Changelog

All notable changes to ChunkHound will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

Unreleased

5.1.0 - 2026-05-20

Breaking Changes

  • MCP search response format changed to markdown — The search tool now returns lean markdown strings instead of JSON objects, with syntax-highlighted code fences, similarity percentages (semantic search), and a pagination footer. MCP clients that parse raw search output as JSON must migrate to the new format.

Added

  • --index-unknown-files flag — Files with unrecognized extensions are now indexable as plain text (binary files are still skipped). Enabled via --index-unknown-files CLI flag, indexing.index_unknown_files config key, or CHUNKHOUND_INDEXING__INDEX_UNKNOWN_FILES env var.
  • Proto, GraphQL, XML, config, and Dockerfile support — .proto, .graphql, .gql, .xml, .ini, .properties, .conf, .cfg, and extensionless Dockerfile/Jenkinsfile files are now indexed by default. .env files are explicitly excluded to prevent secret leakage.
  • chunkhound.ai onboarding — Interactive CLI setup is replaced with guided onboarding at chunkhound.ai; local backend is now configured explicitly rather than through prompts.

Fixed

  • MCP startup HNSW crash — MCP server no longer fails with a CreateDeltaIndex assertion on startup against databases missing the unique (chunk_id, provider, model) index from v5.0.0. HNSW recreation now runs outside the transaction (issue #280).
  • WAL validation HNSW crash — WAL pre-flight validation now uses in-memory+ATTACH, preventing a C++ abort when the WAL contained HNSW operations from a prior session (issue #273).
  • --db nested directory bug — Passing an explicit file path (e.g. --db /path/to/chunks.db) no longer creates a chunks.db/chunks.db nested directory; known DB extensions (.db, .duckdb) are now correctly identified as file paths (issue #215).
  • Parser install hints — C# error messages now show the correct PyPI package tree-sitter-c-sharp (was tree-sitter-csharp); Makefile shows tree-sitter-make; SCSS points to tree-sitter-language-pack (issue #267).

5.0.0 - 2026-05-05

Breaking Changes

  • Config precedence reordered — Local .chunkhound.json now takes precedence over environment variables. If you relied on env vars overriding project-level settings, use CLI arguments instead.
  • --config now overrides local .chunkhound.json — Previously, a project-local .chunkhound.json took precedence over an explicit --config path. Now --config wins. If you relied on local .chunkhound.json shadowing a shared config file, move that override into CLI arguments.
  • Missing --config / CHUNKHOUND_CONFIG_FILE path now raises — A non-existent config file path used to be silently ignored; it now raises ValueError with an actionable message.
  • DEFAULT_LLM_TIMEOUT doubled — Default LLM request timeout increased from 60 s to 120 s for all providers (was already 120 s for Gemini; now uniform).
  • HTTP MCP server removed — ChunkHound now supports stdio transport only for MCP connections
    • chunkhound mcp http command removed
    • --http, --port, --host CLI flags removed
    • FastMCP dependency removed
    • Migration: Use chunkhound mcp (stdio) instead. All major MCP clients (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, VS Code) support stdio transport.
    • Rationale: Simplified codebase, reduced dependencies, focused on primary use case (stdio is the standard for MCP)
  • Unsupported file types no longer indexed as plain text — Files with unrecognized extensions are now skipped instead of being force-parsed as plain text. Files with known text extensions (.txt, .log, .cfg, .conf, .ini) are unaffected.
  • Claude Code CLI default model changed from claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 to claude-haiku-4-5-20251001. Users who relied on the default model will see different cost/quality characteristics. Set llm.model, llm.utility_model, or llm.synthesis_model explicitly to retain previous behavior.
  • Anthropic provider upgraded to Claude Opus 4.7/4.6 and Sonnet 4.6
    • anthropic dependency minimum bumped to >=0.96.0,<1.0.0
    • Default Anthropic utility and synthesis models changed to ChunkHound’s claude-haiku sentinel. This is intentional: current Claude Haiku is capable enough for synthesis, is Anthropic’s cheapest available Claude model, and Anthropic does not currently offer a true low-cost utility tier. Users who prefer maximum synthesis quality can override synthesis_model.
    • Default Claude Code CLI model changed to the same claude-haiku sentinel. ChunkHound still honors its Claude env overrides first; otherwise it preserves the sentinel so Claude Code can resolve the latest matching alias itself.
    • Removed module symbols BETA_EFFORT and EFFORT_SUPPORTED_MODELS. Callers should use the supports_effort(model) / supports_effort_level(model, level) predicates instead.
    • thinking_enabled=True with thinking_mode="auto" resolves to adaptive only for adaptive-capable models such as Opus 4.6/4.7, Sonnet 4.6, and Mythos. The pinned Haiku fallback remains manual-mode thinking.
    • anthropic_prompt_caching defaults to false because ChunkHound requests rarely reuse prompt prefixes enough to offset Anthropic cache-write costs. To opt in, set CHUNKHOUND_LLM_ANTHROPIC_PROMPT_CACHING=true or pass --llm-anthropic-prompt-caching.
    • Invalid thinking_mode values and sub-20000 task_budget_tokens now raise ValueError instead of warning-and-coercing.

