
symbols
io.github.p1va/symbols
MCP server to read, inspect and troubleshoot codebase symbols
Documentation
Symbols MCP
Read, inspect and navigate through codebase symbols by connecting to a Language Server
Introduction
By connecting to a Language Server of choice this MCP server makes it easy and efficient for coding agents to explore and navigate the codebase and its dependencies. The server offers a minimal toolset intended to be simple to use and light on the model's context.
Available Tools
outline
: returns an outline of code symbols in a file. Either compact or with a small code snippetinspect
: returns docs, signature, declaration and implementation locations for a symbol. For local and third-party ones (e.g. npm, NuGet, ... )search
: returns matching symbols across the codebasereferences
: finds all references of a symbol across the codebaserename
: renames all references of a symbol across the codebasediagnostics
: returns active diagnostics in a given filecompletion
: returns a list of contextual completions at a given locationlogs
: returns Language Server own logs for troubleshooting
Installation
Quickstart (run
command)
Use the run
command to start the MCP server with the desired Language Server command defined inline.
npx -y "@p1va/symbols" run [run options] <lsp-cmd> [lsp args]
See below configurations for the Language Servers tested. Other stdio Language Servers should work too. For simplicity examples follow Claude Code schema.
Pyright
Pyright
Installation
npm install -g pyright
Verify Installation
pyright-langserver
should be available
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"pyright-langserver", "--stdio"
]
}
}
}
ℹ️ If you'd rather avoid installing pyright globally and are fine with a slower start up, you can substitute
pyright-langserver --stdio
in the JSON above withnpx -y -p pyright pyright-langserver --stdio
Troubleshooting
Virtual Env not found
If the logs
tool output includes errors or the diagnostics
tool only reports module import errors even when none appear in the IDE these might be signs of Pyright not detecting the virtual environment.
You can update your pyproject.toml
to correctly point it to the virtual environment location.
[tool.pyright]
venvPath = "."
venv = ".venv"
TypeScript
TypeScript Language Server
Installation
npm install -g typescipt-language-server
Verify Installation
typescipt-language-server --version
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"typescript-language-server", "--stdio"
],
"env": {
// Keep at least one code file open for search to work
"SYMBOLS_PRELOAD_FILES": "src/index.ts;",
"SYMBOLS_DIAGNOSTICS_STRATEGY": "push"
}
}
}
}
ℹ️ If you'd rather avoid installing typescript-language-server globally and are fine with a slower start up, you can substitute
typescript-language-server --stdio
in the JSON above withnpx -y typescript-language-server --stdio
Troubleshooting
Search: No results
For the search functionality to work the TS Language Server needs to compute the codebase index and keep in memory.
This is done by keeping at least one code file open at any time. Use the SYMBOLS_PRELOAD_FILES="src/index.ts
variable with paths to a few files.
Roslyn
Roslyn Language Server
Installation
The official C# Language Server is distributed over the VS IDE NuGet feed as a self-contained executable.
To facilitate download and extraction we use the dotnet
CLI with a temporary project file named ServerDownload.csproj
with the following content:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<PackageNameBase>Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.LanguageServer</PackageNameBase>
<PackageVersion>5.0.0-1.25353.13</PackageVersion>
<RestorePackagesPath Condition=" '$(RestorePackagesPath)' == '' ">/tmp/lsp-download</RestorePackagesPath>
<ServerPath Condition=" '$(DownloadPath)' == '' ">./LspServer/</ServerPath>
<TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
<DisableImplicitNuGetFallbackFolder>true</DisableImplicitNuGetFallbackFolder>
<AutomaticallyUseReferenceAssemblyPackages>false</AutomaticallyUseReferenceAssemblyPackages>
<RestoreSources>
https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/azure-public/vside/_packaging/vs-impl/nuget/v3/index.json
</RestoreSources>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageDownload Include="$(PackageNameBase).$(Platform)" version="[$(PackageVersion)]" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="SimplifyPath" AfterTargets="Restore">
<PropertyGroup>
<PackageIdFolderName>$(PackageNameBase.ToLower()).$(Platform.ToLower())</PackageIdFolderName>
<PackageContentPath>$(RestorePackagesPath)/$(PackageIdFolderName)/$(PackageVersion)/content/LanguageServer/$(Platform)/</PackageContentPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ServerFiles Include="$(PackageContentPath)**/*" />
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="@(ServerFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(ServerPath)%(RecursiveDir)" />
<RemoveDir Directories="$(RestorePackagesPath)" />
</Target>
</Project>
We then pick the platform identifier matching the machine from this list:
win-x64
, win-arm64
, linux-x64
, linux-arm64
, linux-musl-x64
, linux-musl-arm64
, osx-x64
, osx-arm64
or neutral
And finally restore the temporary project to trigger the download of the Language Server.
Adjust both RestorePackagesPath
and ServerPath
to work on your machine and keep track of the latter.
