Serena

# Connecting Your MCP Client In the following, we provide general instructions on how to connect Serena to your MCP-enabled client, as well as specific instructions for popular clients. (clients-general-instructions)= ## General Instructions In general, Serena can be used with any MCP-enabled client. To connect Serena to your favourite client, simply 1. determine how to add a custom MCP server to your client (refer to the client's documentation). 2. add a new MCP server entry by specifying either * a [run command](start-mcp-server) that allows the client to start the MCP server in stdio mode as a subprocess, or * the URL of the HTTP/SSE endpoint, having started the [Serena MCP server in HTTP/SSE mode](streamable-http) beforehand. Depending on your needs, you might want to further customize Serena's behaviour by * [adding command-line arguments](mcp-args) * [adjusting configuration](050_configuration). **Mode of Operation**. Note that some clients have a per-workspace MCP configuration (e.g, VSCode and Claude Code), while others have a global MCP configuration (e.g. Codex and Claude Desktop). - In the per-workspace case, you typically want to start Serena with your workspace directory as the project directory and never switch to a different project. This is achieved by specifying the `--project <path>` argument with a single-project [context](#contexts) (e.g. `ide` or `claude-code`). - In the global configuration case, you must first activate the project you want to work on, which you can do by asking the LLM to do so (e.g., "Activate the current dir as project using serena"). In such settings, the `activate_project` tool is required. **Tool Selection**. While you may be able to turn off tools through your client's interface (e.g., in VSCode or Claude Desktop), we recommend selecting your base tool set through Serena's configuration, as Serena's prompts automatically adjust based on which tools are enabled/disabled. A key mechanism for this is to use the appropriate [context](#contexts) when starting Serena. (clients-common-pitfalls)= ### Common Pitfalls **Escaping Paths Correctly**. Note that if your client configuration uses JSON, special characters (like backslashes) need to be escaped properly. In particular, if you are specifying paths containing backslashes on Windows (note that you can also just use forward slashes), be sure to escape them correctly (`\\`). **Discoverability of `uvx`**. Your client may not find the `uvx` command, even if it is on your system PATH. In this case, a workaround is to provide the full path to the `uvx` executable. **Environment Variables**. Some language servers may require additional environment variables to be set (e.g. F# on macOS with Homebrew), which you may need to explicitly add to the MCP server configuration. Note that for some clients (e.g. Claude Desktop), the spawned MCP server process may not inherit environment variables that are only configured in your shell profile (e.g. `.bashrc`, `.zshrc`, etc.); they would need to be set system-wide instead. An easy fix is to add them explicitly to the MCP server entry. For example, in Claude Desktop and other clients, you can simply add an `env` key to the `serena` object, e.g. ``` "env": { "DOTNET_ROOT": "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/dotnet/9.0.8/libexec" } ``` ## Specific Clients :::{note} In this section, we present example configurations that run the latest version of Serena using the `stdio` protocol with `uvx`. Adapt the commands to your preferred way of [running Serena](020_running), adding any additional command-line arguments as needed. ::: ### Claude Code Serena is a great way to make Claude Code both cheaper and more powerful! From your project directory, add serena with a command like this, ```shell claude mcp add serena -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server --context claude-code --project "$(pwd)" ``` Note: * We use the `claude-code` context to disable unnecessary tools (avoiding duplication with Claude Code's built-in capabilities). * We specify the current directory as the project directory with `--project "$(pwd)"`, such that Serena is configured to work on the current project from the get-go, following Claude Code's mode of operation. Alternatively, use `--project-from-cwd` for user-level configuration that works across all projects: ```shell claude mcp add --scope user serena -- <serena> start-mcp-server --context=claude-code --project-from-cwd ``` This searches up from the current directory for `.serena/project.yml` or `.git` markers, falling back to the current directory if neither is found. This makes it suitable for a single global MCP configuration. The `--project-from-cwd` option is intended for CLI-based agents (like Claude Code, Gemina or Codex) that invoke Serena from within project directories. Be sure to use at least `v1.0.52` of Claude Code (as earlier versions do not read MCP server system prompts upon startup). ### VSCode While serena can be directly installed from the GitHub MCP server registry, we recommend to set it up manually (at least for now, until the configuration there has been improved). Just paste the following into `<your_project>/.vscode/mcp.json`, or edit the entry after using the option `install into workspace`: ```json { "servers": { "oraios/serena": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uvx", "args": [ "--from", "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena", "serena", "start-mcp-server", "--context", "ide", "--project", "${workspaceFolder}" ] } }, "inputs": [] } ``` ### Codex Serena works with OpenAI's Codex CLI out of the box, but you have to use the `codex` context for it to work properly. (The technical reason is that Codex doesn't fully support the MCP specifications, so some massaging of tools is required.). Add a [run command](020_running) to `~/.codex/config.toml` to configure Serena for all Codex sessions; create the file if it does not exist. For example, when using `uvx`, add the following section: ```toml [mcp_servers.serena] command = "uvx" args = ["--from", "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena", "serena", "start-mcp-server", "--context", "codex"] ``` After codex has started, you need to activate the project, which you can do by saying: "Activate the current dir as project using serena" > If you don't activate the project, you will not be able to use Serena's tools! That's it! Have a look at `~/.codex/log/codex-tui.log` to see if any errors occurred. Serena's dashboard will run if you have not disabled it in the configuration, but due to Codex's sandboxing, the web browser may not open automatically. You can open it manually by going to `http://localhost:24282/dashboard/index.html` (or a higher port, if that was already taken). > Codex will often show the tools as `failed` even though they are successfully executed. This is not a problem, seems to be a bug in Codex. Despite the error message, everything works as expected. ### Claude Desktop On Windows and macOS, there are official [Claude Desktop applications by Anthropic](https://claude.ai/download); for Linux, there is an [open-source community version](https://github.com/aaddrick/claude-desktop-debian). To configure MCP server settings, go to File / Settings / Developer / MCP Servers / Edit Config, which will let you open the JSON file `claude_desktop_config.json`. Add the `serena` MCP server configuration ```json { "mcpServers": { "serena": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "--from", "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena", "serena", "start-mcp-server" ] } } } ``` If your language server requires specific environment variables to be set (e.g. F# on macOS with Homebrew), you can add them via an `env` key (see [above](#clients-common-pitfalls)). Once you have created the new MCP server entry, save the config and then restart Claude Desktop. :::{attention} Be sure to fully quit the Claude Desktop application via File / Exit, as regularly closing the application will just minimize it. ::: After restarting, you should see Serena's tools in your chat interface (notice the small hammer icon). For more information on MCP servers with Claude Desktop, see [the official quick start guide](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user). ### JetBrains Junie Open Junie, go to the three dots in the top right corner, then Settings / MCP Settings and add Serena to Junie's global MCP server configuration: ```json { "mcpServers": { "serena": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "--from", "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena", "serena", "start-mcp-server", "--context", "ide" ] } } } ``` You will have to prompt Junie to "Activate the current project using serena's activation tool" at the start of each session. ### JetBrains AI Assistant Here you can set up the more convenient per-project MCP server configuration, as the AI assistant supports specifying the launch working directory. Go to Settings / Tools / AI Assistant / MCP and add a new **local** configuration via the `as JSON` option: ```json { "mcpServers": { "serena": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "--from", "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena", "serena", "start-mcp-server", "--context", "ide", "--project", "$(pwd)" ] } } } ``` Then make sure to configure the working directory to be the project root. ### Antigravity :::{warning} At the time of writing (12/2025), Antigravity does not seem to work with Serena due to schema validation issues which are beyond our control. The client starts Serena but then crashes with `[internal] marshal message: string field contains invalid UTF-8`. Nevertheless, we provide a configuration that should work once the issue is resolved. ::: Add this configuration: ```json { "mcpServers": { "serena": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "--from", "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena", "serena", "start-mcp-server", "--context", "ide" ] } } } ``` ### Other Clients For other clients, follow the [general instructions](#clients-general-instructions) above to set up Serena as an MCP server. #### Terminal-Based Clients There are many terminal-based coding assistants that support MCP servers, such as * [Gemini-CLI](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli), * [Qwen3-Coder](https://github.com/QwenLM/Qwen3-Coder), * [rovodev](https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Rovo-for-Software-Teams-Beta/Introducing-Rovo-Dev-CLI-AI-Powered-Development-in-your-terminal/ba-p/3043623), * [OpenHands CLI](https://docs.all-hands.dev/usage/how-to/cli-mode) and * [opencode](https://github.com/sst/opencode). They generally benefit from the symbolic tools provided by Serena. You might want to customize some aspects of Serena by writing your own context, modes or prompts to adjust it to the client's respective internal capabilities (and your general workflow). In most cases, the `ide` context is likely to be appropriate for such clients, i.e. add the arguments `--context ide` in order to reduce tool duplication. #### MCP-Enabled IDEs and Coding Clients (Cline, Roo-Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.) Most of the popular existing coding assistants (e.g. IDE extensions) and AI-enabled IDEs themselves support connections to MCP Servers. Serena generally boosts performance by providing efficient tools for symbolic operations. We generally recommend to use the `ide` context for these integrations by adding the arguments `--context ide` in order to reduce tool duplication. #### Local GUIs and Agent Frameworks Over the last months, several technologies have emerged that allow you to run a local GUI client and connect it to an MCP server. The respective applications will typically work with Serena out of the box. Some of the leading open source GUI applications are * [Jan](https://jan.ai/docs/mcp), * [OpenHands](https://github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands/), * [OpenWebUI](https://docs.openwebui.com/openapi-servers/mcp) and * [Agno](https://docs.agno.com/introduction/playground). These applications allow to combine Serena with almost any LLM (including locally running ones) and offer various other integrations.