Added

  • Elixir language support — Full Elixir parsing (32nd language) via tree-sitter-elixir: modules, functions, macros, protocols, structs, specs, and import/alias/require statements.
  • TwinCAT/Structured Text parser — IEC 61131-3 Structured Text (.TcPOU) files for PLC development are now fully searchable.
  • HTML, CSS, SCSS, and Jinja parsers — Full tree-sitter parsing for web languages: HTML (.html, .htm, .xhtml), CSS (.css), SCSS/Sass (.scss, .sass), and Jinja templates (.jinja, .j2, .njk, .erb, .ejs). SCSS preprocessing handles #{...} interpolations for correct AST byte offsets. Import resolution is supported for all four languages.
  • Grok (xAI) LLM provider — xAI Grok models are now supported for deep code research via the code_research tool.
  • Matryoshka embeddings — OpenAI and VoyageAI providers now support Matryoshka truncation for flexible vector dimensions; default OpenAI model upgraded to text-embedding-3-large.
  • openai_compatible embedding provider — Connect any OpenAI-compatible embedding endpoint with configurable SSL verification, auth, and dimension support.
  • Azure OpenAI embeddings — Native Azure OpenAI embedding support with azure_endpoint, api_version, and azure_deployment configuration options.
  • VoyageAI ranking support — VoyageAI provider now supports reranking for improved search result quality.
  • Claude Opus 4.7 / Opus 4.6 / Sonnet 4.6 support — Adaptive thinking mode (auto / off / manual / adaptive selector), expanded effort levels (low, medium, high, xhigh (Opus 4.7 only), max (4.6+)), opt-in prompt caching with configurable TTL (5m / 1h), and the task-budgets beta (Opus 4.7 only, advisory cap for agentic loops, min 20000 tokens).
  • New LLMConfig fields — anthropic_thinking_mode, anthropic_thinking_display, anthropic_prompt_caching, anthropic_cache_ttl, anthropic_task_budget_tokens (and matching CHUNKHOUND_LLM_ANTHROPIC_* env vars and --llm-anthropic-* CLI flags). The pre-existing anthropic_thinking_enabled, anthropic_thinking_budget_tokens, anthropic_interleaved_thinking, anthropic_effort, anthropic_context_management_enabled, and anthropic_clear_* fields are now also readable from env and CLI.
  • Embedded SQL detection — SQL embedded in string literals is detected and indexed by default across Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Go, Rust, and PHP. Disable with --no-detect-embedded-sql or CHUNKHOUND_INDEXING__DETECT_EMBEDDED_SQL=false.
  • OpenAI Responses API — Deep code research now supports reasoning models (gpt-5.1, gpt-5.1-codex, o-series, gpt-5-pro) via the Responses API, with automatic routing based on model compatibility across 30+ models.
  • Reasoning effort control — Configurable LLM reasoning effort (none/minimal/low/medium/high) for deep research via CHUNKHOUND_LLM_CODEX_REASONING_EFFORT with per-role overrides.
  • Structured JSON output — Responses API maintains schema validation consistency across both Chat Completions and Responses endpoints.
  • Multi-client MCP daemon — Multiple MCP clients can share a single DuckDB connection via a background daemon, eliminating lock conflicts in multi-session workflows.
  • --perf-diagnostics mode — chunkhound index --perf-diagnostics collects per-batch timing metrics and detects performance regressions via linear regression and z-score analysis, outputting a JSON diagnostics file.
  • --path-filter for research — chunkhound research --path-filter <dir> scopes deep code research to a subdirectory.
  • PHP config-literal parsing — PHP files with top-level return [...] arrays are now searchable.
  • Universal config-literal parsing — Exported configuration objects and arrays in Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, and JSX/TSX are now discoverable through semantic search.
  • Watchman live-indexing operator docs — Documents the private .chunkhound/watchman/ sidecar, fail-fast startup/no-implicit-fallback behavior, daemon_status health interpretation, and the rollout/default-switch gate for making Watchman the primary backend.
  • Dart language support — .dart files are now fully searchable via tree-sitter parsing: classes, functions, methods, constructors, and import/export statements (33rd language).
  • Lua language support — .lua files are now parsed and indexed via tree-sitter, covering functions, tables, and module patterns.
  • T-SQL (SQL Server) parser — SQL Server T-SQL (.sql) files are now fully parsed and searchable via tree-sitter.
  • chunkhound autodoc command — Generates a static Astro documentation site from codebase research, with provenance citations linked to source references and byte-stable output across platforms.
  • chunkhound codemap command — Maps areas of interest (POIs) in a codebase through deep code research; the -j flag enables parallel POI processing with automatic backoff to serial on failure.
  • Configurable disk storage limit — database.max_disk_usage_mb config option (--max-disk-usage-gb CLI flag, CHUNKHOUND_DATABASE__MAX_DISK_USAGE_GB env var) caps database growth and raises a clear error instead of filling the disk.
  • Anthropic native structured outputs — Anthropic provider now uses the structured-outputs-2025-11-13 beta API for guaranteed schema-compliant JSON via constrained decoding, with type-safe Pydantic model responses and extended thinking compatibility.
  • Global gitignore support — ChunkHound now reads the user’s global gitignore file (via git config --global core.excludesFile) when building the exclusion list during indexing.

