diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e1cfd79..79d2128 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -409,6 +409,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 3.0.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bstr"
+version = "1.13.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6bb31b46c14244e20ee9984b11bf5c992b91fb6939fea616e3512c8baecdbe5f"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "serde_core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "built"
 version = "0.8.1"
@@ -1403,6 +1413,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "url",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "globset"
+version = "0.4.20"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "07c34a9410465b45bd9787443bc7370f37735bad04b0f0cd57ff1a3186c98988"
+dependencies = [
+ "aho-corasick",
+ "bstr",
+ "log",
+ "regex-automata",
+ "regex-syntax",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "h2"
 version = "0.4.19"
@@ -1763,6 +1786,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "icu_properties",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ignore"
+version = "0.4.33"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "00b69833ed729dc5aa7d19541d96d6cf8e9137194207a04916d658e43168402f"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-deque",
+ "globset",
+ "log",
+ "memchr",
+ "regex-automata",
+ "same-file",
+ "walkdir",
+ "winapi-util",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "image"
 version = "0.25.10"
@@ -2114,6 +2153,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "fastembed",
  "futures-util",
  "git2",
+ "ignore",
  "image",
  "redb",
  "reqwest 0.13.5",
@@ -3356,6 +3396,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tempfile",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "same-file"
+version = "1.0.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "93fc1dc3aaa9bfed95e02e6eadabb4baf7e3078b0bd1b4d7b6b0b68378900502"
+dependencies = [
+ "winapi-util",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "schannel"
 version = "0.1.29"
@@ -4521,6 +4570,16 @@ version = "0.9.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0b928f33d975fc6ad9f86c8f283853ad26bdd5b10b7f1542aa2fa15e2289105a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "walkdir"
+version = "2.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "29790946404f91d9c5d06f9874efddea1dc06c5efe94541a7d6863108e3a5e4b"
+dependencies = [
+ "same-file",
+ "winapi-util",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "want"
 version = "0.3.1"
@@ -4686,6 +4745,15 @@ version = "0.4.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ac3b87c63620426dd9b991e5ce0329eff545bccbbb34f3be09ff6fb6ab51b7b6"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "winapi-util"
+version = "0.1.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c2a7b1c03c876122aa43f3020e6c3c3ee5c05081c9a00739faf7503aeba10d22"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys 0.61.2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "winapi-x86_64-pc-windows-gnu"
 version = "0.4.0"
diff --git a/server/Cargo.toml b/server/Cargo.toml
index 8551b08..2827363 100644
--- a/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ tree-sitter-java = "0.23.5"
 tree-sitter-c = "0.24.2"
 tree-sitter-cpp = "0.23.4"
 tree-sitter-go = "0.25.0"
+ignore = "0.4.33"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 chrono = "0.4.45"
diff --git a/server/src/indexer.rs b/server/src/indexer.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..049445a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/indexer.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+use crate::state::MemoryState;
+use crate::models::Snippet;
+use crate::embedding::generate_embeddings_async;
+use ignore::WalkBuilder;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use tree_sitter::{Node, Parser};
+
+pub async fn start_background_indexer(state: Arc<MemoryState>) {
+    // Determine workspace root. Since mcp-memory is usually run from its project root,
+    // current_dir is a good default for the git repository.
