignore Addition

GrepAI

.grepai/

Output Format

After successful initialization:

✅ GrepAI Initialized

Config: .grepai/config.yaml

Default settings:

• Embedder: Ollama (nomic-embed-text)
• Storage: GOB (local file)
• Chunking: 512 tokens, 50 overlap

Next steps:

1. Ensure Ollama is running: ollama serve
2. Start indexing: grepai watch