Setting up

Set it up by hand

The exact file, location, and contents for each editor, when you'd rather not run a script.

The setup script writes these files for you. This page is for when you'd rather do it yourself, need to check what it wrote, or are configuring a machine you can't run scripts on.

What you need first

For a hosted manual connection, create an API key in the dashboard and send it in the X-ContextStream-API-Key header. Keep it in an editor secret store or a machine-only config file; never commit it.

The setup wizard is still the canonical way to configure an editor. Besides the public URL and key, managed configs include compatibility and capture settings that can evolve without this page becoming a copy-and-paste trap.

Then pick your editor

Claude Code

Hosted connection

Anthropic's terminal and IDE coding agent.

Connection file
mcp.json~/.claude/mcp.json globally, or .mcp.json in a project
Instructions file
CLAUDE.mdProject root, or ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md globally
mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextstream": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.contextstream.io/mcp?default_context_mode=fast",
      "headers": {
        "X-ContextStream-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with a key from your dashboard, keep the file out of version control, and restart the client. The setup command writes the fuller managed configuration for you.

If the shown configuration contains YOUR_API_KEY, replace it with your key. Rules-only entries such as Aider do not have an MCP credential to replace. Restart the editor, then ask it "what project am I in?" to confirm.

Local or hosted

The examples prefer the hosted server for clients that support remote MCP. Local stdio is a development and recovery option, not a private index. See Hosted or local before changing transports.

For the hosted server, the URL is:

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

Do not put the API key in the URL. Send it in the connection header.

VS Code in one command

Terminal
code --add-mcp '{"name":"contextstream","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.contextstream.io/mcp?default_context_mode=fast","headers":{"X-ContextStream-API-Key":"YOUR_API_KEY"}}'

Instruction files

Connecting gives the assistant the capability. The instruction file tells it when to use it — and it matters more than people expect. See Instruction files.

If it doesn't work

The editor doesn't see the server. Restart it. Most read MCP config only at startup.

contextstream-mcp: command not found. The local binary isn't installed or isn't on PATH. Either install it, or switch that editor to the hosted URL.

Authentication fails. Check the key is complete and hasn't been revoked. contextstream-mcp verify-key checks it directly.

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