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Shebe
What it is
Shebe is a free, self-hosted code-search tool for repositories on Linux, macOS, Windows, and through an API. It uses BM25 full-text search locally, without embeddings, a GPU, or a cloud service. Searches can return ranked results and handle phrases, Boolean queries, and literal matches. Fourteen MCP tools support coding agents with searching, repository indexing, file reading, and reference finding. Repositories must be cloned locally before indexing; remote repository URLs are not supported. Shebe searches text rather than semantic meaning, so related words may not match. Prebuilt binaries are listed for Linux x86_64 and macOS on Apple Silicon and Intel, while Linux ARM64 is planned. Windows users need to build from source. Guides cover installation, configuration, troubleshooting, MCP setup, and Zed, with pointers to other editor extensions. The project reports 2 ms query latency in listed benchmarks and is licensed under Apache-2.0.
For and against
For
- Runs locally without cloud services or embeddings
- Supports ranked, phrase, Boolean, and literal searches
- Provides 14 MCP tools for coding agents
- Offers Linux and macOS prebuilt binaries
- Licensed under Apache-2.0
Against
- Repositories must be cloned before indexing
- Remote repository URLs are unsupported
- Semantic similarity search is unavailable
- Windows requires building from source
The verdict
Shebe provides text-based repository search with local processing and extensive MCP tooling. Its lack of semantic matching and Windows build requirement matter when choosing an environment.
Who it suits
Shebe is aimed at developers and AI coding agents working with large local codebases. It fits users who want local indexing and MCP integration rather than cloud search.
Plans and prices
Free
Local code search · Apache-2.0 licensed
Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
On the record
- Integrations
- The installation guide documents MCP setup and a Zed editor configuration, and points to the organization for VS Code and other editor extensions.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The project positions Shebe for developers and AI coding agents working with large codebases and says it complements structural tools such as Serena MCP.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- License
- The GitHub organization lists the Shebe repository under the Apache-2.0 license.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Local processing
- The project describes Shebe as requiring no embeddings, GPU, or cloud service.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Maintainer location
- The GitHub organization profile lists the United States of America.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- MCP tools
- Shebe provides 14 MCP tools for coding agents, including search, repository indexing, file reading, and reference finding.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Performance
- The README reports 2 ms query latency and indexing rates of 1,928 to 11,210 files per second in its listed benchmarks.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Shebe is a local code-search tool that uses BM25 full-text search for code repositories.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Repository requirement
- Repositories must be cloned locally before indexing, and the README says remote repository URLs are not supported.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Search
- Code search supports ranked results, phrases, Boolean queries, and literal matching.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Search limitation
- Shebe does not provide semantic similarity, so a query such as “login” does not match “authenticate.”github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Security
- The README says Shebe runs locally and uses no cloud service; the linked security policy page could not be fetched during this research.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project provides installation, configuration, troubleshooting, and MCP setup guides in its repository.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Supported systems
- Prebuilt binaries are listed for Linux x86_64 and macOS on Apple Silicon and Intel; Linux ARM64 is listed as planned.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
- Windows
- The installation guide says Windows users need to build Shebe from source.github.com · read 4 Oct 2026