SYMBOLS_ROSLYN_PATH=$HOME/.csharp-lsp
dotnet restore ServerDownload.csproj \
/p:Platform=your-platform-id \
/p:RestorePackagesPath=/tmp/your/download/location \
/p:ServerPath=$SYMBOLS_ROSLYN_PATH
Verify Installation
To verify the outcome of the installation we run the command below
$SYMBOLS_ROSLYN_PATH/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.LanguageServer --version
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"dotnet", "$SYMBOLS_ROSLYN_PATH/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.LanguageServer.dll",
"--logLevel=Information",
"--extensionLogDirectory=$SYMBOLS_ROSLYN_PATH/logs",
"--stdio"
],
"env": {
"SYMBOLS_WORKSPACE_LOADER": "roslyn",
// Adjust this to your installation path
"SYMBOLS_ROSLYN_PATH": "$HOME/.csharp-lsp",
}
}
}
}
ℹ️ Roslyn Language Server is also provided with the C# Dev Kit extension for VS Code however the launch command is a bit more complicated and changes each time the extension is updated. If wanting to try it i suggest trying the other modality (
config init
*start
) which brings a template for the launch command
Troubleshooting
Search: No Results Found
If search
doesn't find results before a file was read for the first time it's possible to warm up by pre-loading a few files from different projects with
"SYMBOLS_PRELOAD_FILES": "src/Project/Program.cs"
Linux: Max Number of Inotify Instances Reached
If on Linux LSP logs suggest that the maximum number of inotify per user instances has been reached it's possible to increase it with a value greater than the actual
sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=512
This allows the Language Server to keep monitoring files in the Solution/Project
Additionally JetBrains has more details on this issue
Clang
Clang for C/C++
Verify Installation
clangd --help
is available
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"clangd",
],
"env": {
"SYMBOLS_DIAGNOSTICS_STRATEGY": "push",
"SYMBOLS_PRELOAD_FILES": "path/to/file.cpp"
}
}
}
}
Troubleshooting
General Errors
Ensure either compile_commands.json
is found in the working directory or provide its directory path with --compile-commands-dir=path/to/dir
Search: No Results Found
Index is generate when the first file is opened. To warm up is possible to pre load and keep a one or more files opened by providing a list in SYMBOLS_PRELOAD_FILES
Gopls
Gopls
Installation
go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest
Verify Installation
gopls version
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"gopls"
],
"env": {
"SYMBOLS_DIAGNOSTICS_STRATEGY": "push",
// Adjust these to your machine
"GOPATH" : "$HOME/go",
"GOCACHE": "$HOME/.cache/go-build",
"GOMODCACHE": "$HOME/go/pkg/mod"
}
}
}
}
Rust-analyzer
Rust-analyzer
Installation
rustup component add rust-analyzer
Verify Installation
rust-analyzer --version
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"rust-analyzer"
]
}
}
}
Eclipse JDT
Eclipse JDT Language Server
Installation
Follow installation instructions on the Project's GitHub README
Verify Installation
$SYMBOLS_JDTLS_PATH/bin/jdtls --help
Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "run",
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
"$SYMBOLS_JDTLS_PATH/bin/jdtls",
"-configuration", "$HOME/.cache/jdtls/config",
"-data", "$HOME/.cache/jdtls/workspace/$SYMBOLS_WORKSPACE_NAME"
],
"env": {
"SYMBOLS_DIAGNOSTICS_STRATEGY": "push",
"SYMBOLS_JDTLS_PATH": "$HOME/.java-lsp/jdtls",
}
}
}
}
Auto-detection (config
& start
commands)
If you prefer to keep your MCP config minimal and portable, it's possible to move Language Server definitions out to a dedicated file and have the MCP server read from there and auto-detect which Language Server to launch depending on the codebase.
🆕
1. config init
Initialize Config
User-wide
To create a user-wide config file run the following command
npx -y "@p1va/symbols@latest" config init --global
This will create a configuration file to be found at:
- On Linux:
~/.config/symbols-nodejs/language-servers.yaml
- On MacOS:
~/Library/Preferences/symbols-nodejs/language-servers.yaml
- On Windows:
%APPDATA%\symbols-nodejs\Config\language-servers.yaml
Workspace (Defaults to Current Directory)
To create a workspace config file run this instead
npx -y "@p1va/symbols@latest" config init -w path/to/workspace
- Will initialize
path/to/workspace/language-servers.yaml
npx -y "@p1va/symbols@latest" config init
- Will initialize
./language-servers.yaml
⚙️
2. config show
Tweak Config
Use your editor (here i use code
) to tweak the generated config file and comment, uncomment or add new language servers.
code $(npx -y @p1va/symbols config path)
Show Active Config
Finally run the command in your workspace (e.g. where you launch Claude Code) to see that the changes are being applied
npx -y @p1va/symbols config show
npx -y @p1va/symbols config show -w path/to/workspace
npx -y @p1va/symbols config show -c path/to/config.yaml
⚡️
3. start
Update your MCP configuration with this MCP server. The first Language Server having workspace_files
matching any of the files seen at the root of the workspace will be launched
{
"mcpServers": {
"symbols": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y", "@p1va/symbols@latest", "start",
// Defaults to current directory
"-w", "optional/path/to/workspace",
// Defaults to language-servers.yaml in current workspace
"-c", "optional/path/to/config.yaml",
]
}
}
}
Development
pnpm lint
outputs the lint violationspnpm lint:fix
attempts to fix lint violationspnpm format
formats the codebasepnpm dev
starts in development modepnpm build
runs the linter and buildpnpm start
starts the built artifactspnpm test:unit
runs the unit testspnpm test:integration:{language id}
runs the integration tests for a given language
@p1va/symbols
npm install @p1va/symbols