codecontext init

Initialize CodeContext in your project and generate your first documentation

Interactive Demo

Usage

codecontext init [options]

The init command initializes CodeContext in your current project directory. It will:

  • Check if you're in a git repository (or offer to create one)
  • Ask for project information through interactive prompts
  • Analyze your codebase structure
  • Generate initial documentation based on your codebase
  • Create a .codecontext.json configuration file
  • Configure git hooks for auto-updates (Pro users only)

Options

-y, --yes

Skip interactive setup and use defaults

$ codecontext init -y

Configuration

After initialization, CodeContext creates a configuration file at .codecontext.json:

{
  "projectName": "my-awesome-project",
  "description": "A modern web application",
  "features": ["readme", "changelog", "contributing", "api"],
  "docStyle": "comprehensive",
  "autoUpdate": true,
  "publishSettings": {
    "subdomain": "my-awesome-project",
    "theme": "default"
  }
}

Interactive Prompts

Project Name

The name of your project. Defaults to the directory name or package.json name.

Default: package.json name or directory name

Brief Description

A short description of your project. Used in the README header.

Default: package.json description or "An awesome project"

Documentation Features

Select which documentation files to generate. CodeContext analyzes your project and suggests appropriate documentation.

readmechangelogcontributingapi

Documentation Types

Select which documentation files to generate:

README.md - Project overview and setup instructions
CHANGELOG.md - Version history from git commits
CONTRIBUTING.md - Contribution guidelines
API.md - Complete API documentation with examples

No API Keys Required!

Managed AI Service

CodeContext uses a managed AI service - no API keys needed! Just install and start using.

• No API keys required

• No configuration needed

• Enterprise-grade security

• We handle all the AI complexity for you

Git Hooks (Pro Feature)

Automatic Updates for Pro Users

Pro users get automatic git hooks configured during initialization:

# .git/hooks/pre-commit
#!/bin/sh
codecontext context --update --quiet

This ensures your documentation context stays up-to-date with every commit!

Examples

Basic initialization

$ codecontext init

Skip prompts and use defaults

$ codecontext init --yes

Initialize in a specific directory

$ cd my-project && codecontext init

Troubleshooting

"Not a git repository" error

CodeContext requires git to analyze your commit history. Either initialize git first with git init, or let CodeContext do it for you when prompted.

"Daily limit reached" error

Free plan includes 5 daily documentation updates. You can either wait until midnight UTC for the limit to reset, or upgrade to a paid plan with codecontext upgrade for higher limits.

"CodeContext already initialized" message

CodeContext is already set up in this project. You can either reinitialize (which will overwrite existing config) or use codecontext update to regenerate documentation.

See Also