Agent Setup
Bobbin integrates with AI coding assistants through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This gives your AI agent semantic search, code coupling analysis, and context assembly capabilities over your codebase.
Claude Code
Option 1: MCP Server (Recommended)
Add bobbin as an MCP server in your Claude Code configuration:
Project-level (.claude/settings.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"bobbin": {
"command": "bobbin",
"args": ["serve"],
"env": {}
}
}
}
Global (~/.claude/settings.json): Same format, applies to all projects.
Once configured, Claude Code can use bobbin’s tools (search, grep, context, related, find_refs, list_symbols, read_chunk, hotspots, prime) directly in conversation.
Option 2: Hook Integration
For automatic context injection on every prompt (no manual tool calls needed):
bobbin hook install
This registers hooks in Claude Code’s settings.json that:
- On every prompt (
UserPromptSubmit): Search your codebase for code relevant to the prompt and inject it as context. - After compaction (
SessionStart): Restore codebase awareness when context is compressed.
You can also install the git hook for automatic re-indexing:
bobbin hook install-git-hook
See hook CLI reference for configuration options (--threshold, --budget, --global).
Both Together
MCP server and hooks complement each other:
- Hooks provide passive, automatic context on every prompt
- MCP tools let the agent actively search, explore, and analyze code
# Set up both
bobbin hook install
# Add MCP server to .claude/settings.json (see above)
Cursor
Add bobbin as an MCP server in Cursor’s settings:
.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"bobbin": {
"command": "bobbin",
"args": ["serve"]
}
}
}
Other MCP Clients
Any MCP-compatible client can connect to bobbin. The server communicates via stdio by default:
bobbin serve # MCP server on stdio
bobbin serve --server # HTTP REST API instead
For remote or shared deployments, see HTTP Mode.
Verifying the Connection
Once configured, your AI agent should have access to bobbin’s tools. Test by asking it to:
- “Search for error handling code” (uses
searchtool) - “What files are related to
src/main.rs?” (usesrelatedtool) - “Find the definition of
parse_config” (usesfind_refstool)
Prerequisites
Before connecting an agent, make sure your repository is initialized and indexed:
bobbin init
bobbin index
Next Steps
- MCP Overview — how the MCP integration works
- MCP Tools Reference — all available tools and their parameters
- Client Configuration — detailed configuration for each client