Code Index MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for fast local source code searching using Zoekt.

Features

• Fast code search: Uses Zoekt's trigram-based indexing for fast substring and regex matching
• Per-directory indexes: Each indexed directory gets its own index stored in the user profile
• Rich query language: Supports regex, file filters, language filters, and boolean operators
• Cross-platform: Works on macOS and Linux

Installation

This server is available on the MCP Registry.

Download Pre-built MCPB bundle (experimental)

Download the appropriate .mcpb bundle for your platform from the GitHub Releases page:

• code-index-mcp-darwin-arm64.mcpb - macOS Apple Silicon
• code-index-mcp-darwin-amd64.mcpb - macOS Intel
• code-index-mcp-linux-amd64.mcpb - Linux x64
• code-index-mcp-linux-arm64.mcpb - Linux ARM64

The .mcpb file is a ZIP archive containing the binary and manifest. You can open it directly in Claude Desktop in order to install it

Manual installation (recommended)

In order to get the binary onto your computer, you can do one of the following: #### Download from releases Go to GitHub Releases and download the appropriate file (not mcpb but the tar/gzipped ones corresponding to your platform). For example:

curl -sL https://github.com/trondhindenes/code-index-mcp/releases/download/1.0.13/code-index-mcp-darwin-arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
chmod +x code-index-mcp

#### Using Go

go install github.com/trondhindenes/code-index-mcp@latest

#### Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/trondhindenes/code-index-mcp
cd code-index-mcp
go build -o code-index-mcp .

Configuration

Now that you have the binary installed locally, you can register it in your tools of choice. This should not be necessary if you installed via mcpb bundle but your mileage may vary.

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "code-index": {
      "command": "/path/to/code-index-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Run the following:

claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio code-index /path/to/code-index-mcp

Environment Variables

• CODE_INDEX_DIR: Override the default index storage location

Default index locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/code-index/
• Linux: ~/.local/share/code-index/ or $XDG_DATA_HOME/code-index/

Available Tools

index_directory

Index a source code directory for fast searching.

Parameters:

• directory (required): The path to the directory to index

Example:

Index the directory /Users/me/projects/myapp

search_code

Search for code across indexed directories. Returns compact grep-like output to minimize context window usage.

Parameters:

• query (required): The search query using Zoekt syntax
• directory (optional): Limit search to a specific indexed directory
• max_files (optional): Maximum files to return (default: 20)
• max_lines_per_file (optional): Maximum matches per file (default: 3)
• files_only (optional): Only return file paths, no line content (default: false)

Output Format:

/path/to/file.go:42: matching line content here
/path/to/file.go:58: another matching line
  ... and 5 more matches in this file

Query Syntax Examples:

• func main - Simple text search
• file:\.go$ func main - Search only in .go files
• lang:python class.*Model - Search in Python files
• -test func main - Exclude files containing "test"
• case:yes MyFunc - Case-sensitive search

list_indexes

List all indexed directories and their locations.

delete_index

Delete the index for a specific directory.

Parameters:

• directory (required): The path to the directory whose index should be deleted

index_info

Get information about the indexing configuration, including storage location.

Skipped Directories

The following directories are automatically skipped during indexing:

• Hidden directories (starting with .)
• node_modules, vendor, __pycache__
• target, build, dist
• venv, .venv, env, .env

Skipped Files

Binary files and common non-code files are automatically skipped, including:

• Executables (.exe, .dll, .so, .dylib)
• Archives (.zip, .tar, .gz)
• Images (.png, .jpg, .gif)
• Documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx)

License

MIT