Does Serena have an MCP server?

Add it from the terminal, then restart your session:

claude mcp add serena -- npx -y <package-from-readme>

Swap in the exact package and flags from the repo README — most servers need an API key passed as an environment variable.

Add --scope user to make it available in every project.

Open Settings → Developer → Edit Config and add the server to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "<package-from-readme>"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "…"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "<package-from-readme>"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "…"
      }
    }
  }
}

A green dot in Settings → MCP means it connected.

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "serena": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "<package-from-readme>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Then pick the server from the tools menu in Copilot's agent mode.

ChatGPT connects to remote servers only, and this one runs on your machine. Either expose it through an MCP gateway that gives it a public URL, or use a client with native local support — Claude or Cursor.