Semble — Code Search for Agents (MCP + CLI)

Practical Notes

• Quant: the README headline says it uses ~98% fewer tokens than grep+read on average.
• Quant: the sample savings table shows ~58.4k tokens saved (95%) “Today” and ~1.2M tokens (89%) “All time”.

Main

Two reliable integration patterns:

1. CLI-first: use semble search to get narrow chunks, then open full files only when needed.
2. Agent workflows: copy the README’s “Code Search” snippet into AGENTS.md so agents consistently prefer Semble over full-file reads.

If you run Semble as MCP, keep your token budget stable: the agent should query Semble for candidates, then request full files only for the final few hits.

FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or GPU? A: No—README describes CPU-only local runs with no external services required.

Q: How do I measure impact? A: Use semble savings and compare before/after over a week of real work.

Q: When does grep still matter? A: Exact string checks and exhaustive literal matches; Semble is for fast semantic discovery.