Carto is a CLI tool that maps your codebase so AI coding tools stop guessing. It auto-generates and maintains an AGENTS.md file in your project root, extracting routes, models, functions, dependencies, environment variables, and import graphs. Every time you save a file or commit, Carto updates the context file in milliseconds, ensuring AI assistants like Cursor, Copilot, Claude, and Codex always have accurate, up-to-date project facts.
Key features:
- Automatic extraction: Detects API routes (FastAPI, Express, Next.js), data models (Pydantic, Prisma), function signatures, dependencies, env vars, and import graphs.
- Live updates: Git hook syncs on every commit; optional
carto watchfor real-time updates on file save. - Impact analysis:
carto impact <file>shows blast radius — which files and routes depend on a given file. - Security: Never writes secrets;
.cartoignoreblocks sensitive files; sanitizer strips API key patterns. - Manual sections preserved: Only rewrites content between
<!-- CARTO:AUTO:START -->and<!-- CARTO:AUTO:END -->markers. - Free & open source: MIT license, no cloud, no telemetry, no paid tiers.
Use cases:
- Developers using AI coding assistants who want accurate project context without manual documentation.
- Teams maintaining large codebases where AI hallucinations about routes, fields, and dependencies waste time.
- Anyone who wants to understand codebase structure quickly via the generated AGENTS.md.
