sverklo
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Sverklo vs GitNexus

Both are code intelligence MCP servers. Both parse your codebase locally and expose tools to AI coding agents. They take different approaches to licensing, architecture, and feature scope. This page is an honest comparison to help you pick the right tool for your project.

Feature comparison

Sverklo GitNexus
License MIT Free for all use PolyForm Noncommercial
Commercial use Free, no restrictions Requires enterprise license
Memory system Bi-temporal, git-aware (memories tied to SHA) None
PR review Risk-scored with CI gate (--fail-on) Change detection only
GitHub Action Yes (open-source) Enterprise only
Live file watching Yes (incremental reindex) Manual re-analysis
Install npm install (pure JS, no native bindings) npm install (native bindings required)
Languages 20+ via tree-sitter 13
Graph DB SQLite + PageRank KuzuDB + Cypher
Embeddings Pluggable (ONNX default, Ollama for local models) HuggingFace

When to use each

Choose Sverklo when

  • You need code intelligence in commercial projects
  • Your CI/CD pipeline needs automated PR review with quality gates
  • You want memory that persists across sessions and tracks git state
  • You prefer pure-JS installs with no native binary dependencies
  • Privacy matters: no telemetry, no cloud, no API keys
  • You work across 20+ languages

Choose GitNexus when

  • You want graph visualization of code dependencies
  • You prefer browser-based exploration of your codebase
  • You use Cypher queries and want a native graph database
  • Your project is noncommercial or you have an enterprise license
  • KuzuDB's graph engine fits your workflow

Architecture notes

Sverklo uses SQLite with PageRank-based scoring and a hybrid retrieval pipeline (BM25 + ONNX embeddings + graph centrality). This keeps the install simple and dependency-free. The trade-off: you don't get Cypher query syntax or native graph traversals.

GitNexus uses KuzuDB, a native graph database, which enables Cypher queries and structural graph visualization. The trade-off: native bindings can complicate installation on some platforms, and the PolyForm Noncommercial license restricts commercial use without an enterprise agreement.

Try Sverklo

MIT licensed. One command. Works with every MCP client.

$ npm install -g sverklo && sverklo init

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