Codebase MCP Server

Codebase indexing and search via WASM tree-sitter. Works on ARM64 and x86_64.

Local serverstdioPython

What is the Codebase MCP server?

Connect Codebase to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. Codebase indexing and search via WASM tree-sitter. Works on ARM64 and x86_64. The codebase mcp server is what makes that connection.

What the server does

Popular codebase-indexing MCP servers like @zilliz/claude-context-mcp depend on native C++ bindings (tree-sitter, faiss-node) that ship pre-built binaries only for x86_64. If you're on ARM64 — a Raspberry Pi, Apple Silicon Mac, AWS Graviton, or any other arm64 host — npm install fails with missing prebuilts and no fallback. There's no workaround short of cross-compiling the native modules yourself.

Installation

The server ships on npm as codebase-context-mcp, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

  • index_codebase — Parse a directory into symbols/chunks, cache as JSON
  • search_symbols — Find functions, classes, types by name or pattern
  • search_code — BM25 full-text search across indexed files
  • get_file_outline — File structure: functions, classes, imports, exports with line numbers
  • get_project_summary — Tech stack, file counts by language, directory structure

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Where it fits

Plenty of file and storage access servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. Codebase's toolset — index_codebase, search_symbols, search_code and 2 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by Jhackman2019; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
index_codebaseParse a directory into symbols/chunks, cache as JSON
search_symbolsFind functions, classes, types by name or pattern
search_codeBM25 full-text search across indexed files
get_file_outlineFile structure: functions, classes, imports, exports with line numbers
get_project_summaryTech stack, file counts by language, directory structure

How to install the Codebase MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codebase-context": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["codebase-context-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Example prompts to try

  • Use Codebase to index codebase.
  • Use Codebase to search symbols.
  • Use Codebase to search code.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Codebase to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 5 tools (index_codebase, search_symbols, search_code, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Codebase directly.