Skip to content
Nella

Quick Start

Get Nella running as an MCP server in under 5 minutes.

Get Nella running as an MCP server in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Install Nella

npm install -g @getnella/mcp

Step 2: Configure your MCP client

Option A: Use the CLI

nella connect --client claude
nella connect --client cursor
nella connect --client vscode

For Claude Code, use the one-shot shortcut:

nella setup

Option B: Manual local stdio config

Direct stdio/local MCP configs must include --workspace.

Claude Desktop

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

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nella": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@getnella/mcp", "--workspace", "."]
    }
  }
}

Restart your MCP client after saving.

Step 3: Verify the connection

Ask your AI agent:

“What Nella tools are available?”

It should list tools like nella_search, nella_index, nella_get_context, and nella_heartbeat.

Step 4: Use Nella in a conversation

Ask the agent to use Nella for code understanding:

You: I need to add a new API endpoint. Search the codebase for
     how existing endpoints are structured.

Claude: I'll search the codebase for endpoint patterns.
[Uses nella_search to find endpoint implementations]

Found the pattern. Let me record my assumptions...
[Uses nella_add_assumption to track what it learned]

Here's how endpoints are structured in this project...

Next Steps