keep-the-why vs com.gitkraken/gk-cli
keep-the-why is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by oliver-zehentleitner. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Copilot CLI: github/awesome-copilot). com.gitkraken/gk-cli is an MCP server published by gitkraken.com. Marketplaces we read that list it: 3 (Official MCP Registry, Claude Code: claude-plugins-official, Claude: knowledge-work-plugins). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-26. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  keep-the-why |  com.gitkraken/gk-cli |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot CLI: github/awesome-copilot | Listed Version: 0.20.3 Forks (GitHub): 14 Stars (GitHub): 231 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 3.1.77 Downloads/month (npm): 106 261 Downloads/week (npm): 23 741 Forks (GitHub): 375 Stars (GitHub): 462 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-official | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 0 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude: knowledge-work-plugins | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 0 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | keep-the-why | com.gitkraken/gk-cli |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 3 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 231 (worse) | 462 (better) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 14 (worse) | 375 (better) |
| Last release (differs) | 2026-10-22 (better) | 2026-10-14 (worse) |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | On your machine (@gitkraken/gk) |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 2 | 1 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/oliver-zehentleitner/keep-the-why | github.com/gitkraken/gk-cli |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
keep-the-why
Preserves or recovers the reasoning behind a codebase — architectural decisions, rejected alternatives, workarounds, incident learnings, operational constraints, and historical context the code itself cannot explain.
com.gitkraken/gk-cli
The GitKraken MCP Server for managing repos, PRs, issues across GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and more.
How to run each
keep-the-why
No data for an automatic command: what its marketplaces declare does not say unambiguously how to connect it.
com.gitkraken/gk-cli As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --transport stdio gk-cli -- npx -y @gitkraken/gk mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: keep-the-why · What it can do: com.gitkraken/gk-cli · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/HEAD/.github/plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.