Codesummary
Show HN: A knowledge engine that keeps up with AI driven code
Last verified:
What is Codesummary?
CodeSummary is an AI-powered documentation platform that automatically generates living documentation for GitHub repositories. It connects to your GitHub account, analyzes your codebase structure, patterns, and connections, then synthesizes complete documentation including architecture overviews, API references, component breakdowns, and setup guides. The documentation updates automatically on every push to your main branch, ensuring your docs stay in sync with your code without manual maintenance.
Key features include automatic documentation generation using premium AI models, a WYSIWYG markdown editor for human edits, side-by-side diff review for AI proposed changes, custom domain hosting with automatic SSL, branding customization (logo, accent colors, custom CSS), and three visibility modes (public, unlisted, private). Every documentation site ships with a Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoint that allows AI agents like Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, and ChatGPT to query your docs for cited, current answers instead of guessing from training data.
The MCP endpoint provides three core functions: ask() returns grounded, cited answers about your product in one call; orient() hands coding agents a ranked plan of relevant files and code; lookup() returns symbol definitions and call sites in milliseconds. CodeSummary is built for engineering teams, open-source maintainers, SaaS companies, and developers who want their team and AI agents to always have access to current, reviewed knowledge without the friction of maintaining docs manually.
CodeSummary supports multi-repo products (stitching docs from frontend, backend, and services into one coherent site), section-aware synthesis, audience-aware tone adjustment, OpenAPI spec extraction for interactive API reference, per-page locking to protect human edits, full version history with one-click rollback, and workspace-wide activity feeds. It works with private repos (staying private) and offers OAuth-scoped access tokens for security.
Codesummary pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
CodeSummary offers a free plan, Pro at $49/month, Team at $299/month (most popular), Scale from $899/month, and Enterprise with custom pricing. The Free plan includes: unlimited repos, up to 2 products, automatic generation, editor and review queue, public hosting with branding, and MCP endpoint on shared domain. No credit card required. Pro includes: unlimited hosted docs sites, custom domains + SSL, auto-regenerate on every push, generous monthly credits, in-app editor + review, and built-in MCP endpoints. Team includes everything in Pro plus: up to 15 seats, shared team workspace, team roles & permissions, higher monthly credits, and multi-repo sites. Both Pro and Team start with a 14-day free trial, no card required. Scale includes everything in Team plus: custom seat limits, custom volume pricing, dedicated onboarding, and priority support with SLA. Enterprise includes everything in Scale plus: SAML SSO & SCIM, security review & SLA, custom contracts & DPA, and onboarding/migration. Pricing is simple and flat with no metering; pay per generation, not per seat.
Codesummary pros
- Automatically generates documentation from code without manual writing
- Docs update automatically on every push to main branch
- Supports unlimited repositories on free plan
- Publishes public doc sites at real URLs with no credit card required
- Custom domain hosting with automatic SSL certificates
- Built-in MCP endpoint for AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, ChatGPT)
- WYSIWYG markdown editor for human edits
- Side-by-side diff review for AI proposed changes
- Per-page locking protects human-edited content from silent overwrites
- Multi-repo products stitch docs from multiple repos into one coherent site
- Three visibility modes: public, unlisted, and private/team-only
- OpenAPI spec extraction creates interactive API reference when spec detected
- Full version history with one-click rollback to any prior state
- OAuth-scoped access tokens for secure private docs access
- Section-aware synthesis customizes docs to configured sections
- Audience-aware tone adjusts writing to your audience expectations
- Workspace-wide activity feed tracks team documentation changes
- Free plan includes MCP endpoint on shared domain
- 14-day free trial with no credit card required for Pro and Team
- Incremental generation updates only affected docs instead of full regenerate
Codesummary cons
- Free plan limits to only 2 products
- Free plan MCP endpoint is on shared domain only, not custom domain
- Private docs and token-gated access require Pro or Team plan
- Premium generation tier only available on paid plans
- Monthly credit pool is larger only on paid plans
- Custom domains with SSL require Pro ($49/month) or Team ($299/month)
- Team plan has 15-seat limit, larger teams need Scale plan
- Scale plan starts at $899/month which may be expensive for some
- Enterprise plan requires custom contract and sales contact
- GitHub App installation requires repo read permissions and pull request creation permissions
- Zip upload is one-shot generation only, no automatic updates
- Private repos stay private but require GitHub App authorization
- Review queue required for AI changes to edited pages (may slow workflow)
- Custom CSS branding is manual work, not auto-generated
Frequently asked questions about Codesummary
How do I set up CodeSummary for my GitHub repository?
