byterover

ByteRover Context Tree

A project-level knowledge repository that persists across sessions. Use it to avoid re-discovering patterns, conventions, and decisions.

Why Use ByteRover

• Query before working: Get existing knowledge about patterns, conventions, and past decisions before implementing
• Curate after learning: Capture insights, decisions, and bug fixes so future sessions start informed

Quick Reference

Command	When	Example
brv query "question"	Before starting work	brv query "How is auth implemented?"
brv curate "context" -f file	After completing work	brv curate "JWT 24h expiry" -f auth.ts
brv status	To check prerequisites	brv status

When to Use

Query when you need to understand something:

• "How does X work in this codebase?"
• "What patterns exist for Y?"
• "Are there conventions for Z?"

Curate when you learned or created something valuable:

• Implemented a feature using specific patterns
• Fixed a bug and found root cause
• Made an architecture decision

Curate Quality

Context must be specific and actionable:

# Good - specific, explains where and why
brv curate "Auth uses JWT 24h expiry, tokens in httpOnly cookies" -f src/auth.ts

# Bad - too vague
brv curate "Fixed auth"

Note: Context argument must come before -f flags. Max 5 files.

Best Practices

1. Break down large contexts - Run multiple brv curate commands for complex topics rather than one massive context. Smaller chunks are easier to retrieve and update.

2. Let ByteRover read files - Don't read files yourself before curating. Use -f flags to let ByteRover read them directly:

   # Good - ByteRover reads the files
   brv curate "Auth implementation details" -f src/auth.ts -f src/middleware/jwt.ts
   
   # Wasteful - reading files twice
   # [agent reads files] then brv curate "..." -f same-files
   

3. Be specific in queries - Queries block your workflow. Use precise questions to get faster, more relevant results:

   # Good - specific
   brv query "What validation library is used for API request schemas?"
   
   # Bad - vague, slow
   brv query "How is validation done?"
   

4. Signal outdated context - When curating updates that replace existing knowledge, explicitly tell ByteRover to clean up:

   brv curate "OUTDATED: Previous auth used sessions. NEW: Now uses JWT with refresh tokens. Clean up old session-based auth context." -f src/auth.ts
   

5. Specify structure expectations - Guide ByteRover on how to organize the knowledge:

   # Specify topics/domains
   brv curate "Create separate topics for: 1) JWT validation, 2) refresh token flow, 3) logout handling" -f src/auth.ts
   
   # Specify detail level
   brv curate "Document the error handling patterns in detail (at least 30 lines covering all error types)" -f src/errors/
   

Prerequisites

Run brv status first. If errors occur, the agent cannot fix them—instruct the user to take action in their brv terminal. See TROUBLESHOOTING.md for details.

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See also: WORKFLOWS.md for detailed patterns and examples, TROUBLESHOOTING.md for error handling