Parecode MCP server

parecode

An MCP server that gives coding agents context-window-aware search and safe, atomic multi-file edits — built to cut token usage on large codebases without giving up correctness.

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or newer (ESM, native test runner, stable fetch-free runtime).
• ripgrep on PATH (rg on Linux/macOS, rg.exe on Windows). Install via your package manager:
• macOS: brew install ripgrep
• Debian/Ubuntu: apt install ripgrep
• Windows: winget install BurntSushi.ripgrep.MSVC or choco install ripgrep
• A supported MCP client (Claude Code is the reference target).

Parecode does not bundle ripgrep — it shells out to the system binary so you stay on a single, audited version.

Install

npm install -g parecode

Pure JavaScript — no native dependencies, no C/C++ toolchain required.

Quick start

Register the server with Claude Code:

parecode init                       # user scope; installs MCP + SessionStart hook + parecode-explore plugin (defaults)
parecode init --scope project       # commit MCP config + hook to the repo
parecode init --no-hook             # register MCP only; skip the SessionStart hook
parecode init --no-plugin           # skip the parecode-explore Claude Code plugin
parecode init --print               # print the equivalent command without running it
parecode init --remove-hook         # remove the SessionStart hook (MCP stays registered)
parecode init --remove-plugin       # uninstall the parecode-explore Claude Code plugin

The SessionStart hook injects a short directive at the start of each session telling Claude to prefer ParecodeSearch / ParecodeEdit over the equivalent native tools. Without it, Claude's first-party Grep / Read / Edit tools typically win by default and Parecode's token savings never land. The hook payload is a static string; parecode hook session-start prints it. Pass --no-hook if you would rather opt in explicitly per session via your own tooling.

The bundled parecode-explore Claude Code plugin adds a read-only subagent (pinned to Haiku, given only ParecodeSearch) and a matching skill, so exploration-style questions ("where is X?", "how does Y work?", "find all usages of Z") get answered in a cheap, isolated context window instead of burning tokens in your main session. init registers a local marketplace pointing at the npm-installed copy and runs claude plugin install parecode-explore@parecode. If your Claude Code build doesn't support the plugin subcommand the step soft-fails with a warning and the rest of init still succeeds; pass --no-plugin to skip it entirely, or --with-plugin to make any plugin-step failure hard-fail.

Then in any session, the ParecodeSearch, ParecodeExpand, and ParecodeEdit tools become available. Run parecode doctor to confirm registration, hook status, and .codegraph/ pairing if present.

What it does

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.