# claude-context — Code Search MCP Server for Claude Code

> An MCP server by Zilliz that gives Claude Code semantic code search over your entire codebase, using vector embeddings to find relevant functions and files without scanning everything each time.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# claude-context — Code Search MCP Server for Claude Code

## Quick Use
```bash
npx claude-context --project /path/to/your/repo
# Claude Code can now search your codebase semantically via MCP
```

## Introduction
claude-context is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server built by Zilliz that indexes your codebase into vector embeddings and exposes semantic search as a tool for Claude Code. Instead of relying on grep or file-by-file scanning, Claude can query your entire codebase by meaning, finding relevant code even when exact keywords differ.

## What claude-context Does
- Indexes source code files into vector embeddings for semantic search
- Exposes search capabilities to Claude Code via the MCP protocol
- Returns ranked code snippets with file paths and line numbers for each query
- Watches for file changes and incrementally updates the index
- Supports filtering by file type, directory, and language

## Architecture Overview
claude-context runs as a local MCP server that connects to Claude Code. On startup, it walks the project directory, chunks source files into meaningful segments, and embeds them using a local or remote embedding model. The embeddings are stored in a Milvus Lite vector database. When Claude issues a search query, the server embeds the query, performs approximate nearest neighbor search, and returns the top-k most relevant code snippets with their locations.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Run via npx for zero-install setup or install globally with npm
- Point it at any local project directory to begin indexing
- Configure embedding model choice via environment variables
- Set chunk size and overlap parameters for different codebase scales
- Add to your Claude Code MCP configuration for automatic startup

## Key Features
- Semantic code search that understands intent, not just keywords
- Built on Milvus Lite for efficient local vector storage and retrieval
- Incremental indexing that updates only changed files
- Language-aware chunking that respects function and class boundaries
- Low latency retrieval suitable for interactive coding sessions

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Codebase Memory MCP** — Builds a knowledge graph of code relationships, while claude-context focuses on vector-based semantic search
- **Sourcegraph** — Full-featured code intelligence platform, while claude-context is a lightweight local-first MCP server
- **grep/ripgrep** — Exact string matching only, while claude-context finds semantically similar code regardless of naming
- **GitHub Copilot** — Integrated into editors with its own retrieval, while claude-context is an open MCP server for Claude Code

## FAQ
**Q: How large a codebase can it handle?**
A: claude-context handles repositories with hundreds of thousands of files efficiently using Milvus Lite's optimized indexing.

**Q: Does it send my code to external servers?**
A: When using a local embedding model, all processing happens on your machine. Remote embedding APIs send code chunks to the provider.

**Q: How do I add it to Claude Code?**
A: Add the server configuration to your Claude Code MCP settings file, and it starts automatically when you open a project.

**Q: Does it support monorepos?**
A: Yes, you can configure it to index specific subdirectories or the entire monorepo, with filtering by path prefix.

## Sources
- https://github.com/zilliztech/claude-context
- https://milvus.io/

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-81703b2b
Author: Script Depot