+    let workspace_root = std::env::current_dir().unwrap_or_else(|_| state.base_dir.clone());
+
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        tracing::info!("Starting background indexer in {:?}", workspace_root);
+
+        let walker = WalkBuilder::new(&workspace_root)
+            .hidden(true)
+            .git_ignore(true)
+            .build();
+
+        let mut files_to_process = Vec::new();
+        for result in walker {
+            match result {
+                Ok(entry) => {
+                    if entry.file_type().map_or(false, |ft| ft.is_file()) {
+                        let path = entry.path().to_path_buf();
+                        let ext = path.extension().and_then(|e| e.to_str()).unwrap_or("");
+                        if ["rs", "ts", "js", "jsx", "tsx", "py", "java", "c", "cpp", "go"].contains(&ext) {
+                            files_to_process.push(path);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    tracing::warn!("Error walking directory: {}", e);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        let idx = state.get_search_index();
+
+        for file_path in files_to_process {
+            if let Ok(content) = std::fs::read_to_string(&file_path) {
+                let ext = file_path.extension().and_then(|e| e.to_str()).unwrap_or("");
+                let language = match ext {
+                    "rs" => tree_sitter_rust::LANGUAGE,
+                    "ts" | "tsx" | "js" | "jsx" => tree_sitter_typescript::LANGUAGE_TYPESCRIPT,
+                    "py" => tree_sitter_python::LANGUAGE,
+                    "java" => tree_sitter_java::LANGUAGE,
+                    "c" | "h" => tree_sitter_c::LANGUAGE,
+                    "cpp" | "cc" | "cxx" | "hpp" | "hxx" => tree_sitter_cpp::LANGUAGE,
+                    "go" => tree_sitter_go::LANGUAGE,
+                    _ => continue,
+                };
+
+                let mut parser = Parser::new();
+                if parser.set_language(&language.into()).is_err() {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                if let Some(tree) = parser.parse(&content, None) {
+                    let mut chunks = Vec::new();
+                    extract_chunks(tree.root_node(), &content, &mut chunks, ext);
+
+                    for (name, code, desc) in chunks {
+                        // Generate embedding
+                        if let Ok(mut emb) = generate_embeddings_async(vec![code.clone()]).await {
+                            let embedding = emb.pop();
+                            
+                            let file_name = file_path.file_name().unwrap_or_default().to_string_lossy();
+                            let snippet_name = format!("{}:{}", file_name, name);
+                            
+                            let snippet = Snippet {
+                                name: snippet_name.to_string(),
+                                language: ext.to_string(),
+                                code: code.clone(),
+                                description: format!("{} in {}", desc, file_path.display()),
+                                updated_at: std::time::SystemTime::now()
+                                    .duration_since(std::time::UNIX_EPOCH)
+                                    .unwrap_or_default()
+                                    .as_secs(),
+                                embedding,
+                            };
+
+                            state.snippets.modify(|snippets| {
+                                // Prevent duplicates if already indexed
+                                if !snippets.iter().any(|s| s.name == snippet.name) {
+                                    snippets.push(snippet.clone());
+                                }
+                            });
+
+                            let _ = idx.index_snippet(&snippet).await;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        tracing::info!("Background indexing completed.");
+    });
+}
+
+fn extract_chunks(node: Node, code: &str, chunks: &mut Vec<(String, String, String)>, ext: &str) {
+    let kind = node.kind();
+    let is_structural = matches!(
+        kind,
+        "function_item"
+            | "function_declaration"
+            | "function_definition"
+            | "method_definition"
+            | "struct_item"
+            | "class_declaration"
+    );
+
+    if is_structural {
+        let code_text = node.utf8_text(code.as_bytes()).unwrap_or("").to_string();
+
+        let mut name = "unknown".to_string();
+        let mut cursor = node.walk();
+        for child in node.children(&mut cursor) {
+            let child_kind = child.kind();
+            if child_kind == "identifier" || child_kind == "name" || child_kind == "type_identifier" {
+                name = child.utf8_text(code.as_bytes()).unwrap_or("unknown").to_string();
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        let desc = format!("{} AST node", kind);
+        chunks.push((name, code_text, desc));
+    } else {
+        let mut cursor = node.walk();
+        for child in node.named_children(&mut cursor) {
+            extract_chunks(child, code, chunks, ext);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/server/src/main.rs b/server/src/main.rs
index 8df44e7..fa8a54c 100644
--- a/server/src/main.rs
+++ b/server/src/main.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ mod models;
 mod router;
 mod search;
 pub mod embedding;
+pub mod indexer;
 mod state;
 mod store;
 mod tools;
@@ -131,6 +132,10 @@ async fn run_server(state: Arc<MemoryState>) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::E
         state_for_index.rebuild_index().await;
         tracing::info!("Index rebuild complete.");
     });
+    
+    // Start the global codebase indexer
+    crate::indexer::start_background_indexer(Arc::clone(&state)).await;
+
     tokio::spawn(index_committer_worker(Arc::clone(&state)));
     tokio::spawn(ttl_sweeper_worker(Arc::clone(&state)));
     crate::clipboard_watcher::spawn_watcher(Arc::clone(&state));