Changed

  • Watchman default backend — Watchman is now the default realtime backend on supported native-runtime platforms; watchdog and polling remain explicit fallback backends.

Enhanced

  • MCP tool routing — code_research and search tool descriptions rewritten for improved LLM routing; cross-references between tools are shown or hidden dynamically based on whether an LLM provider is configured.
  • Daemon overlap guard — A user-scoped daemon registry is now validated against each project’s daemon.lock before startup, preventing live parent/child root overlaps (e.g., running daemons for /workspace and /workspace/project simultaneously). Exact-root reuse across restarts is preserved; sibling roots are allowed.
  • ChunkType.IMPORT — Import statements across all languages now use a dedicated chunk type instead of falling through to UNKNOWN, improving search precision.
  • Chunk size enforcement — All parsers now enforce a central size guard before DB persistence; oversized chunks are split automatically, preventing embedding API failures.
  • Windows compatibility — Cross-platform temp directory handling for Claude Code CLI provider; shutil.which replaces Unix-only which for git binary detection.
  • Version management — Supports PEP 440 pre-release formats (alpha, beta, RC) with safety checks to prevent accidental releases from uncommitted work.
  • Multi-client MCP daemon — index lock conflict handling — chunkhound index now detects a running daemon’s lock file on DuckDB conflict: a healthy daemon prints an informational message and exits cleanly; an unresponsive daemon prompts the user to kill it and retry.
  • Python import resolution — Import statements are now resolved more accurately in Python code research, improving cross-file symbol discovery.

Performance

  • LanceDB dimension detection — Table creation now detects embedding dimensions upfront from the configured provider, eliminating the O(n) table recreation penalty during first embedding insertion for large codebases (e.g. 16,000+ chunks no longer require full table migration).

Fixed

  • Cross-repo data loss — Re-indexing a subdirectory in a shared workspace no longer deletes other repositories’ data from the database (fixes #87).
  • Global gitignore false exclusions — ~/.gitignore was incorrectly used as a global excludes fallback, causing all files to be excluded when a dotfiles repo contained broad patterns like * (fixes #216).
  • MCP startup error visibility — DuckDB lock conflicts and config validation errors now surface as JSON-RPC error responses instead of silently exiting, with a specific hint to kill stale processes on lock conflicts.
  • Gemini LLM timeout — All code_research calls no longer fail immediately; the 120s timeout was being passed as 120ms to the google-genai SDK.
  • Gemini LLM initialization — Gemini provider no longer fails to register when base_url is present in config, restoring code_research availability.
  • VoyageAI api_base→base_url — voyageai ≥0.3.7 renamed the parameter; ChunkHound now detects the correct key at runtime, preventing Azure ML endpoint rejections.
  • tree-sitter-language-pack 1.0.0 incompatibility — Pinned to <1.0.0 to prevent fresh installs from pulling the breaking release that made YAML, MATLAB, Swift, and other language-pack parsers fail at startup.
  • Global chunk deduplication — YAML and Universal parsers now participate in chunk deduplication, preventing duplicate chunk IDs that caused indexing failures on repeated config values.
  • hdbscan startup crash under numpy 2.x — Replaced hdbscan package (which uses the numpy 1.x ABI) with sklearn.cluster.HDBSCAN (already a dependency), eliminating MCP daemon startup failures on systems running numpy 2.x.
  • Windows MCP unicode safety — MCP server stdout on Windows is now reconfigured with errors='backslashreplace' to prevent crashes when source files contain non-UTF-8 bytes; applied to both main() and main_sync() entry points (fixes #225).
  • HDBSCAN outlier cluster assignment — Outliers in Phase 2 cluster merging were mapped to incorrect final cluster indices, causing code research results to be grouped with unrelated code. Fixed by threading the cluster-id-to-final-index mapping through the outlier merge step.
  • Symlink path preservation — Worktree and repository symlink paths are now stored as their symlink paths during indexing instead of being silently resolved to their targets (fixes #102).

Removed

  • CHUNKHOUND_EMBEDDING_OPTIMIZATION_BATCH_FREQUENCY — Database optimization now runs once at indexing end; the per-batch frequency config option is removed.

