About sqry - Semantic Code Search
sqry is an AST-based semantic code search MCP server with 39 tools across 37 languages, including call tracing and impact analysis. It runs in standalone mode with the full catalog or in daemon mode with a 17-tool subset.
Key features
- 01AST-based symbol and relationship queries
- 02Call tracing and impact analysis
- 03Support for 37 languages
- 04Standalone and daemon-backed run modes
- 05Redaction presets controlling path visibility
Use cases
- 01Finding definitions and callers in large codebases
- 02Estimating the reach of changing a symbol
- 03Giving AI coding agents structured code lookup
MCP support
sqry-mcp is an MCP server that exposes semantic search tools such as symbol search, relation queries and impact analysis to MCP clients. The tool catalog can be read through tools/list, sqry-mcp --list-tools or sqry://meta/manifest.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
We haven’t collected a package or remote endpoint for this server. Follow the instructions in the project README.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMEsqry MCP Server
Version: 33.0.1
MCP Registry name: mcp-name: io.github.verivus-oss/sqry
sqry-mcp exposes sqry semantic code-search tools to Model Context Protocol clients.
Modes
Standalone mode:
sqry-mcp --no-daemon
Daemon-backed mode:
sqry daemon start
sqry daemon load .
sqry-mcp --daemon
Standalone mode currently exposes 39 tools. Daemon-hosted MCP exposes a 17-tool subset backed by sqryd. Use dynamic discovery for exact schemas and descriptions:
sqry-mcp --list-tools
MCP clients can also call tools/list, and sqry clients can read sqry://meta/manifest.
Removed in 21.0.0: the
sqry_asknatural-language MCP tool was removed. Usesqry_query,semantic_search, andrelation_queryinstead; see Removed features for migration.
Setup
sqry mcp setup --tool claude
sqry mcp setup --tool codex
sqry mcp setup --tool gemini
Preview without writing:
sqry mcp setup --tool codex --dry-run
Codex and Gemini use global MCP config and rely on starting the assistant in the target project. Claude project scope can pin a workspace root.
When setup writes a standalone command, expect --no-daemon. Use --daemon only when you have started and loaded sqryd intentionally.
Tool Discovery
Prefer discovery over copying static tables:
- MCP
tools/list sqry-mcp --list-toolssqry://meta/manifestsqry://docs/tool-guidesqry://docs/capability-map
The standalone catalog includes tools for symbol search, navigation, relation queries, graph export, impact analysis, semantic diff, duplicate/cycle/unused detection, workspace status, and context propagation.
Quick Start Tool Calls
Use query for string predicates and filters for structured JSON pre-filters:
{
"name": "semantic_search",
"arguments": {
"query": "kind:function items:true",
"filters": {
"language": ["rust"],
"visibility": "public"
}
}
}
Use items:true or is_definition:true inside query for definition-only predicates. For list_symbols, use the structured items_only parameter instead:
{
"name": "list_symbols",
"arguments": {
"kind": "function",
"language": "rust",
"items_only": true
}
}
On pre-V16 snapshots without trustworthy definition signal, these definition-only surfaces return a reindexRequired / reindex-required advisory instead of silently evaluating stale default-false marker data.
Workspaces
MCP resolves workspace context from explicit paths, file-bearing arguments, MCP roots, recent session context, and current working directory fallback.
For multi-root projects, configure a workspace with .sqry-workspace or a VS Code .code-workspace file containing sqry.workspace.
sqry workspace status . --json
source_root_id
workspace_status.aggregate.source_root_statuses[].source_root_id is an opaque 8-hex display/correlation token. It is not a path and not a path prefix.
Invalid tool path:
485f1995/src/lib.rs
Valid tool paths:
src/lib.rs
/absolute/path/to/workspace/src/lib.rs
Under redaction, result paths can be rendered with a source-root prefix for display. Use source_root_id only to correlate that display prefix with aggregate status entries. Cleartext source roots appear only in top-level source_roots[] when the selected redaction preset permits them.
Redaction
The MCP runtime default is minimal. For hosted or external LLM providers, standard is the recommended preset unless stricter path privacy is required. strict is available for stronger redaction.
Keep these separate:
- Runtime default:
minimal - Recommended external-provider preset:
standard - Library/environment defaults: see
sqry-mcp-redactiondocs for embedding-specific behavior
Related Guides
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.