# Contributing to @zilliz/claude-context-mcp
Thanks for your interest in contributing to the Claude Context MCP server!
> 📖 **First time contributing?** Please read the [main contributing guide](../../CONTRIBUTING.md) first for general setup and workflow.
## MCP Server Development
This guide covers development specific to the MCP server.
### Quick Commands
```bash
# Build MCP server
pnpm build:mcp
# Watch mode for development
pnpm dev:mcp
# Start server
pnpm start
# Run with environment variables
pnpm start:with-env
```
### Required Environment Variables
See [README.md](./README.md#prepare-environment-variables) for required environment variables.
## Running the MCP Server
1. Build the server:
```bash
pnpm build
```
2. Run with MCP client or directly:
```bash
pnpm start
```
3. Use the tools:
- `index_codebase` - Index a sample codebase with optional custom ignore patterns
- `search_code` - Search for code snippets
- `clear_index` - Clear the index
## Making Changes
1. Create a new branch for your feature/fix
2. Edit `src/index.ts` - Main MCP server implementation
3. Verify with MCP clients (Claude Desktop, etc.)
4. Follow commit guidelines in the [main guide](../../CONTRIBUTING.md)
## MCP Protocol
- Follow [MCP specification](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/)
- Use stdio transport for compatibility
- Handle errors gracefully with proper MCP responses
- Redirect logs to stderr (not stdout)
## Tool Parameters
### `index_codebase`
- `path` (required): Path to the codebase directory
- `force` (optional): Force re-indexing even if already indexed (default: false)
- `splitter` (optional): Code splitter type - 'ast' or 'langchain' (default: 'ast')
- `ignorePatterns` (optional): Additional ignore patterns to add to defaults (default: [])
- Examples: `["static/**", "*.tmp", "private/**", "docs/generated/**"]`
- Merged with default patterns (node_modules, .git, etc.)
### `search_code`
- `path` (required): Path to the indexed codebase
- `query` (required): Natural language search query
- `limit` (optional): Maximum number of results (default: 10, max: 50)
### `clear_index`
- `path` (required): Path to the codebase to clear
## Guidelines
- Keep tool interfaces simple and intuitive
- Provide clear error messages
- Validate all user inputs
- Use TypeScript for type safety
## Working with MCP Clients
### Cursor/Claude Desktop Development Mode Configuration
You can use the following configuration to configure the MCP server with a development mode.
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"claude-context-local": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["PATH_TO_CLAUDECONTEXT/packages/mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-your-openai-api-key",
"MILVUS_TOKEN": "your-zilliz-cloud-api-key"
}
}
}
}
```
### Claude Code Development Mode Configuration
```bash
claude mcp add claude-context -e OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-openai-api-key -e MILVUS_TOKEN=your-zilliz-cloud-api-key -- node PATH_TO_CLAUDECONTEXT/packages/mcp/dist/index.js
```
And then you can start Claude Code with `claude --debug` to see the MCP server logs.
### Manual Usage
Use all three MCP tools:
- `index_codebase` - Index sample repositories with optional custom ignore patterns
Example with ignore patterns: `{"path": "/repo/path", "ignorePatterns": ["static/**", "*.tmp"]}`
- `search_code` - Search with various queries
- `clear_index` - Clear and re-index
## Questions?
- **General questions**: See [main contributing guide](../../CONTRIBUTING.md)
- **MCP-specific issues**: Open an issue with the `mcp` label
