Manage a global directory of reference repositories on your system. Clone complex dependencies once, reference them everywhere.

When working with AI agents (or even just yourself), you often need access to real source code to solve complex problems. Documentation isn't always enough. You need to:

• Explore actual implementation patterns in libraries you depend on
• Find real usage examples in the source code
• Understand type definitions and API details
• Debug by reading the real code

Instead of downloading the same repositories into every project (bloating your disk), depot manages a single shared ~/.vendor directory that you can reference from anywhere.

go install github.com/acoyfellow/depot@latest

This installs to ~/go/bin/depot. Verify it's in your PATH by running depot list.

depot add effect https://github.com/Effect-TS/effect
depot add svelte https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte

Repos are stored in ~/.vendor/ by default. You can customize the path:

depot add alchemy https://github.com/sam-goodwin/alchemy --branch main

depot update

Or update just one:

depot update effect

depot list

Shows which repos are configured and cloned.

depot remove svelte

(The cloned directory remains; only the config entry is removed.)

Once you've cloned repositories, reference them in your CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md:

## Local Reference Sources

- Effect source: `~/.vendor/effect` - Use this to understand Effect types, patterns, and APIs
- Svelte source: `~/.vendor/svelte` - Reference for reactive patterns

Then tell your agent: "Check out ~/.vendor/effect/src to understand how this library works."

Your agent can then search the actual source code for implementation patterns, API usage examples, and detailed type definitions that aren't always clear from documentation alone.