4.0.1 - 2025-11-12

Fixed

  • Package build configuration now excludes test fixtures from distribution, reducing package size and removing unnecessary test data from published releases

4.0.0 - 2025-11-12

Added

  • Map-reduce synthesis for dramatically improved research accuracy - clusters related files and synthesizes them separately before combining insights
  • Compact numbered citation system [1][2][3] replacing verbose file.py:123 references for better readability
  • Automatic query expansion with intelligent deduplication to find more relevant results
  • Structured JSON output support for LLM providers enabling programmatic research workflows
  • Tree progress display with event system for visual research feedback
  • chunkhound research <query> command for direct code research without starting MCP server
  • chunkhound index --simulate [--json] - Dry-run mode showing which files would be indexed without making changes
  • chunkhound diagnose [--json] - Troubleshooting command comparing ChunkHound’s decisions vs git’s ignore rules
  • chunkhound calibrate - Automatic batch size performance tuning for Qwen3 reranker
  • --show-sizes flag for file size reporting during indexing
  • Swift language support with tree-sitter parsing for classes, protocols, functions, and properties (.swift, .swiftinterface)
  • Objective-C support with content detection to disambiguate from MATLAB (.m files)
  • Zig language support with comprehensive tree-sitter parsing
  • Haskell language support for functions, types, classes, and modules (.hs, .lhs, .hs-boot, .hsig, .hsc)
  • HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) support for Terraform with nested object parsing (.hcl, .tf, .tfvars)
  • Vue.js Single File Component (SFC) support with specialized parsing for template, script, and style sections
  • Svelte Single File Component support with specialized parsing for template, script, and style sections (.svelte)
  • Vue cross-reference tracking between template elements and script definitions for enhanced semantic understanding
  • PHP language support with comprehensive parsing for classes, interfaces, traits, functions, methods, namespaces, and PHPDoc comments
  • RapidYAML parser using native bindings (10-100x faster than tree-sitter for large YAML files)
  • Helm template sanitizer for Go template syntax in Kubernetes manifests
  • Automatic fallback to tree-sitter parser when RapidYAML encounters issues
  • Benchmark harness comparing PyYAML, universal, and RapidYAML performance (scripts/bench_yaml.py)
  • Repo-aware ignore engine respecting repository boundaries and preventing rule leakage between sibling repos
  • Workspace overlay mode collecting .gitignore rules from root and nested files with correct anchoring
  • Combined exclusion modes: indexing.exclude_mode supports "combined", "config_only", or "gitignore_only"
  • Wildcard directory segment matching for patterns like **/.venv*/ and **/*.phar/
  • Git pathspec capping with fallback to prevent pathspec explosion (default: 128, env: CHUNKHOUND_INDEXING__GIT_PATHSPEC_CAP)
  • Real-time telemetry for git pathspec usage and exclusion sources
  • TEI (Text Embeddings Inference) reranking format support alongside Cohere format
  • Automatic reranker format detection from response field names (Cohere vs TEI)
  • Thread-safe format caching for consistent reranker behavior across requests
  • Authorization header support for TEI endpoints with --api-key flag
  • Qwen3 reranker with automatic batch size calibration for optimal performance
  • Async regex search methods for concurrent search operations
  • Claude Code CLI provider with direct integration (claude-code-cli)
  • Codex CLI provider for synthesis workflows
  • AWS Anthropic Bedrock provider using official Anthropic SDK
  • Provider-specific synthesis concurrency limits: OpenAI (3), Bedrock (5), Claude CLI (1)
  • Smart change detection using checksums for verification when mtime/size differ
  • Content hash support in both DuckDB and LanceDB providers
  • DuckDB schema migration with files.content_hash column (idempotent via ALTER TABLE IF NOT EXISTS)
  • LanceDB execute_query adapter for lightweight batch SELECT operations
  • In-memory database mode for simulate on fresh workspaces (no .chunkhound/ directory created)
  • Checkpointing and recovery for more robust indexing coordinator
  • Per-file timeout controls: indexing.per_file_timeout_seconds, indexing.per_file_timeout_min_size_kb
  • Configurable host parameter for HTTP MCP server (--host for binding to specific interfaces)
  • Size-based filtering threshold for structured config files (JSON/YAML/TOML)
  • Environment variable override for DB executor timeout: CHUNKHOUND_DB_EXECUTE_TIMEOUT
  • Comprehensive test suites for Swift, Objective-C, Zig, Java, C#, Python, PHP, Vue, HCL
  • Test fixtures for refactored research modules with fake providers and better mocks

