searchcode

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What searchcode is

searchcode helps developers and AI assistants examine public GitHub repositories through code search, analysis, and file retrieval. Its six-tool MCP server supports language breakdowns, complexity metrics, tech-stack detection, code-quality analysis, and secret scanning. The security summary can flag API keys, tokens, and private keys, with file, line, and confidence details. Search supports full-text queries, boolean logic, regular expressions, and structural filters for declarations, usages, strings, and comments. Retrieval can provide a whole file, a line range, or a named symbol with adjacent declarations for context; batch retrieval handles up to 10 files. The tools are also available as JSON over HTTP through the REST API. Setup instructions cover several AI assistants and coding environments. The free beta plan covers public GitHub repositories and requires no signup, API key, or installation. Enterprise deployment can run on customer infrastructure, and private repositories can connect using SSH keys or HTTPS tokens, with access controlled by the customer’s git server.

Who it suits

It suits developers and AI-assistant users who need to search or assess public GitHub repositories. Organizations can consider its private deployment and repository access options.

What it does well

Six MCP tools for repository analysis and retrieval
Search supports regex, boolean queries, and structural filters
Credential scans include file, line, and confidence details
Batch retrieval supports up to 10 files
Free beta requires no signup or API key

What to know first

Free beta is limited to public GitHub repositories
No IDE extensions are listed

Limits

The free beta is limited to public GitHub repositories. Private Git access is available through enterprise deployment, and batch file retrieval is limited to 10 files per call.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Free during beta	public GitHub repositories · no signup · no API key · no install	Free

As searchcode.com lists them, read 1 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Open https://searchcode.com/ for public repository access.
Choose an MCP setup guide for a supported assistant or editor, or call a tool through the REST API.
For REST API use, send JSON over HTTP to POST /api/v1/{tool_name}.
For private repository access, use an enterprise deployment and configure SSH-key or HTTPS-token authentication.

Verdict

searchcode combines repository search, code analysis, credential scanning, and contextual file retrieval. Its free beta is specifically for public GitHub repositories; enterprise deployment and private repository access are separate options.

Questions

Does searchcode have a free plan?

Yes. The Free during beta plan covers public GitHub repositories and requires no signup, API key, or installation.

Can searchcode inspect private repositories?

Yes, through enterprise deployment. Private Git repositories can authenticate with SSH keys or HTTPS tokens, and the customer’s git server controls permissions.

How can I connect an AI assistant?

The MCP server exposes six tools. Setup instructions are available for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code/Copilot, Gemini CLI, Amp, OpenCode, Crush, Codex, and LM Studio.

Is there a REST API?

Yes. All six tools are available as JSON over HTTP through POST /api/v1/{tool_name}.

What can searchcode analyze and search?

Analysis covers languages, complexity, technology stack, code quality, and secret scanning. Search supports full-text, boolean, regular-expression, and structural queries.

Who makes searchcode?

The about page says it is operated by a single developer and made in Sydney, Australia by Ben Boyter.

Facts from searchcode's own pages

Batch limit: The code_get_files tool retrieves up to 10 files in one call. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Code analysis: The code_analyze tool provides language breakdowns, complexity metrics, tech-stack detection, code-quality analysis and secret scanning. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Code search: The code_search tool supports full-text search, boolean queries, regular expressions and structural filters for declarations, usages, strings and comments. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
File retrieval: The code_get_file tool retrieves full files, line ranges or named symbols with adjacent declarations for context. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Integrations: Setup instructions are provided for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code/Copilot, Gemini CLI, Amp, OpenCode, Crush, Codex and LM Studio. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Maker: The about page says searchcode is operated by a single developer and is made in Sydney, Australia by Ben Boyter. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
MCP integration: Its MCP server exposes six tools for AI assistants over public repositories. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Open-source foundation: Searchcode is built on scc for code counting and complexity analysis, supporting more than 300 languages, and cs for code search and smart ranking. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Privacy: The about page says searchcode does not capture or store personally identifiable information and generally uses aggregate data. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Private deployment: Enterprise deployment runs on the customer’s infrastructure as a Docker image with a Helm chart for Kubernetes. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Private repository access: Private Git repositories can use SSH-key and HTTPS-token authentication, with permissions controlled by the customer’s git server. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Purpose: Searchcode provides code intelligence dossiers for public GitHub repositories, including languages, complexity, tech stack and code quality. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
REST API: All six tools are available as JSON over HTTP through POST /api/v1/{tool_name}. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Scale: The maker says searchcode previously indexed more than 75 billion lines of code across millions of repositories and served millions of API requests daily. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Secret scanning: The security_summary credential scanner detects API keys, tokens and private keys with file, line and confidence information. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026
Support: Support is available by email at [email protected]. · searchcode.com, 1 Oct 2026

Where searchcode stands on Freedom251

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