Head to dashboard.codesummary.io and create an account with your email. Once in, click the button to connect your GitHub account and authorize the app. CodeSummary needs access to read your repositories to analyze the code and permission to create pull requests to submit documentation updates. Then select which repositories you want documented—you can select specific repos one by one, connect an entire organization, or mix and match. Once selected, CodeSummary analyzes your codebase and generates documentation automatically. Every time you push code, the documentation updates.
What documentation does CodeSummary generate from my code?
CodeSummary produces a versioned documentation set including an architecture overview, API references, component and module breakdowns, setup guides, and AI-agent context files. It reads the actual code—not just the README—but the whole thing. The output is organized, cross-linked, and written to be read by a human who has never seen the codebase before. For products with multiple repos, it stitches them into one coherent docs site that reads like it was written as a whole.
How does the MCP endpoint work for AI agents?
Every CodeSummary site ships with a Model Context Protocol endpoint at /products/<id>/mcp. Wire it up once in Claude Code (claude mcp add codesummary <url>), Cursor/VS Code/Zed (add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json), or ChatGPT desktop (Settings → Connectors → Add MCP server). Agents can then call ask() for grounded, cited answers about your product; orient() for a ranked plan of files and code relevant to their task; and lookup() for symbol definitions and call sites in milliseconds. Public sites don't need a token; team-only sites mint a per-token URL from the dashboard.
What happens when I edit a documentation page that AI later wants to change?
When you edit a page, the AI never silently overwrites it. The next regeneration parks its version in the review queue with a diff and waits for you to accept, reject, or merge. You can edit any page directly in the dashboard with the real editor. If a later generation wants to change a page you've already edited, that change goes into the review queue. You decide what gets accepted, and your hand-written prose is protected from the robot's enthusiasm. Per-page locking is also available.
Can I use CodeSummary for private repositories?
Yes. Private repos stay private when you connect them. New sites start team-only by default—nothing becomes public until you decide it should be. You can choose three visibility modes: Public (anyone with URL, indexed by search engines), Unlisted (anyone with URL but not indexed), or Private (authorized access only). For private docs, team-only sites mint a per-token URL from the dashboard so you can give different agents different scopes. Revoke a token from the same UI and access cuts off instantly. OAuth grants and access tokens are scoped to a single site or repo.
What is a 'product' in CodeSummary and how does it differ from a repo?
A product in CodeSummary is a customer-facing doc base synthesized from one or more repos. Your API might live in one repo, your web app in another, your worker in a third—a product stitches them into one coherent docs site that reads like it was written as a whole. Pick an archetype when creating one and the output shapes itself accordingly: Product guides (end-user how-tos for SaaS), API reference (endpoints, auth, request/response shapes), Full SaaS (guides and API reference under one roof), or Marketing site (positioning, no tradecraft). The free plan includes up to 2 products.
How does CodeSummary handle documentation updates when I push code?
Install the GitHub App and every push to main triggers a regeneration in the workspace. Generation is incremental: when you push changes, CodeSummary updates the affected docs rather than regenerating everything from scratch. It won't quietly overwrite sections you've edited by hand. Every merge to main regenerates the docs, so every agent on the team answers from what actually shipped. Answers reflect main as of the last push, not anyone's local state. Full and incremental regeneration occurs on every merge.
What branding customization options does CodeSummary provide?
Before publishing, you can make the docs yours by setting a logo for light and dark mode, an accent color that runs through links, headings, and the active nav, a header call-to-action button, and even custom CSS if you want to go further. There's a live preview that flips between light and dark so you see exactly what a visitor sees before anything goes public. On paid plans, you get your docs on your own domain with automatic SSL, your logo and colors, and a private mode that keeps team knowledge behind sign-in.
Is there a free tier and what does it include?
Yes, the free plan gets you: unlimited repos, up to two products, automatic generation, the editor and review queue, public hosting with your branding, and an MCP endpoint on the shared domain. On the free plan you publish a public doc site at a real URL and share it with anyone—your customers, users, and open-source community read your docs at a clean address with your branding, kept current by your pushes. No credit card required, no trial countdown. The point of the free tier isn't a crippled demo; it's a real, publishable, branded doc site.
What AI agents and tools work with CodeSummary's MCP endpoint?
CodeSummary works with every major MCP client: Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, and ChatGPT desktop. The MCP endpoint uses standard HTTP transport. In Claude Code, run 'claude mcp add codesummary <url>'. In Cursor/VS Code/Zed, add the server to ~/.cursor/mcp.json with the URL. In ChatGPT desktop, go to Settings → Connectors → Add MCP server and paste the URL. The endpoint provides ask() for grounded answers, orient() for file rankings and plans, lookup() for symbol definitions, plus full-text search and page fetch across every doc, and the OpenAPI spec when the site has one.