Hindsight Mcp

hindsight-mcp

An MCP server for AI-assisted coding that leverages development history.

Overview

hindsight-mcp consolidates development data (git logs, test results, and GitHub Copilot sessions) into a searchable SQLite database, making it accessible to AI assistants through MCP tool calls in VS Code.

Key Features:

• Full-text search across commits and Copilot conversations
• Track test results linked to specific commits
• Activity summaries and timeline views
• Automatic git and Copilot session ingestion

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• VS Code v1.99+ with GitHub Copilot
• cargo-nextest (for test ingestion): cargo install cargo-nextest

Installation

cargo install hindsight-mcp

Configure VS Code

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "servers": {
    "hindsight": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "hindsight-mcp",
      "args": ["--workspace", "${workspaceFolder}"]
    }
  }
}

Verify Setup

1. Open VS Code Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run "MCP: List Servers"
3. Confirm hindsight is listed
4. In Copilot Chat, switch to Agent mode
5. Ask: "What have I been working on recently?"

That's it! Copilot will use hindsight tools to answer questions about your development history.

MCP Tools

| Tool | Purpose | Example Prompt | |------|---------|----------------| | hindsight_timeline | Chronological activity view | "Show recent commits and test runs" | | hindsight_search | Full-text search | "Find commits about authentication" | | hindsight_failing_tests | Query test failures | "What tests are failing?" | | hindsight_activity_summary | Aggregate stats | "Summarise my week" | | hindsight_commit_details | Commit info with tests | "Details for commit abc123" | | hindsight_ingest | Trigger data refresh | "Refresh development history" |

Tool Arguments Reference

hindsight_timeline

• limit (int): Max events, default 50
• workspace (string): Filter by path

hindsight_search

• query (string): Search query (required)
• source (string): "all", "commits", or "messages"
• limit (int): Max results, default 20

hindsightfailingtests

• limit (int): Max tests, default 50
• workspace (string): Filter by path
• commit (string): Filter by SHA

hindsightactivitysummary

• days (int): Days to summarise, default 7

hindsightcommitdetails

• sha (string): Commit SHA (required)

hindsight_ingest

• workspace (string): Path to ingest (required)
• source (string): "git", "copilot", or "all"
• incremental (bool): Only new data, default true
• limit (int): Max items

Test Ingestion

Run tests and automatically ingest results:

# Run all tests and ingest
hindsight-mcp test

# Test specific package
hindsight-mcp test -p my-crate

# Preview without writing to database
hindsight-mcp test --dry-run

The test command automatically:

• Spawns cargo nextest with correct flags
• Auto-detects the current git commit
• Ingests results to the database

CI / Advanced Usage

For CI pipelines or custom nextest invocations:

# Using stdin mode
NEXTEST_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBTEST_JSON=1 cargo nextest run \
  --message-format libtest-json 2>/dev/null | \
  hindsight-mcp test --stdin

# Using ingest command with explicit commit
NEXTEST_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBTEST_JSON=1 cargo nextest run \
  --message-format libtest-json 2>/dev/null | \
  hindsight-mcp ingest --tests --commit $(git rev-parse HEAD)

Data Sources

| Source | Data Collected | |--------|----------------| | Git | Commits (SHA, author, message, timestamp, parents) | | Tests | Run metadata, outcomes, durations, failure output | | Copilot | Chat sessions, prompts, responses, attached files |

Git and Copilot data are ingested automatically. Test results require running hindsight-mcp test.

CLI Reference

hindsight-mcp [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Commands:
  ingest    Ingest data from various sources
  test      Run tests and ingest results

Options:
  -d, --database    Database path [default: ~/.hindsight/hindsight.db]
  -w, --workspace   Workspace path [default: current directory]
  -v, --verbose           Debug logging
  -q, --quiet             Errors only
      --skip-init         Skip database init
  -h, --help              Print help
  -V, --version           Print version

Test Subcommand Options

hindsight-mcp test [OPTIONS] [-- ...]

Options:
  -p, --package      Package(s) to test
      --bin          Binary(ies) to run
  -E, --filter      Filter expression
      --stdin             Read from stdin
      --dry-run           Preview only
      --no-commit         Do not link to commit
      --commit       Explicit commit SHA
      --show-output       Show test output

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | HINDSIGHT_DATABASE | Database path | | HINDSIGHT_WORKSPACE | Default workspace |

Database Location

| Platform | Default Path | |----------|--------------| | macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/hindsight/hindsight.db | | Linux | ~/.local/share/hindsight/hindsight.db | | Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\hindsight\hindsight.db |

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | Server does not start | Check binary path; run with --verbose | | No data showing | Run hindsight_ingest tool via Copilot | | Log interference | Use --quiet in production |

Development

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/Rbfinch/hindsight-mcp.git
cd hindsight-mcp
cargo build --release

Running Tests

cargo install cargo-nextest
cargo nextest run --workspace

Workspace Structure

hindsight/
├── crates/
│   ├── hindsight-mcp/      # MCP server binary
│   ├── hindsight-git/      # Git log processing
│   ├── hindsight-tests/    # Test result processing
│   └── hindsight-copilot/  # Copilot session parsing

Fuzzing

cd crates/hindsight-tests
cargo +nightly fuzz run fuzz_nextest_run

cd crates/hindsight-copilot
cargo +nightly fuzz run fuzz_session_json

License

MIT

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Rbfinch
• Source: Rbfinch/hindsight-mcp
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://github.com/Rbfinch/hindsight-mcp

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.