Enhanced

  • Native git bindings for gitignore exclusions replacing Python-based pattern matching (10-100x faster indexing)
  • Parallel directory discovery with auto-scaling for enterprise monorepos
  • Concurrent file parsing using ProcessPoolExecutor across CPU cores
  • Lazy parser instantiation reducing startup time
  • Single-file fast path using in-process handling (no ProcessPool overhead)
  • Single-read checksum verification eliminating redundant file I/O
  • Provider-aware embedding concurrency: OpenAI (8 concurrent batches), VoyageAI (40 concurrent batches)
  • Automatic retry logic for VoyageAI embedding provider
  • Real-time embedding pass: dedicated “embed” phase after quick parse/store for new chunks
  • Removed redundant reranking passes from deep research pipeline
  • xxHash3-64 replacing SHA-256 for faster file change detection
  • Git pathspec capping preventing pathspec explosion (configurable via env)
  • In-memory DuckDB for simulate mode on fresh workspaces
  • Automatic parser worker auto-scaling to CPU count when timeouts enabled (capped at 32)
  • Split progress reporting: “Parsing files” vs “Handling files” with live cumulative info
  • Better error messages and truncation detection for LLM responses
  • Non-TTY progress fallback properly working in CI environments
  • Improved diagnostics for parse/store errors with clearer failure messages
  • Post-run prompt to add timed-out files to indexing.exclude when interactive
  • Skipped file counts broken out into “Unchanged” and “Filtered” buckets
  • Raw markdown output from code_research tool for better formatting in Claude
  • Lazy imports for MCP-safe stdio operation
  • Proper JSON-RPC handshake reliability
  • Test-mode patches for Codex CLI integration (env-gated, no production impact)
  • Increased startup wait time for Mac CI stability (3s → 5s)
  • TEI reranking format comprehensive guide in CLAUDE.md
  • Test coverage documentation with refactoring progress
  • README improvements with startup profile CAP notes and exclusions section updates
  • Benchmark instructions for YAML parser performance testing
  • MCP setup improvements with multi-client support and --show-setup flag

Changed

  • BREAKING: Removed depth parameter from code_research MCP tool - system now auto-scales synthesis budgets based on repository size
  • BREAKING: Checksum algorithm switched from SHA-256 to xxHash3-64 for faster file change detection - all files will be reindexed on first run after upgrade
  • BREAKING: Default exclusion behavior changed - providing indexing.exclude list no longer disables .gitignore (use exclude_mode: "config_only" for legacy behavior)
  • BREAKING: RapidYAML is now the default YAML parser (set CHUNKHOUND_YAML_ENGINE=tree to revert to tree-sitter)
  • BREAKING: LanceDB provider now requires content_hash column in files schema
  • Default per-file timeout enabled: indexing.per_file_timeout_seconds=3.0 (previously 0, disabled)
  • Parser workers auto-scale to CPU count when timeouts enabled (capped at 32)
  • Combined exclusion mode is now default: overlays gitignore + config excludes instead of replacing
  • Model defaults updated to Haiku 4.5 for claude-code-cli and bedrock providers
  • Deep research service refactored into specialized modules: question_generator, synthesis_engine, budget_calculator, citation_manager, quality_validator
  • Search service refactored into strategies: context_retriever, single_hop_strategy, multi_hop_strategy, result_enhancer
  • Extracted research pipeline modules: unified_search, query_expander, file_reader, context_manager

Fixed

  • Fixed double ”**/” prefix preventing root file matches in default excludes
  • Fixed real-time indexing for newly added languages
  • Fixed file diversity collapse in deep research using proper reranking
  • Fixed TOML parser to extract only matched node content instead of entire file
  • Fixed tree-sitter language names for C# and Makefile parsers
  • Fixed .gitignore pattern handling and error logging
  • Fixed symbol validation inconsistency in Chunk.from_dict()
  • Fixed Config.init to respect target_dir kwarg in tests
  • Fixed DuckDB get_file_by_path(as_model=True) to return correct mtime and size_bytes for accurate skip checks
  • Fixed registry provider instance handling (was storing lambda instead of provider)
  • Fixed orphaned embeddings cleanup with proper per-call db_path configuration
  • Fixed LanceDB optimize() API usage for 0.21.0+ (cleanup_older_than parameter)
  • Fixed single-file indexing to use in-process path and call on_batch for immediate storage
  • Fixed missing sources in synthesis by using correct chunk.content field (was chunk.code)
  • Fixed flaky multi-hop semantic chain test
  • Fixed reranker single-batch top_k filtering for consistency across backends
  • Fixed concurrent rerank calls using aiohttp (replaced custom socket-based HTTP)
  • Fixed MCP stdio flow for code_research end-to-end reliability
  • Fixed non-TTY progress manager regression (added minimal Progress shim for CI)
  • Fixed exception classes to allow traceback assignment (removed frozen dataclass)
  • Fixed Windows path separator issues in gitignore pattern generation and matching
  • Fixed ProcessPoolExecutor segfault on Linux by forcing spawn multiprocessing
  • Fixed flaky QA test with file processing completion polling
  • Fixed real-time indexing flakiness with proper timeout handling and task cleanup

Removed

  • Removed AWS Bedrock provider (consolidated to Anthropic SDK-based Bedrock provider)
  • Removed research tools setup section from CONTRIBUTING.md (obsolete)
  • Removed obsolete tests incompatible with refactored modular architecture

Security

  • Removed embedded API key from .chunkhound.json - use environment variables instead (e.g., CHUNKHOUND_EMBEDDING__API_KEY)

3.3.1 - 2025-09-25

Enhanced

  • Dependency updates to latest stable versions for improved stability and performance
  • Test infrastructure reliability with better provider detection and error handling

Fixed

  • Tree-sitter 0.25.x API compatibility ensuring parsing works with latest language parsers
  • Code formatting and import organization for cleaner, more maintainable codebase

