Claude Desktop: configure to pick context from provided codebase

If you use Claude Desktop and want it to automatically pick the codebase context from this repository, you can add a configuration entry to your Claude Desktop config. On Windows the file is typically at:

C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Below is an example configuration (adjust paths to match your environment). This example tells Claude Desktop to run node with the built entrypoint and sets an environment variable CODEBASE_ROOT pointing to the repo root.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codebase": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["D:/claude mcp server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "CODEBASE_ROOT": "D:/claude mcp server"
      }
    }
  }
}

How to use this:

Open claude_desktop_config.json in a text editor (create it if missing).
Replace the example paths with absolute paths that exist on your machine. On Windows prefer either D:/... or escaped backslashes like D:\\....
Save the file and restart Claude Desktop. The client should now be able to launch the configured MCP server and pick up context from the CODEBASE_ROOT directory.

Notes and tips:

command is the executable to run (e.g., node, python, or a full path to an executable).
args is an array of arguments; here we pass the path to the built JavaScript file.
env lets you expose environment variables (useful for configuration, e.g., root path).
If your project requires a build step, ensure you run npm run build before launching Claude Desktop or point args at a script that builds-and-runs.

If you'd like, I can add a small PowerShell script to automate building and launching the MCP server so Claude Desktop can use it directly.

Running this project

This repository is a TypeScript / Node.js project. This README explains how to run, build, and test it on Windows (PowerShell) and provides a small, generic helper snippet that attempts to execute common project types.

Quick start (PowerShell)

Install dependencies

npm install

Build the TypeScript sources

npm run build
# or: npx tsc

Run the built app

npm start
# or directly:
node build/index.js

Dev mode (fast rebuild/run as configured by this repo)

npm run dev

Notes:

This repository's package.json defines build as tsc, start as node build/index.js, and dev as tsc && node build/index.js.
Ensure you have Node.js installed (Node 16+ / 18+ recommended) and npm available.

If there is no package.json

If the repo doesn't use Node.js, inspect for common runtime files and use the appropriate commands:

Python: py -3 -m venv .venv; .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1; py -3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt; python main.py
Go: go build then run the produced binary.
Java: use mvn or gradle tasks.

One-liner helper (PowerShell)

This small snippet will attempt to detect a Node project and run the common sequence: install, build, then start. Run from the repo root in PowerShell.

if (Test-Path package.json) {
    Write-Host "Detected package.json — installing & running scripts..."
    npm install
    $pkg = Get-Content package.json | Out-String | ConvertFrom-Json
    if ($pkg.scripts -and $pkg.scripts.build) { npm run build }
    if ($pkg.scripts -and $pkg.scripts.start) { npm start } else { if (Test-Path build\index.js) { node build\index.js } }
} else {
    Write-Host "No package.json found. Inspect README or project root for run instructions."
}

Troubleshooting

If npm run build fails: ensure TypeScript is installed (npm i -D typescript) and check tsconfig.json.
If node build/index.js errors: check build/ exists and that the entry file is correct (see package.json main field).
If missing scripts: open package.json and look under scripts to see available commands.

Running other languages (short guide)

Node.js: npm install, npm run build (if TS), npm start or node <entry>.js.
Python: create/activate virtualenv, pip install -r requirements.txt, python <entry>.py.
Java: mvn package or gradle build then run the produced jar.
Go: go build then ./<binary>.

MCP Servers