Codebase indexing

Kiro automatically indexes your codebase and documentation to provide intelligent code suggestions, navigation, and context-aware assistance. This guide explains how indexing works and how to manage it.

When indexing occurs

Automatic indexing

Kiro performs indexing automatically in these scenarios:

1. Project Import: When you first open a project in Kiro, it automatically begins indexing all files in your workspace
2. File Changes: When new files are created or added to your project, they are automatically indexed
3. External Changes: When files are modified outside of Kiro (e.g., through git operations), they are re-indexed

Manual indexing

You can trigger indexing manually when needed using the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux).

Available indexing commands

Kiro provides several commands to manage indexing through the Command Palette:

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Codebase indexing

• Kiro: Codebase Force Re-Index: Forces a complete re-indexing of your entire codebase. Use this when:

  • You suspect the index is corrupted or incomplete
  • Major structural changes have been made to your project
  • Kiro's code suggestions seem outdated

• Kiro: Rebuild codebase index: Completely rebuilds the codebase index from scratch. This is more thorough than force re-indexing and should be used when:

  • The index appears severely corrupted
  • You're experiencing persistent issues with code navigation or suggestions

Documentation indexing

• Kiro: Docs Index: Initiates indexing of documentation files in your project
• Kiro: Docs Force Re-Index: Forces a complete re-indexing of all documentation files

Monitoring indexing progress

You can monitor the indexing process through the Kiro Logs panel:

1. Access the Output panel in Kiro
2. Select "Kiro Logs" from the dropdown menu
3. View real-time indexing progress and status updates

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The logs show:

• When indexing starts and completes
• Number of files found and processed
• Progress percentage for large codebases
• Completion time for indexing operations

Indexed content

Kiro indexes various types of content to provide intelligent assistance:

• Source Code: All programming language files in your workspace
• Documentation: Markdown, MDX, and other documentation formats
• Configuration: Project configuration files and manifests
• Dependencies: Package definitions and dependency information

The indexed data enables features like:

• Intelligent code completion
• Cross-file navigation
• Context-aware suggestions
• Documentation lookup
• Code refactoring assistance