kuda vs the alternatives
vs grep + re-read every session
| grep/ripgrep | kuda | |
|---|---|---|
| find a symbol | fast, per-query | fast — plus kind + card |
| "what depends on X" | manual, cross-repo pain | one query |
| overall comprehension | none | L0 card in ~1k tokens |
| freshness | always current | provenance-checked |
| doc/comment mentions | same grep | unified refs --docs |
vs embeddings / RAG
| RAG store | kuda | |
|---|---|---|
| fuzzy semantic lookup | strong | (optional store adapter later) |
| dep graph, provenance | weak | first-class |
| staleness | opaque | explicit sha/hash diff |
| determinism | model-dependent | template = deterministic |
vs LSP alone
| LSP | kuda | |
|---|---|---|
| cross-file refs | strong (per language) | lsp adapter reuses them |
| needs a running server | yes | only for the lsp tier |
| prose/cards | none | L1/L0 artifacts |
| persistence | session-scoped | committed + rebuildable |
Trade-off: kuda adds an index step and committed artifacts — the payoff is that "overall comprehension" becomes a fixed ~1k-token load instead of a per-session expedition.