Serena MCP Server

The IDE for Your Coding Agent Serena provides essential semantic code retrieval, editing, refactoring and debugging tools that are akin to an IDE's capabilities, operating at the symbol level and exploiting relational structure. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

People connecting coding agent tools to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in Python.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-20 · ★ 28,461 · #1 OF 194 MAINTAINED CODING AGENT · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · Python servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Serena

Claude Code

claude mcp add oraios-serena -- uvx serena-agent

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oraios-serena": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "serena-agent"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

pypi package serena-agent - check the name against the project README before installing (PyPI has no namespace ownership)

registry namespace io.github.oraios is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Serena can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

Latest releases

v1.7.0 · 2026-08-09

See change log

v1.6.1 · 2026-07-21

See change log

v1.6.0 · 2026-07-16

See change log

In the wild · how people use Serena

Public posts that name a concrete use case. Linked source posts - not MCPhq reviews, ratings, or endorsements.

04 · Who maintains Serena

Serena is maintained by oraios. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Mar 2025.

05 · Facts

repository
github.com/oraios/serena
category
coding agent - ranked #1 of 194 actively-maintained coding agent servers as of 2026-08-25.
release cadence
3 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-08-09)
registry
io.github.oraios/serena (active, first published 2026-05-26)
packages
pypi:serena-agent

06 · Serena FAQ

What is Serena?

The IDE for Your Coding Agent Serena provides essential semantic code retrieval, editing, refactoring and debugging tools that are akin to an IDE's capabilities, operating at the symbol level and exploiting relational structure. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

Is Serena still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-20 and it shipped 3 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

How do I install Serena?

Run `uvx serena-agent`. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Serena run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via uvx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Serena

Alternatives to Serena

Maintained coding agent servers if Serena isn't the fit.

  1. Desktop Commander MCP server for terminal commands, file operations, and process management ★ 9,387 · 2026-08-21
  2. Ouroboros Pins an acceptance spec; the verify command and expected output never enter the success contract. ★ 5,649 · 2026-08-25
  3. Socraticode MCP server for local codebase indexing, semantic search, and code dependency graphs. ★ 3,274 · 2026-08-24
  4. Magic Cloud Self-hosted low-code platform (Docker); its MCP endpoint runs on your own instance, not via npx. ★ 1,180 · 2026-08-24
  5. LLM Sandbox Securely run LLM-generated code in isolated containers across 7 languages and 3 container backends. ★ 1,111 · 2026-08-23
  6. Bernstein (sipyourdrink-ltd) Deterministic orchestrator for CLI coding agents. Byte-identical replay, 40+ adapters, air-gap. ★ 981 · 2026-08-25

Pairs well with

Servers that cover what Serena doesn't - only shown when the pairing reason fits the companion.

  1. Context7 → documentation companion documentation · ★ 61,171
  2. GitLab MCP → documentation companion documentation · ★ 1,918
  3. Storybook MCP Addon → developer tools companion developer tools · ★ 268
  4. Xcode Build MCP → developer tools companion developer tools · ★ 6,274
  5. Server Filesystem → filesystem companion filesystem · ★ 38,704
  6. X402 List MCP → filesystem companion filesystem · ★ 58

head to head · Serena vs Desktop Commander · Serena vs LLM Sandbox · Serena vs Ouroboros

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