3.3.0 - 2025-09-21

Added

  • Official Windows support with full CI testing across Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu
  • Command-line search functionality (chunkhound search) for semantic and regex queries without starting MCP
  • CONTRIBUTING.md guidelines
  • Setup wizard when .chunkhound.json isn’t found in the directory

Fixed

  • File exclude patterns (/tmp/) on Linux systems
  • Regex search path resolution across platforms

3.2.0 - 2025-08-24

Enhanced

  • Semantic search upgraded from two-hop to dynamic multi-hop expansion with intelligent stopping criteria, delivering more comprehensive and contextually relevant results while avoiding search explosion

3.1.0 - 2025-08-21

Added

  • PDF document parsing and indexing with full text extraction using PyMuPDF integration

Enhanced

  • Language support expanded to 29 languages with comprehensive documentation breakdown

Fixed

  • JSON file parsing now extracts specific node content instead of entire file content, improving search precision and reducing noise

3.0.1 - 2025-08-21

Enhanced

  • Documentation site improved with cross-linking between pages and hero image for better navigation
  • OpenAI-compatible endpoint flexibility increased by making API keys optional for local deployments
  • Test infrastructure reliability improved with comprehensive CI fixes and timeout handling

Fixed

  • JSON file parsing now handles empty chunks correctly, eliminating indexing failures on common JSON patterns
  • Test suite stability enhanced with proper background task cleanup and configuration isolation
  • GitHub Actions workflow simplified and made more reliable by removing redundant processes

3.0.0 - 2025-08-20

Added

  • VoyageAI embedding provider with advanced two-hop semantic search and reranking capabilities
  • GitHub Pages documentation site with interactive examples and improved navigation
  • Intelligent file exclusion system with .gitignore support and JSON size filtering
  • Advanced makefile parsing with dependency analysis for better code comprehension
  • Comprehensive test suite for database consistency and integration testing
  • Real-time filesystem indexing with MCP integration for live code monitoring

Enhanced

  • Parsing system completely rebuilt with cAST (Code AST) algorithm for universal language support
  • Configuration system dramatically simplified with fewer user-facing options for easier setup
  • OpenAI provider unified to handle both standard and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints
  • MCP server reliability improved with proper initialization sequencing and watchdog coordination
  • Test infrastructure enhanced with Ollama compatibility and extended timeouts
  • Directory indexing consolidated between CLI and MCP with shared service architecture

Fixed

  • MCP server initialization blocking resolved - no more startup deadlocks during directory scanning
  • Custom OpenAI endpoint configuration now properly recognized and applied
  • Real-time indexing now generates missing embeddings for unchanged code chunks
  • SSL verification disabled for custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints to support local deployments
  • Watchdog filesystem monitoring no longer blocks MCP server startup process
  • MCP server properly respects target directory path arguments across all operations

Removed

  • TEI (Text Embeddings Inference) provider support - simplified provider ecosystem
  • BGE provider support - consolidated to core providers for better maintenance
  • Legacy parsing system replaced with modern cAST algorithm
  • Obsolete configuration documentation and setup files cleaned up

2.8.1 - 2025-07-20

Enhanced

  • Architecture documentation significantly improved for better LLM comprehension and AI-assisted development workflows

Fixed

  • Type annotation syntax errors that could cause import failures in Python 3.10+ environments
  • Enhanced smoke tests now detect forward reference type annotation issues early

2.8.0 - 2025-07-20

Added

  • MCP HTTP transport support alongside stdio transport for flexible deployment options

Enhanced

  • Configuration system unified across CLI and MCP components for consistent behavior
  • File change processing reliability improved in MCP servers with better debouncing and coordination
  • Database portability enhanced with relative path storage

Fixed

  • MCP server initialization deadlocks and startup crashes resolved with proper async coordination
  • File deletion handling improved using IndexingCoordinator for better reliability
  • MCP server tool discovery enhanced with fallback logic for better error recovery
  • File path resolution improved in DuckDB provider for cross-platform consistency

2.7.0 - 2025-07-12

Fixed

  • MCP server now uses configured embedding model instead of hardcoded text-embedding-3-small default, ensuring semantic search works with any configured model
  • MCP test environment improvements with comprehensive test data and configuration files

2.6.3 - 2025-07-10

Fixed

  • Configuration merge precedence now correctly preserves environment variables over JSON config values
  • MCP server semantic search now works properly when running from different directories

Removed

  • Removed obsolete Ubuntu 20 Dockerfile as issue was resolved in configuration system

2.6.2 - 2025-07-10

Fixed

  • MCP server now properly loads embedding provider configuration from target directory

2.6.1 - 2025-07-10

Fixed

  • MCP server now properly respects CLI-provided project root directory for configuration loading
  • Configuration files (.chunkhound.json) are now correctly loaded when running MCP server from different directories

2.6.0 - 2025-07-10

Fixed

  • MCP server crashes on Ubuntu and Linux systems when running from different directories by fixing database path resolution and process coordination
  • Enhanced TaskGroup error reporting to show underlying causes instead of generic wrapper errors
  • Configuration file loading in MCP server now properly respects .chunkhound.json files in target directories
  • Database lock conflicts between multiple MCP instances resolved with proper process detection

