Serena MCP — Claude Code MCP server: semantic code tools
Gives your agent symbol-level search, references and refactoring through language servers. Useful on large codebases where text search falls apart.
claude mcp add serena -- uvx serena-agentWhat Serena MCP: the IDE for your agent does
Serena plugs into your AI client over Model Context Protocol and adds tools that work with code as symbols, not lines. The agent finds definitions, follows references and renames across files in one call. Under the hood sits an abstraction layer over language servers that speak LSP. Support is claimed for over 40 languages, Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java and C/C++ among them.
There is a second backend: the paid Serena JetBrains plugin with a free trial, which leans on the code analysis inside your IDE. Which one to pick comes down to whether you want to pay for deeper analysis. The language server route is the default.
The server starts with uvx serena-agent, so uvx has to be on your machine. Two ways to connect: hand the client a launch command, or run the server yourself in HTTP mode and give the client the URL. The second one pays off when several clients share one server.
What it helps with
- find every reference to a function before renaming it
- rename a symbol across multiple files at once
- jump to a method definition in another module
- trace dependencies in a large monorepo
- swap string search for symbol-aware navigation
Example prompts for the agent
- find every call site of
parse_configand list them - rename the
UserStoreclass toAccountStoreacross the project - show me where the
auth.tokensmodule is imported from
How to install Serena MCP: the IDE for your agent
Platform CLI
claude mcp add serena -- uvx serena-agentuvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from serena-agent <command>
Platform CLI
codex mcp add serena-mcp-the-ide-for-your-agent -- uvx serena-agentuvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from serena-agent <command>
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"serena-mcp-the-ide-for-your-agent": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"serena-agent"
]
}
}
}uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from serena-agent <command>
Config file
{
"servers": {
"serena-mcp-the-ide-for-your-agent": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"serena-agent"
]
}
}
}uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from serena-agent <command>
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add serena-mcp-the-ide-for-your-agent uvx serena-agentuvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from serena-agent <command>
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about Serena MCP: the IDE for your agent
How do I install Serena MCP in Claude?
Run claude mcp add serena -- uvx serena-agent. That registers the server in your Claude config, and it starts on its own from there.
What does Serena MCP do?
It hands your agent semantic code tools: go-to-definition, reference lookup, symbol-level refactoring. It runs on top of language servers via LSP.
Which languages does Serena support?
The language server backend claims support for over 40 languages, including Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java and C/C++. The JetBrains plugin instead relies on your IDE's own code analysis.
