Commands

Overview of the main unch CLI commands.

unch is centered around these main command families:

• unch auth to save provider credentials such as an OpenRouter API key
• unch index to build or refresh a local index
• unch search to query the current index
• unch remote to sync or download published remote state
• unch start mcp to expose the index to MCP clients

Auth

Save provider credentials without keeping tokens in your shell environment.

Index

Build or refresh .semsearch for a repository.

Search

Query the active index with semantic, lexical, or auto mode.

Remote

Reuse published CI state or download an index for a specific commit.

MCP

Let agents search the repository through stdio MCP tools.

--state-dir is the preferred way to point unch at external or shared local state. --db is kept only as a legacy alias.

Typical local flow

unch auth openrouter --token sk-or-...
unch index --root .
unch search "sqlite schema"
unch search --details "get path variables from a request"

Local first

unch index --root .
unch search "create a new router"

Remote state

unch create ci
unch bind ci https://github.com/owner/repo
unch remote sync
unch search "create a new router"

Typical remote flow

unch create ci
unch bind ci https://github.com/owner/repo
unch remote sync

Use the command pages for the full flag reference and behavior notes.

Typical MCP flow for Codex

npm install -g @uchebnick/unch
unch codex install

Restart Codex after installation. Codex will start unch start mcp automatically through the registered MCP server and use the installed unch skill when code search helps.