Enhanced

  • Docker test infrastructure for MCP server validation to prevent future regressions
  • Improved error messages for debugging MCP server issues with detailed analysis

2.5.4 - 2025-07-10

Fixed

  • MCP server reliability on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions when running from different directories
  • Database path resolution consistency across all MCP server components

2.5.3 - 2025-07-10

Fixed

  • MCP server communication reliability improved by removing debug logging that interfered with JSON-RPC protocol

2.5.2 - 2025-07-10

Added

  • Automatic database optimization during embedding generation to maintain performance with large datasets (every 1000 batches, configurable via CHUNKHOUND_EMBEDDING_OPTIMIZATION_BATCH_FREQUENCY)

Fixed

  • MCP server compatibility on Ubuntu and other strict platforms by preserving virtual environment context in subprocesses
  • OpenAI embedding provider crash on Ubuntu due to async resource creation outside event loop context

2.5.1 - 2025-01-09

Fixed

  • Project detection now properly respects CHUNKHOUND_PROJECT_ROOT environment variable, ensuring MCP command works correctly when launched from any directory
  • Removed duplicate MCP parser function that could cause confusion

2.5.0 - 2025-01-09

Enhanced

  • MCP positional path argument now controls complete project scope - database location, config file search, and watch paths are all set to the specified directory instead of just watch paths

Fixed

  • MCP launcher import path resolution when running from different directories, eliminating TaskGroup errors on Ubuntu and other strict platforms

2.4.4 - 2025-01-09

Fixed

  • Ubuntu TaskGroup crash fixed by removing problematic directory change in MCP launcher

2.4.3 - 2025-01-09

Fixed

  • MCP server now works correctly when launched from any directory, not just the project root
  • Fixed path resolution inconsistencies that caused TaskGroup errors on Ubuntu deployments

2.4.2 - 2025-01-09

Added

  • MCP command now accepts optional path argument to specify directory for indexing and watching (defaults to current directory)

Fixed

  • Parser architecture inconsistencies resolved across C, Bash, and Makefile parsers for consistent search functionality
  • MCP server database duplication eliminated through proper async task isolation
  • LanceDB storage growth controlled with automatic optimization during quiet periods
  • MCP server reliability improved with corrected import structure and dependency resolution
  • Python parser behavior now consistent between CLI and MCP modes
  • Search operation freezes after file deletion resolved with proper thread safety

2.4.1 - 2025-01-09

Fixed

  • Package structure consolidated under chunkhound/ directory for improved import reliability and Python packaging best practices

2.4.0 - 2025-01-09

Fixed

  • LanceDB storage growth issue resolved with automatic database optimization during quiet periods
  • Configuration system project root detection for .chunkhound.json files improved

Changed

  • Enhanced database provider architecture with capability detection and activity tracking
  • Modernized configuration system by removing legacy registry config building

2.3.1 - 2025-07-09

Fixed

  • MCP server communication reliability improved by preventing stderr output from corrupting JSON-RPC messages
  • Enhanced configuration documentation with automatic .chunkhound.json detection examples

2.3.0 - 2025-07-08

Changed

  • BREAKING: Configuration system completely refactored with centralized management and clear precedence hierarchy
  • BREAKING: Automatic configuration file loading removed - config files now only load with explicit --config flag
  • BREAKING: Environment variables standardized to CHUNKHOUND_* prefix with __ delimiters (e.g., CHUNKHOUND_EMBEDDING__API_KEY)
  • BREAKING: Legacy OPENAI_API_KEY and OPENAI_BASE_URL environment variables no longer supported

Added

  • Complete CLI argument coverage for all configuration options
  • Centralized configuration precedence: CLI args → Config file → Environment variables → Defaults
  • Comprehensive migration guide for updating existing configurations
  • Database file gitignore pattern for Lance database files

Fixed

  • MCP server database duplication caused by shared transaction state across async tasks
  • Parser architecture inconsistencies for C, Bash, and Makefile language parsers
  • Configuration auto-detection issues that caused deployment complexity

2.2.0 - 2025-01-07

Fixed

  • Database freezing during concurrent file operations through proper async/sync boundary handling
  • Thread safety issues in DuckDB provider with synchronized WAL cleanup and operation timeouts
  • LanceDB duplicate file entries through atomic merge operations and path normalization
  • File deletion operations now properly handle async contexts without blocking the event loop

Changed

  • Aligned LanceDB provider with serial executor pattern for consistency with DuckDB
  • Improved path normalization to handle symlinks and different path representations
  • Enhanced database operation reliability with proper thread isolation

Added

  • Support for complete configuration storage including API keys in .chunkhound.json files
  • Consolidated embedding provider creation system for consistent behavior across CLI and config files

2.1.4 - 2025-07-03

Fixed

  • CLI argument defaults no longer override config file values
  • Updated dependencies via uv.lock

