covdbg-mcp

MCP server for covdbg: C++ code coverage on Windows for AI agents. Run tests, find uncovered code, and add targeted tests. No rebuild required.

covdbg measures coverage of the Windows binaries you already build, using their PDB debug information: x64, ARM64 and 32-bit x86. It works like a debugger: it starts your executable, reads the PDB, and places lightweight probes while the program runs. The MCP server is built into the covdbg executable (since v1.3.0) and is started with covdbg mcp.

This repository holds the MCP registry metadata (server.json, glama.json) and the MCP Bundle manifest (manifest.json) for covdbg. The server itself ships with covdbg.

What an agent can do

1. Run coverage on a test executable without rebuilding it.

2. Rank files by uncovered lines.

3. Read the uncovered code with surrounding context.

4. Add a focused test, re-run it, and confirm the gap is closed.

5. Query coverage databases (.covdb) with read-only SQL, and merge them, also across checkouts and builds.

Related MCP server: cdbmcp

Requirements

• Windows x64, or Windows on ARM (ARM64)

• covdbg 1.3.0 or newer. This README describes covdbg 1.5.1.

• An executable with PDB debug symbols (MSVC or any PDB-producing toolchain). The x64 covdbg measures x64 and 32-bit x86 programs; the ARM64 covdbg measures ARM64 programs (covdbg 1.5 and newer).

• A one-time covdbg login (covdbg 1.4 and newer sign in to one team, and runs need a seat in that team), or COVDBG_PROJECT_TOKEN for CI. A public repository in GitHub Actions needs neither (covdbg 1.5 and newer, see Licensing in CI).

• A .covdbg.yaml next to the target executable, or a config_path passed to run (see the configuration reference)

Install covdbg

• Installer (recommended): installer.msi, or installer-arm64.msi for Windows on ARM. It installs to %LocalAppData%\Programs\Liasoft\covdbg and adds that directory to your user PATH.

• Portable: portable.zip, or portable-arm64.zip for Windows on ARM. Extract it anywhere and add the directory to your PATH yourself. Keep the agent DLLs next to covdbg.exe: covdbg looks for them only there.

There is no separate 32-bit covdbg. The x64 build ships libcovdbg32.dll, a 32-bit build of its agent, and measures 32-bit programs with the same covdbg.exe.

Then open a new terminal and sign in:

covdbg --version
covdbg login

Sign-in is team-scoped: in the browser you choose one team (your personal team, or a team you own or hold a seat in), and the agent's runs are licensed for that team. Use covdbg login --team <slug> to choose it up front, and covdbg whoami to see which team is active.

Licensing in CI

In CI, set COVDBG_PROJECT_TOKEN in the server's environment; the run is licensed for the token's team.

A public repository in GitHub Actions needs no project token (covdbg 1.5 and newer). Grant the job permissions: id-token: write: without COVDBG_PROJECT_TOKEN and without a stored sign-in, covdbg presents the token GitHub issues to the job, which names the repository it runs in. GitHub issues no such token to a pull request from a fork. A private repository still needs a project token, and a project token that is set takes precedence.

Client setup

The server uses stdio transport. Start it from your project directory, or pass --workspace <dir>.

Claude Code

From the project directory:

claude mcp add covdbg -- covdbg mcp

Or add a project .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "covdbg": {
      "command": "covdbg",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code

.vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "covdbg": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "covdbg",
      "args": ["mcp", "--workspace", "${workspaceFolder}"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "covdbg": {
      "command": "covdbg",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop (MCP Bundle)

1. Download covdbg.mcpb from the latest release.

2. Open it with Claude Desktop, or drag it into Settings → Extensions.

3. Set the following:

   • covdbg executable: the path to covdbg.exe. The default is the MSI install location.

   • Workspace: your project directory.

   • Project token: optional. Leave it empty if you have run covdbg login; runs are then licensed for the team you signed in to (see covdbg whoami).

The bundle does not contain covdbg itself. It launches your installed covdbg.exe, so covdbg updates take effect without a new bundle.

