Kerno Intelligence Tools

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

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What is KIT?

Kerno Intelligence Tools (KIT) is a free, local code-intelligence layer for AI coding agents. It uses SCIP (Source Code Intelligence Protocol) to build a deterministic index of your codebase, then exposes that index to agents via MCP. Instead of agents exploring your codebase file by file, they query the pre-built graph in a single tool call.

How does KIT reduce token consumption?

Without KIT, AI agents read file after file to understand your codebase, burning tokens on exploration. KIT gives them a pre-built dependency graph they can query directly. In benchmarks, this results in 88-99% fewer input tokens per session and up to 13x fewer tool calls.

How is KIT different from vector embeddings or RAG?

KIT uses SCIP, which resolves symbols and cross-references with compiler-level accuracy. Every function call, import, and variable reference gets a precise location.
Vector embeddings give approximate similarity matches. KIT gives exact, reproducible answers to questions like "what calls this function?" or "what does this endpoint depend on?"

What languages does KIT support?

TypeScript, JavaScript, and Python. Java is coming soon.

Does KIT work with my AI coding agent?

KIT works with any agent that supports MCP, including Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Windsurf. No changes to your codebase are required.

What does KIT cost?

KIT is 100% free on all Kerno plans, including the free tier.

Do I need the Kerno validation engine to use KIT?

No. KIT works independently. You can use KIT for code intelligence without using Kerno's test generation or validation features.

Does Kerno copy or download my codebase?

No. Your code never leaves your machine. The codebase index is stored locally, and your code runs in a secure, isolated environment during testing. Your code remains completely private and inaccessible to anyone, including our team.

How does the indexer understand a repository's structure?

Build tool analysis is a first-class concern. Rather than relying solely on file layout heuristics, the indexer leans heavily on your build configuration to infer how a project is structured, what it's built with, and how its internal packages and modules depend on one another.

Does Kerno use SCIP's single protobuf file format?

The index uses a text-based format with one file per indexed source file. This is less convenient to work with than a single binary blob, but it scales with the codebase rather than duplicating it. Git handles garbage collection and compression naturally.

The practical upside is that subsequent indexes are tiny diffs, meaning you can retain a full history of indexes across your commit history without meaningfully multiplying storage costs.

Does the index include hover docs or inline code snippets?

No. There's no support for short code snippets of the kind you'd see in IDE hover tooltips. The focus is entirely on symbols — specifically making a codebase's symbol graph queryable by agents, not on enriching the editing experience.

What are the limitations of KIT?

KIT is new, and without real-world usage feedback the honest answer is: we don't yet have a clear picture of where it breaks down across the diversity of projects in the wild. Beyond that known unknown, two concrete limitations exist today.

First, KIT is tied to git, it assumes a git repository and leans on git's own machinery for storage and history.

Second, indexing is not yet incremental; the groundwork is there, but currently a full re-index is required each time.

External packages, the compiler knows the package is real (it's installed, it resolves), but it only sees a reference to a type inside it, not the type itself. The indexer never actually read that package's source.

To verify SomeType is real, you'd have to index all of langchain too — and all its dependencies, and so on. That's the rabbit hole that makes indexing slow. Instead, the system trusts: "the package is real, and we'll take the type reference at face value."

‍So the mental model is: package identity is verified, type identity inside external packages is assumed.

Can KIT cross-reference multiple microservice repos?

In principle yes, but nothing along these lines has been designed or researched yet. It would require the other repository to be reachable at index time, plus a mechanism to declare which packages correspond to that external repo. Given those conditions, cross-repo symbol navigation would be technically feasible, it just doesn't exist today.

How is KIT different from a SCIP index?

See the earlier question on index format for a full breakdown, but the short version: KIT is text-based and per-file where SCIP is a single binary protobuf; KIT leans on build tool analysis where SCIP relies on language-server output; KIT is designed specifically for agent queryability rather than IDE tooling; and KIT deliberately skips third-party packages, whereas a SCIP index typically includes them.

How do I scale this to all my engineers?

KIT data lives inside the git repository itself, so it distributes exactly the way code does — clone, pull, fetch. That said, it is invisible to most git tooling by default and won't propagate between teammates unless it's explicitly included in a push or fetch. The practical way to handle this is via a git hook, or by having Kerno's agent manage synchronisation as part of its normal operation.

Does KIT update as my code evolves?

It updates on demand whenever you explicitly run the indexer. Indexing is not yet incremental, so each run re-indexes rather than patching the previous result. In practice this is less painful than it sounds: if you're committing frequently, running the indexer on each commit keeps the index continuously current, and because subsequent indexes produce small diffs the overhead stays low.

A local code-intelligence knowledge graph for your AI coding agent.

Deterministic SCIP index

Pre-built dependency graph

Full blast radius discovery

HTTP framework agnostic

Detect all service dependency

Stays current with your codebase

Fewer tokens, fewer tool calls, and better answers across your backend codebase.

88–99%

Up to 13x

Up to $4,000

Get started with KIT in
60 seconds

Install the Kerno CLI

Initialize your project

Configure the Kerno MCP

Map dependencies

Understand authentication

Understand the blast radius

Trusted by AI-native engeneering teams to ship better software

Frequently asked questions

A local code-intelligence knowledge graph for your AI coding agent.

Deterministic SCIP index

Pre-built dependency graph

Full blast radius discovery

HTTP framework agnostic

Detect all service dependency

Stays current with your codebase

Fewer tokens, fewer tool calls, and better answers across your backend codebase.

88–99%

Up to 13x

Up to $4,000

Get started with KIT in 60 seconds

Install the Kerno CLI

Initialize your project

Configure the Kerno MCP

Map dependencies

Understand authentication

Understand the blast radius

Trusted by AI-native engeneering teams to ship better software

Frequently asked questions

Get started with KIT in
60 seconds