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

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 Signal outdated context - When curating updates that replace existing knowledge, explicitly tell ByteRover to clean up:

   brv curate "OUTDATED: Previous auth used sessions.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.

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