Tools

Limits and behavior

• Run session IDs start with run-; coverage session IDs start with covdb-.

• At most 8 runs in flight and 32 open coverage sessions. A run counts while its covdbg process is alive; once wait_run has seen it finish, it no longer takes a slot.

• wait_run blocks for at most 30 seconds. If it reports stillRunning, call it again.

• Run outcomes are success, nothing_measured, license_failure, or error. nothing_measured (no_functions_to_track before covdbg 1.5.1) means the target ran to its end, but no function passed the coverage filter, so the database covdbg wrote is empty; outputLines say why, after "nothing was measured". Before covdbg 1.5.1, the target did not run at all.

• covdbg's exit code does not carry the target's exit code, so check test results separately. From covdbg 1.5.1, covdbg says in outputLines, below the program's output, how the program exited.

• cancel_run, and close on a run that is still going, end the run's whole process tree at once: covdbg, the target and every process either of them started (covdbg 1.5.1 and newer; before, a process they started kept running until close). A run that cannot be set up that way is not started, and run says why.

• A .covdbg.yaml that covdbg refuses, such as a value of the wrong shape (include: "src/**" where a list belongs) or an unknown type:, ends the run with outcome error, and outputLines name the key with its line and column. A key covdbg does not know is a warning in outputLines, and the run goes on (covdbg 1.5.1 and newer).

• follow_children measures the processes the target starts. A launcher without debug information of its own, such as ctest.exe or cmd.exe, runs unmeasured and covdbg measures its children, so run with target ctest.exe, target_arguments --test-dir build and follow_children measures the test binaries CTest runs. Every process of one binary adds its hits to one database (covdbg 1.5 and newer).

• query stops a statement still running at the time limit, 5000 ms unless --query-timeout says otherwise, and answers with an error; the session stays open. It also bounds a statement's size: at most 100 KiB of SQL, expressions nested 250 deep, 100 SELECTs in one compound, LIKE/GLOB patterns of 1000 bytes, and 16 MiB for any one string or blob (covdbg 1.5 and newer).

• merge matches source files recorded in different checkouts by their path relative to each run's source_root, and keeps different builds at one module path, such as the x64 and ARM64 builds of a test, side by side (covdbg 1.5 and newer). remappedModules and remappedFiles say how many it matched that way.

• covdbg 1.5.1 writes coverage databases with schema 9 and refuses .covdb files written by covdbg 1.5.0 or earlier, and covdbg 1.5.0 refuses those of 1.5.1. open_coverage names both versions. Record that coverage again, with the same covdbg everywhere databases are merged or opened.

Upgrading while the server runs

From covdbg 1.5.0, the installer can upgrade or uninstall covdbg while a client holds covdbg mcp open, without a reboot. The running server keeps answering from the old version, and the runs it starts use the newly installed covdbg.exe. Reconnect the server to get the new version of the server itself: in Claude Code, /mcp → covdbg → Reconnect.

Environment variables

Documentation

• MCP Server

• Quick Start Using AI

• CLI Command Reference

• Data and Telemetry

Publishing (maintainers)

Keep version in manifest.json and server.json, and the release tag in the server.json package URL, in sync.

1. Build the bundle. .mcpbignore limits it to manifest.json, icon.png and LICENSE:

   npx @anthropic-ai/mcpb validate manifest.json
   npx @anthropic-ai/mcpb pack . covdbg.mcpb

2. Create the GitHub release v<version> and upload covdbg.mcpb as an asset.

3. Put the bundle's hash into fileSha256 in server.json:

   (Get-FileHash covdbg.mcpb -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()

4. Publish to the MCP registry. The com.covdbg/* namespace uses DNS authentication on covdbg.com:

   mcp-publisher login dns --domain covdbg.com --private-key <key>
   mcp-publisher publish

5. Glama picks up glama.json from the repository.

License

The metadata in this repository is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. covdbg itself is licensed separately, with Free, Team, and Enterprise plans. See covdbg.com and the Licensing FAQ.