2.1.3 - 2025-07-03

Changed

  • Consolidated embedding provider creation to use single factory pattern for consistency
  • Reduced embedding provider log verbosity for cleaner output

2.1.2 - 2025-07-03

Fixed

  • API key configuration loading from .chunkhound.json files
  • Configuration precedence documentation to match actual behavior

Added

  • Complete configuration examples with API key and security guidance

2.1.1 - 2025-07-03

Added

  • Centralized version management system for consistent versioning across all components

Changed

  • Simplified version updates through automated scripts
  • Enhanced installation and development documentation
  • Code formatting improvements and linting cleanup

Fixed

  • Version consistency across CLI, MCP server, and package initialization
  • Import statement in package __init__.py for better module exposure

2.1.0 - 2025-07-02

Fixed

  • Database duplication in MCP server by implementing single-threaded executor pattern
  • WAL corruption handling during DuckDB catalog replay
  • Parser architecture inconsistencies for C, Bash, and Makefile parsers
  • DuckDB foreign key constraint transaction limitations
  • Python parser CLI/MCP divergence through unified factory pattern
  • Connection management architectural violations

Changed

  • Consolidated database operations through DuckDBProvider executor pattern
  • Simplified ConnectionManager to handle only connection lifecycle
  • Updated file discovery patterns to include all 16 supported languages
  • Removed deprecated connection methods and schema fields
  • Enhanced transaction handling with contextvars for task isolation

Added

  • Automatic database migration system for schema updates
  • Enhanced parser functionality for C pointer functions and Bash function bodies
  • Task-local transaction state management
  • Comprehensive executor methods for database operations

2.0.0 - 2025-06-26

Added

  • 10 new language parsers: Rust, Go, C++, C, Kotlin, Groovy, Bash, TOML, Makefile, Matlab
  • Search pagination with response size limits
  • Registry-based parser architecture
  • MCP search task coordinator
  • Test coverage for file modification tracking
  • Comment and docstring indexing for all language parsers
  • Background periodic indexing for better performance
  • Path filtering support for targeted searches
  • HNSW index WAL recovery with enhanced checkpoints
  • Embedding cache optimization with CRC32-based content tracking

Changed

  • BREAKING: ‘run’ command renamed to ‘index’ with current directory default
  • BREAKING: Parser system refactored to registry pattern
  • Centralized language support in Language enum
  • Optimized embedding performance with token-aware batching
  • Enhanced PyInstaller compatibility
  • Improved cross-platform build support (Windows, Ubuntu Docker)
  • Enhanced MCP server JSON-RPC communication with logging suppression

Fixed

  • Parser error handling and registry integration
  • OpenAI token limit handling
  • PyInstaller module path resolution
  • Database WAL corruption issues on server exit
  • File watcher cancellation responsiveness
  • Signal handler safety by removing unsafe database operations
  • Windows PyInstaller and MATLAB dependency issues
  • Build workflow reliability across platforms

1.2.3 - 2025-06-23

Changed

  • Default database location changed to current directory for better persistence

Fixed

  • OpenAI token limit exceeded error with dynamic batching for large embedding requests
  • Empty chunk filtering to reduce noise in search results
  • Python parser validation for empty symbol names
  • Windows build support with comprehensive GitHub Actions workflow
  • macOS Intel build issues with UV package manager installation
  • Cross-platform build workflow reliability

Added

  • Windows build support with automated testing
  • Enhanced debugging for build processes across platforms

1.2.2 - 2024-12-15

Added

  • File watching CLI for real-time code monitoring

Changed

  • Unified JavaScript and TypeScript parsers
  • Default database location to current directory

Fixed

  • Empty symbol validation in Python parser

1.2.1 - 2024-11-28

Added

  • Ubuntu 20.04 build support
  • Token limit management for MCP search

Fixed

  • Duplicate chunks after file edits
  • File modification detection race conditions

1.2.0 - 2024-11-15

Added

  • C# language support
  • JSON, YAML, and plain text file support
  • File watching with real-time indexing

Fixed

  • File deletion handling
  • Database connection issues

1.1.0 - 2025-06-12

Added

  • Multi-language support: TypeScript, JavaScript, C#, Java, and Markdown
  • Comprehensive CLI interface
  • Binary distribution with faster startup

Changed

  • Improved CLI startup performance (90% faster)
  • Binary startup performance (16x faster)

Fixed

  • Version display consistency
  • Cross-platform build issues

1.0.1 - 2025-06-11

Added

  • Python 3.10+ compatibility
  • PyPI publishing
  • Standalone executable support
  • MCP server integration

Fixed

  • Dependency conflicts
  • OpenAI model parameter handling
  • Binary compilation issues

1.0.0 - 2025-06-10

Added

  • Initial release of ChunkHound
  • Python parsing with tree-sitter
  • DuckDB backend for storage and search
  • OpenAI embeddings for semantic search
  • CLI interface for indexing and searching
  • MCP server for AI assistant integration
  • File watching for real-time indexing
  • Regex search capabilities

For more information, visit: https://github.com/chunkhound/chunkhound