dotdeps

CLI tool that fetches dependency source code for LLM context.

Why

LLM coding agents have outdated training data and can't read documentation in real-time. When they help you use a library, they work from memory, which leads to hallucinated APIs and incorrect usage patterns.

dotdeps solves this by cloning dependency source code to .deps/ where your agent can read it. Repositories are cached globally and symlinked into projects, so fetching is fast after the first clone.

Quick start

1. Install:

   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/davidturnbull/dotdeps/releases/latest/download/dotdeps-installer.sh | sh

2. Initialize in your project:

   dotdeps init

This creates .deps/, updates .gitignore, and adds usage instructions to AGENTS.md (or CLAUDE.md if it exists).

Keeping up to date

Run dotdeps update periodically to get the latest version:

dotdeps update

Use dotdeps update --check to check for updates without installing.

Commands

init

Initialize dotdeps in the current directory.

dotdeps init [OPTIONS]

Options

• --skip-gitignore - Skip adding .deps/ to .gitignore
• --skip-instructions - Skip adding usage instructions to AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md
• --dry-run - Preview actions without making changes
• --json - Output results as JSON

add

Add a dependency to .deps/.

dotdeps add [OPTIONS] <ecosystem>:<package>[@<version>]

Arguments

• <ecosystem> - Package ecosystem: python, node, rust, go, ruby, swift
• <package> - Package name
• @<version> - Optional version (defaults to lockfile version)

Options

• --dry-run - Preview actions without making changes
• --json - Output results as JSON

Examples

dotdeps add python:requests           # version from lockfile
dotdeps add python:[email protected]    # explicit version
dotdeps add node:lodash
dotdeps add node:@types/node          # scoped packages
dotdeps add rust:serde
dotdeps add go:github.com/gin-gonic/gin
dotdeps add ruby:rails
dotdeps add swift:Alamofire

remove

Remove a dependency from .deps/.

dotdeps remove [OPTIONS] <ecosystem>:<package>

Options

• --dry-run - Preview actions without making changes
• --json - Output results as JSON

Example

dotdeps remove python:requests

list

List all dependencies in .deps/.

dotdeps list [OPTIONS]

Options

• --json - Output results as JSON

context

Output LLM-ready dependency context. This prints instructions that tell your agent which dependencies are available and how to fetch more.

dotdeps context [OPTIONS]

Options

• --json - Output results as JSON

Lockfile discovery

dotdeps context searches upward from the current directory to find lockfiles. In monorepos or nested project layouts, this means dependencies from a parent directory's lockfile may be included. Run from the specific project directory you want to analyze.

clean

Remove the .deps/ directory.

dotdeps clean [OPTIONS]

Options

• --dry-run - Preview actions without making changes
• --json - Output results as JSON

Supported ecosystems

Ecosystem	Lockfiles	Repo detection
python	poetry.lock, uv.lock, requirements.txt, pyproject.toml	PyPI API
node	pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, package-lock.json, bun.lock	npm registry
rust	Cargo.lock	crates.io API
go	go.sum	Module path
ruby	Gemfile.lock	RubyGems API
swift	Package.resolved	Lockfile URL

Configuration

Optional config file at ~/.config/dotdeps/config.json:

{
  "cache_limit_gb": 5,
  "overrides": {
    "python": {
      "some-private-lib": {
        "repo": "https://github.com/myorg/some-private-lib"
      }
    }
  }
}

cache_limit_gb

Maximum cache size in GB. Default: 5. Set to 0 for unlimited.

Cache eviction uses LRU (least recently used) based on filesystem access time.

overrides

Per-ecosystem, per-package repository URL overrides.

Use for: private packages, libraries without proper metadata, or forks.

Claude Code integration

For automatic context injection with Claude Code, add this alias to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

alias claude='command claude --append-system-prompt "$(dotdeps context)"'

This injects dependency context into every Claude Code session, so Claude automatically knows which dependencies are available and how to fetch more.

How it works

1. dotdeps add resolves the version (explicit or from lockfile)
2. Checks cache at ~/.cache/dotdeps/<ecosystem>/<package>/<version>/
3. If not cached, clones the repository (shallow clone with tag resolution)
4. Creates symlink at .deps/<ecosystem>/<package>/
5. LRU cache eviction when limit exceeded

Related projects

• opensrc - Fetch source for npm packages
• better-context - Query library source with AI

License

MIT