Srclight MCP Server

Srclight builds a rich, searchable index of your codebase that AI coding agents can query instantly — replacing dozens of grep/glob calls with

Local serverstdioPython

What is the Srclight MCP server?

If you already use Srclight, the srclight mcp server is the piece that lets your assistant work with it directly. Srclight builds a rich, searchable index of your codebase that AI coding agents can query instantly — replacing dozens of grep/glob calls with precise, structured lookups. It is the most comprehensive code intelligence MCP server.

Available tools

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

  • Setup — The Setup tool exposed by this server
  • Storage — Embeddings are stored in symbol_embeddings table in .srclight/index.db. After indexing, a .npy sidecar snapshot is built for fast GPU loading:
  • Cursor — Start the server: srclight serve --workspace myworkspace (default SSE on port 8742)
  • OpenClaw — OpenClaw connects to srclight via mcporter, its built-in MCP tool server CLI
  • Done — The Done tool exposed by this server
  • Next — The Next tool exposed by this server

Credentials and setup notes

Configuration is passed through the environment: VOYAGE_API_KEY. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

  • Python 3.11+ - Git (for change intelligence and auto-reindex hooks) - Ollama (optional, for semantic search / embeddings) — ollama.com - NVIDIA GPU + cupy (optional, for GPU-accelerated vector search) - Poppler (optional, for PaddleOCR scanned-PDF support) — apt install poppler-utils / brew install poppler

Installation

The server ships on PyPI as srclight, 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.

Where it fits

This sits in the developer tooling group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Srclight's toolset — Setup, Storage, Cursor and 3 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by srclight; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Srclight's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

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.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
SetupThe Setup tool exposed by this server.
StorageEmbeddings are stored in symbol_embeddings table in .srclight/index.db. After indexing, a .npy sidecar snapshot is built for fast GPU loading:
CursorStart the server: srclight serve --workspace myworkspace (default SSE on port 8742).
OpenClawOpenClaw connects to srclight via [mcporter](https://mcporter.dev), its built-in MCP tool server CLI.
DoneThe Done tool exposed by this server.
NextThe Next tool exposed by this server.

How to install the Srclight MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "srclight": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["srclight"],
      "env": {
        "VOYAGE_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

  • Python 3.11+ - Git (for change intelligence and auto-reindex hooks) - Ollama (optional, for semantic search / embeddings) — ollama.com - NVIDIA GPU + cupy (optional, for GPU-accelerated vector search) - Poppler (optional, for PaddleOCR scanned-PDF support) — apt install poppler-utils / brew install poppler
VariableDescriptionRequired
VOYAGE_API_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use Srclight to Setup.
  • Use Srclight to Storage.
  • Use Srclight to Cursor.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Srclight to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 6 tools (Setup, Storage, Cursor, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Srclight directly.