I Built RepoLens: A CLI-Based Tool That Transforms Repositories into AI-Ready Context Packs

Desta Legesse Wubishet — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:06:31 +0000

Over the past year, I've spent a lot of time working with large language models to understand, document, and analyze codebases. One problem kept appearing: modern repositories are simply too large and noisy for AI tools to consume effectively.

Repositories contain thousands of files, generated artifacts, dependencies, and sometimes even secrets that should never be shared with external systems. Preparing a repository for AI assistance often becomes a manual and repetitive task.

So I built RepoLens.

RepoLens is a CLI tool that analyzes repositories, scrubs secrets, optimizes token usage, and packages projects into AI-ready context packs for tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

What RepoLens Does

RepoLens provides a simple workflow:

Analyze a repository.
Remove unnecessary files and directories.
Detect and scrub secrets.
Optimize the content for token efficiency.
Export an AI-ready context pack.

Key capabilities include:

Repository analysis
Secret detection and redaction
Token optimization
AI-ready context packaging
Support for multiple programming languages
Command-line interface for automation and scripting

Why I Built It

I am a mathematics lecturer and I build software products independently in my spare time.

As I worked with AI systems, I found myself repeatedly preparing repositories before sharing them with LLMs. I wanted a tool that could automate this process and make AI-assisted development more efficient.

RepoLens started as a small utility for my own workflow but gradually evolved into a standalone product.

Building with Limited Resources

RepoLens was built while working full-time and with limited resources. Building products independently forces you to move quickly, learn continuously, and focus on solving real problems.

One thing I have learned is that useful technology can be built from anywhere. You do not need a large team or significant funding to start building products that people around the world can use.

What's Next?

RepoLens is still evolving. Some areas I am actively exploring include:

Incremental context packs
Additional language support
Better token optimization strategies
Improved repository visualization
Integrations with AI development workflows

I'd Love Your Feedback

If you regularly work with AI coding assistants, I'd love to hear:

How do you prepare repositories for AI tools?
What would make a context-packaging tool more useful?
Which AI workflows should RepoLens support next?

RepoLens is part of my broader effort at DestLabs to build useful software products for developers, creators, and businesses.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your feedback!

GitHub: [https://github.com/DestLabs/RepoLens/releases]