Setting up

Hosted or local

Choose the normal hosted connection or the local recovery transport without mistaking transport for a privacy boundary.

The short answer

Use hosted. It is the supported default, updates without changing every editor, and works with the local sync helper installed by setup.

Use local stdio only for development, recovery, or an editor that cannot connect to an HTTP MCP server. It changes how the editor reaches ContextStream; it does not create a local-only account or search index.

Side by side

Connection detail	Hosted	Local
Editor connection	Hosted URL	Local process over stdio
Recommended	Yes	Development and recovery
Helper on your machine	Setup installs one for source sync and maintenance	The same binary also serves the editor
Transport	HTTP	stdio
Source discovery	The helper validates and syncs local checkouts	The process reads the checkout directly
Search and memory	ContextStream service	ContextStream service
Fully offline	No	No

Hosted

Code

https://mcp.contextstream.io/mcp?default_context_mode=fast

The editor talks to this URL. The setup wizard also installs a small local helper so changed, validated files can be synced for indexing; the helper is not the editor's MCP server in the normal setup.

default_context_mode=fast asks for the lighter context bundle on each turn, which is the right default for editor use — deeper context costs latency you'll feel in an autocomplete-shaped workflow.

Local stdio

A binary the editor launches and talks to over standard input and output. This is useful when testing the server itself, recovering from a hosted connection problem, or supporting a command-only client.

Local stdio can read the checkout directly, but accepted source file contents are still sent to ContextStream for hosted indexing. Do not choose it as a “code never leaves this machine” mode. If policy forbids uploading a repository, do not index that repository; use .contextignore for additional tracked files that should be excluded. See Privacy and what gets indexed.

Terminal

contextstream-mcp setup            # install/configure the normal hosted setup
contextstream-mcp update           # keep the local helper current
contextstream-mcp verify-key       # check credentials

Mixing them

Possible, but usually unnecessary. Two editors can use different transports and still point at the same workspace. They see the same service-side memory and search data either way — transport is a connection detail, not a data boundary.

If it doesn't work

Hosted works, local doesn't. The binary isn't on PATH for the environment the editor launches in — GUI apps often don't inherit your shell's PATH. Use an absolute path in the config.

Source changes are missing. Run contextstream-mcp doctor first. For an explicit foreground ingest, use contextstream-mcp ingest --help and provide the intended project and path.

An editor won't accept the HTTP URL. It doesn't support that transport. Use local stdio for that editor, or let setup choose the compatible form.