Skip to content
HN On Hacker News ↗

GitHub - Kaelio/ktx: ktx is the context layer for analytics agents

▲ 93 points 37 comments by lucamrtl 3mo ago HN discussion ↗

Pangram verdict · v3.3

We believe that this document is fully AI-generated

94 %

AI likelihood · overall

AI
0% human-written 100% AI-generated
SEGMENTS · HUMAN 0 of 4
SEGMENTS · AI 4 of 4
WORD COUNT 937
PEAK AI % 99% · §4
Analyzed
May 28
backend: pangram/v3.3
Segments scanned
4 windows
avg 234 words each
Distribution
0 / 100%
human / AI fraction
Verdict
AI
Pangram v3.3

Article text · 937 words · 4 segments analyzed

Human AI-generated
§1 AI · 99%

Quickstart · CLI Reference · Agent Setup · Slack

ktx is a self-improving context layer that teaches agents how to query your warehouse accurately - from approved metric definitions, joinable columns, and business knowledge it builds and maintains for you. NoteRun ktx with your own LLM API keys or a Claude Pro/Max subscription. No extra usage billing from ktx.

Why ktx General-purpose agents struggle on data tasks. They re-explore your warehouse on every question, invent their own metric logic, and return numbers that don't match approved definitions. Traditional semantic layers don't fix this. They demand constant manual upkeep and don't absorb the rest of your company's knowledge. ktx does both, automatically:

Learns from company knowledge. Ingests wiki content, organizes it, removes duplicates, and flags contradictions for human review. Maps the data stack. Samples tables, captures metadata and usage patterns, detects joinable columns, and annotates sources so agents write better queries. Builds a semantic layer. Combines raw tables and high-level metrics through a join graph that automatically resolves chasm and fan traps, so agents fetch metrics declaratively instead of rewriting canonical SQL each time. Serves agents at execution. Exposes CLI and MCP tools with combined full-text and semantic search across wiki and semantic-layer entities.

How ktx compares

General-purpose agent Traditional semantic layer ktx

Builds warehouse context automatically — — ✓

Detects joinable columns + resolves fan/chasm traps — Manual ✓

Approved, reusable metric definitions — ✓ ✓

Absorbs wiki / Notion / team knowledge — — ✓

Flags contradictions across sources — — ✓

Ships CLI + MCP for agent execution Partial — ✓

Read-only by design n/a n/a ✓

Who is ktx for Use ktx if you:

Want agents like Claude Code,

§2 AI · 81%

Codex, Cursor, or OpenCode to query your warehouse with approved metric definitions Have business knowledge scattered across dbt, Looker, Metabase, Notion, and team wikis Need agents to reuse canonical SQL instead of inventing it on every prompt

Skip ktx if you:

You don't have a SQL warehouse - ktx sits on top of one You only need one ad-hoc query - psql or a notebook will do

Works with PostgreSQL, Snowflake, BigQuery, ClickHouse, MySQL, SQL Server, and SQLite. Integrates with dbt, MetricFlow, LookML, Looker, Metabase, and Notion. Quick Start npm install -g @kaelio/ktx ktx setup ktx status ktx setup creates or resumes a local ktx project, configures providers and connections, builds context, and installs agent integration. Example ktx status after setup: ktx project: /home/user/analytics Project ready: yes LLM ready: yes (claude-sonnet-4-6) Embeddings ready: yes (text-embedding-3-small) Databases configured: yes (warehouse) Context sources configured: yes (dbt_main) ktx context built: yes Agent integration ready: yes (codex:project)

TipAlready using an agent? Ask Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or OpenCode from your project directory: Run npx skills add Kaelio/ktx --skill ktx and use the ktx skill to install and configure ktx in this project.

ImportantIf ktx status prints ktx mcp start --project-dir ..., run it before opening your agent client.

First commands

Command Purpose

ktx setup Create, resume, or update a ktx project

ktx status Check project readiness

ktx ingest Build context for every configured connection

ktx sl "revenue" Search semantic sources

ktx wiki "refund policy" Search local wiki pages

ktx mcp start Start the MCP server for agent clients

See the CLI Reference for every command, flag, and option.

§3 AI · 99%

Project Layout my-project/ ├── ktx.yaml # Project configuration ├── semantic-layer/<connection-id>/ # YAML semantic sources ├── wiki/global/ # Shared business context ├── wiki/user/<user-id>/ # User-scoped notes ├── raw-sources/<connection-id>/ # Ingest artifacts and reports └── .ktx/ # Local state and secrets, git-ignored

Commit ktx.yaml, semantic-layer/, and wiki/. Keep .ktx/ local. Project resolution defaults to KTX_PROJECT_DIR, then the nearest ktx.yaml, then the current directory. Pass --project-dir <path> when scripting. FAQ

Does ktx send my schema or query results to a hosted service? No. ktx runs locally. The only data leaving your machine is what you send to the LLM provider you configured. Which LLM backends are supported? Anthropic API, Google Vertex AI, AI Gateway, and the local Claude Code session through the Claude Agent SDK. See LLM configuration. How is ktx different from a dbt or MetricFlow semantic layer? ktx ingests those layers and combines them with raw-table introspection and wiki content. Agents get one searchable surface instead of three disconnected ones - and ktx flags contradictions across sources. Does ktx need a running server? There is no hosted service. The local MCP daemon runs on demand via ktx mcp start when an agent client needs it. Is my warehouse safe? Yes. Connections are read-only - ktx never writes to your database.

Docs

Quickstart The Context Layer Building Context CLI Reference Agent Quickstart Community & Support

Community

Slack — ask questions, share what you're building, and chat with maintainers. GitHub Issues — report bugs and request features. Contributing — set up the repo, run tests, and open a PR.

§4 AI · 99%

Development git clone https://github.com/kaelio/ktx.git cd ktx pnpm install uv sync --all-groups pnpm run build pnpm run check ktx is a pnpm + uv workspace:

Path Purpose

packages/cli TypeScript CLI and published npm package source

packages/cli/src/context Core context engine

packages/cli/src/llm LLM and embedding providers

packages/cli/src/connectors Database scan connectors

python/ktx-sl Semantic-layer query planning

python/ktx-daemon Portable compute service

Local development CLI: pnpm run setup:dev pnpm run link:dev ktx-dev --help Useful checks: pnpm run type-check pnpm run test pnpm run dead-code uv run pytest -q Telemetry ktx collects anonymous usage telemetry from interactive CLI runs to improve setup, command reliability, and data-agent workflows. No file paths, hostnames, SQL, schema names, error messages, or argv are recorded. See Telemetry for the event catalog and opt-out options. License ktx is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE. Star History