@getnella/mcp

CLI and MCP server package for Nella.

Install

npm install -g @getnella/mcp

The package installs:

• nella for the CLI
• mcp as the direct stdio MCP entrypoint used by npx -y @getnella/mcp --workspace /path/to/project

Quick Start

# Show CLI help
nella help

# Configure a supported client
nella connect --client claude

# Claude Code shortcut
nella setup

# Start the local stdio MCP server directly
npx -y @getnella/mcp --workspace /path/to/project

If you want to build or refresh the local index yourself:

nella auth login
nella index --force

nella index requires either a Nella login or Azure embedding environment variables.

Commands

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | nella index [--workspace <path>] [--force] [--graph] | Index a workspace or build a dependency graph from an existing index | | nella mcp --workspace <path> | Start the local stdio MCP server | | nella serve [--port <number>] [--host <host>] | Start the hosted HTTP MCP server | | nella connect [--mode <local\|hosted>] [--client <name>] | Write MCP client config for supported agents | | nella auth <login\|logout\|status> | Manage CLI authentication | | nella setup | Alias for nella connect --client claude-code --mode local -y | | nella help | Show top-level help |

Direct stdio/local launches must include --workspace, for example npx -y @getnella/mcp --workspace /path/to/project.

MCP Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | nella_index | Index or re-index a workspace | | nella_search | Search indexed code with hybrid, semantic, or lexical mode | | nella_get_context | Read the current session context | | nella_add_assumption | Record an assumption about the codebase | | nella_check_assumptions | Review assumption status | | nella_check_dependencies | Check dependency drift | | nella_heartbeat | Verify trust-chain continuity between tool calls |

Manual Client Config

Local stdio example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nella": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@getnella/mcp", "--workspace", "/absolute/path/to/project"]
    }
  }
}

Hosted example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nella": {
      "url": "https://mcp.getnella.dev/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer nella_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Notes

• nella connect supports claude, claude-code, vscode, cursor, windsurf, cline, and roo-code.
• The local nella serve implementation requires SUPABASE_URL and SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY, and uses REDIS_URL when available.

Docs

• CLI Reference
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Claude Desktop
• Cursor
• VS Code