hound-search/hound

★ 5,834JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((hound))
    What it does
      Multi-repo code search
      Trigram indexing
      Browser interface
    Setup
      Config file
      Go and npm required
      Docker option
    Supported VCS
      Git default
      Mercurial and SVN
      Local directories
    Editor Plugins
      Vim and Emacs
      Sublime Text
      VS Code

mindmap root((hound)) What it does Multi-repo code search Trigram indexing Browser interface Setup Config file Go and npm required Docker option Supported VCS Git default Mercurial and SVN Local directories Editor Plugins Vim and Emacs Sublime Text VS Code

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Search for a function, variable, or text pattern across dozens of repositories simultaneously from a web browser.

USE CASE 2

Index private Git repositories via SSH keys or local paths and make them searchable across your whole team.

USE CASE 3

Run a lightweight internal code search server on your own machine without sending code to any third party.

USE CASE 4

Search code repositories from inside Vim, Emacs, Sublime Text, or VS Code using community plugins.

Tech stack

JavaScriptGonpm

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Go 1.24 or newer and npm, HTTPS requires running behind a separate proxy like nginx.

License information was not mentioned in the explanation.

In plain English

Hound is a code search engine that lets you search through many code repositories at once from a web browser. It was built for developers and teams who need to find a specific function, variable, or text pattern across large codebases quickly. The underlying search technique uses trigram indexing, which makes searches very fast compared to scanning files line by line. The tool runs as a server on your own machine or a server you control. You give it a configuration file listing the repositories you want indexed, and it keeps local copies up to date by polling for changes every 30 seconds by default. Once the server is running, you open a web interface in your browser and type your search query. Results come back nearly instantly, even across dozens or hundreds of repositories at once. Hound supports several version control systems: Git is the default, but Mercurial, SVN, Bazaar, and local folders all work too. Private repositories are supported through SSH keys, local clones, or local directory paths. The polling interval and the number of repositories indexed at the same time can both be adjusted in the configuration file. A handful of text editors have community-built plugins for Hound, including Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, and Visual Studio Code, so you can run searches without leaving your editor. Setup requires Go (version 1.24 or newer) and npm installed on your system. A container-based setup option is also documented for those who prefer that workflow. Hound is tested on macOS and CentOS and should work on most Unix-like systems. Windows is not officially supported, though the README notes it can compile and run there. The server does not handle HTTPS on its own, so users who need encrypted access typically run it behind a proxy like nginx or Apache.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

How do I set up Hound to index my team's private GitHub repositories? I need it to work with SSH keys for authentication.

Prompt 2

I have Hound running but I want to add a Mercurial repository alongside Git repos. Show me the config file format for multiple VCS types.

Prompt 3

How do I run Hound using Docker instead of installing Go and npm locally? Walk me through the container setup.

Prompt 4

How do I configure Hound's polling interval and tune how many repositories are indexed at the same time?

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