Set up Codanna with Claude's official CLI.
Add this to your local .mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"codanna": {
"command": "codanna",
"args": ["serve", "--watch"]
}
}
}- File watching with
--watchflag - Auto-reload on index changes
- stdio transport (default)
After configuration, verify the connection:
codanna mcp-testThis will confirm Claude can connect and list available tools.
Tool priority:
- Tier 1: semantic_search_with_context, analyze_impact
- Tier 2: find_symbol, get_calls, find_callers
- Tier 3: search_symbols, semantic_search_docs, get_index_info
Workflow:
- semantic_search_with_context - Find relevant code with context
- analyze_impact - Map dependencies and change radius
- find_symbol, get_calls, find_callers - Get specific details
Start with semantic search, then narrow with specific queries.
- Ensure Codanna is in your PATH
- Check
.codanna/settings.tomlexists in your project - Run
codanna indexbefore starting the server