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Nella

Claude Desktop

Set up Nella as an MCP server for Claude Desktop.

Set up Nella as an MCP server for Claude Desktop.

Prerequisites

Setup

Option A: Use the CLI

nella connect --client claude

Use --mode hosted --api-key nella_... if you want to skip prompts and write a hosted config directly.

Step 1: Locate the configuration file

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

If the file doesn’t exist, create it.

Step 2: Add Nella manually for local stdio

Open the config file and add:

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

Replace /path/to/your/project with the absolute path to your workspace. Direct stdio/local MCP requires --workspace.

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new configuration.

Step 4: Verify

Ask Claude:

“What Nella tools are available?”

Claude should list tools like nella_search, nella_index, nella_get_context, etc.

Automatic Setup

You can also let the CLI write the config:

nella connect --client claude

In hosted mode, nella connect can use NELLA_API_KEY, prompt for an existing key, or create one if you are already logged in with nella auth login.

Multiple Workspaces

Configure multiple Nella instances for different projects:

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

Usage Examples

Once connected, Claude uses Nella tools automatically. You can also request them explicitly:

Search the Codebase

Use nella_search to find how authentication is implemented in this project.

Record Assumptions

Use nella_add_assumption to record that this project uses Express with TypeScript.

Check Dependencies

Use nella_check_dependencies to see if any packages changed since we started.

Troubleshooting

IssueSolution
Tools not appearingRestart Claude Desktop. Check that npx -y @getnella/mcp --workspace /path/to/project runs without errors in your terminal
”MCP server disconnected”Check that Node.js 18+ is installed and accessible from the default shell
Workspace errorsEnsure the --workspace path exists and is readable
Slow startupFirst run downloads the package via npx. Subsequent starts are faster