Sourcebot

Sourcebot is a self-hosted tool for searching and navigating enterprise codebases. It searches across repositories and branches with regular expressions, filters, boolean logic and suggestions, and supports symbol navigation such as go to definition and find references. Its MCP server gives coding agents tools to search code, read files and resolve symbols across an organization. Supported code hosts include GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Gerrit and Gitea, including cloud and self-managed deployments. Ask Sourcebot connectors communicate over MCP and use the connected user's permission boundaries; documented examples include Linear and Jira. Ask Sourcebot requires at least one configured language model provider, with documented providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, Vertex and Mistral. The software deploys as a single Docker container on customer infrastructure, on-premises or in the cloud. The company says code, indexes, queries and AI inputs and outputs stay in the customer's environment. Basic is free. Pro costs $20 a month per user and offers a 14-day free trial.

Sourcebot combines cross-repository search and code navigation with self-hosted deployment and agent context tools. Teams considering Ask Sourcebot need to configure a language model provider; Pro also carries a per-user monthly price.

Sourcebot is suited to organizations that want to search and understand code across repositories while hosting the tool on their own infrastructure. Its agent context tools also suit teams using coding agents, provided they configure a language model provider.

Sourcebot is a self-hosted workspace for searching and understanding code spread across large organizations. It fits engineering teams that need repository-wide discovery and permission-aware context for coding agents. Basic is a capable free search tier; agent assistance, navigation and administrative controls make Pro the practical paid choice.

Overview

Sourcebot combines repository and branch search, code browsing and agent-oriented context in a deployment that runs on your infrastructure. It connects to GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Gerrit and Gitea, supporting both cloud and self-managed code hosts. That coverage suits organizations with mixed hosting arrangements better than a tool tied to one provider.

Deployment is deliberately self-managed: the product ships as one Docker container for on-premises or cloud infrastructure. The company says code, indexes, search queries and AI inputs and outputs remain inside the customer environment. When permission syncing is configured, context requests follow repository permissions from the connected code host. This is a strong security and control model, but teams must accept responsibility for operating and configuring the service rather than choosing a ready-made hosted product.

Key features

Search and navigation

Search covers repositories and branches and supports regular expressions, filters, boolean logic and search suggestions. Basic also provides Git history and blame, a file explorer and a code viewer. Those capabilities make the free tier useful for developers tracing changes or locating code across an organization, not merely a limited demonstration.

Symbol-level navigation adds go-to-definition and find-references workflows. Because this capability starts with Pro, teams that need structural code investigation must budget for the paid plan rather than relying on Basic’s text search and browsing.

Agent context and connectors

Sourcebot’s MCP server gives coding agents tools to search code, read files and resolve symbols across repositories. Ask Sourcebot connectors also communicate over MCP and use the connected user’s permission boundaries; documented connector examples include Linear and Jira. Ask Sourcebot requires at least one configured language-model provider, with documented options including OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, Vertex and Mistral. That requirement gives organizations provider choice, while adding model configuration work before agent features can be used.

Pricing

Basic

Basic costs nothing. It includes code search, regex, symbol and filtered search, Git history and blame, a file explorer and code viewer, a single self-hosted Docker image and community support. It is the right starting point for individuals or teams needing cross-repository search without agent workflows. It does not include Ask Sourcebot, agent code context, code navigation, SSO, audit logs, permission syncing or organization management.

Pro

Pro costs $20 a month, billed per user / month, and offers a 14-day free trial. It includes everything in Basic plus Ask Sourcebot, agent code context, code navigation, SSO, audit logs, permission syncing, organization management and onboarding support. Pro fits teams putting coding agents into daily work or requiring centralized identity and permission controls. The per-user term means costs rise with every additional seat.

Enterprise

Enterprise uses custom pricing and includes everything in Pro, a dedicated Slack support channel, a dedicated support engineer and SLAs, a custom MSA and an offline license. It is aimed at organizations that need contractual terms, offline deployment or higher-touch support; smaller teams are better served by Basic or Pro.

Platforms

Sourcebot is offered through web and API interfaces and as self-hosted software. Its single-container deployment can run on infrastructure managed on-premises or in the cloud. The platform list favors organizations prepared to operate their own installation rather than users seeking a native desktop or mobile app.

Who it's for

Choose Sourcebot if your organization maintains complex code across several repositories or code-hosting systems and wants search, navigation and agent context inside its own environment. It is particularly well suited to teams with strict data boundaries, permission-sensitive repositories and an existing Docker-based operating model. It is a weaker fit for individuals who want a hosted, zero-configuration search service or who do not want to configure a language-model provider for Ask Sourcebot.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Cross-repository and cross-branch search with regex, filters, boolean logic and suggestions supports precise investigation.
• Support for six major code hosts, including self-managed installations, accommodates heterogeneous enterprise infrastructure.
• Self-hosting keeps code and AI-related data in the customer environment, with permission syncing available on Pro.
• MCP tools give coding agents repository search, file reading and symbol resolution rather than only conversational answers.
• Basic provides meaningful search, history and browsing at no charge.

Cons

• Self-hosted Docker deployment puts setup and operational responsibility on the customer.
• Ask Sourcebot cannot be used until a language-model provider is configured.
• Agent context, code navigation and organization controls are gated to Pro at $20 per user per month.
• Enterprise pricing is custom, so larger deployments need a sales process to establish cost.

Alternatives

For a broad directory of options, browse Code Search Tools. Chromium is a free, open-source browser available on Android, iOS, desktop platforms and as an extension, but it is not presented as a dedicated enterprise code-search system. ast-grep is a free option spanning API, extension, desktop and web platforms when you want that distribution instead. sqry is free, MIT-licensed and runs locally on Linux, macOS and Windows, making it a straightforward local alternative. Chatterbox TTS is free, self-hosted open-source software for speech models rather than code search. Code Fundi is a freemium API, extension and web product whose Dev plan costs $21 a month and includes private-repository indexes and multi-codebase search/chat. Code Search offers a free Community plan with unlimited users, full-text search, find-and-replace, CLI and MCP access, and SCIP code intelligence across several platforms. GNU GLOBAL is free GPL software for Linux, macOS, Windows and self-hosted use. LXR Cross Referencer is free, open-source and self-installed for Linux, self-hosted and web deployments.

Verdict

Sourcebot is a strong choice for engineering organizations that need permission-aware code search and agent context while keeping data on infrastructure they control. Its main reason to choose it is the combination of broad host support, symbol navigation and MCP tooling in one self-hosted deployment. Look elsewhere if you want a hosted service with no operational setup, or if configuring a model provider and paying per Pro user outweigh the value of agent features.