Integration: Claude Code

Coverage status

Path	Status	Notes
MCP server	✅ Supported	Claude Code has first-class MCP support via CLAUDE.md
Harness	✅ Supported	`ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL` proxy for full turn capture
Extension	—	Claude Code is a CLI; no browser surface

Confidence: High. Claude Code’s MCP integration is the primary use case MemStrata was designed around. Both paths are tested on every release.

Setup: MCP path (recommended)

Claude Code reads MCP server configuration from CLAUDE.md or ~/.claude/settings.json.

1. Start the MemStrata MCP server

memstrata serve --port 8080

2. Register in Claude Code

Add to your project’s CLAUDE.md or ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memstrata": {
      "command": "memstrata",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Or use the stdio transport (recommended — no separate port needed):

memstrata mcp --stdio

Claude Code will launch MemStrata as a subprocess and communicate via stdin/stdout. This is the cleanest setup — no port to manage.

3. Verify

In a Claude Code session, run:

/mcp

You should see memstrata listed as a connected server with its available tools (context_query, index_status, savings_summary).

Setup: Harness path

The harness proxies all Anthropic API calls, compressing context before each request.

1. Start the harness

memstrata serve --port 8080

2. Set the API base URL

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080/anthropic

Add this to your shell profile so Claude Code picks it up automatically.

3. Verify

Run claude and ask: “What are the main modules in this codebase?” The harness log (memstrata logs --tail 10) should show compression stats.

What’s captured

Signal	Captured?	Notes
Claude Code chat turns	✅ Yes	Full context compression via MCP or harness
Agent mode (multi-turn)	✅ Yes	Each sub-turn is captured and compressed
Tool calls (Bash, Edit, Read)	✅ Yes	Tool results are included in context accounting
`/compact` command	✅ Yes	MemStrata’s savings are additive with compaction
Thinking tokens (extended thinking)	⚠️ Monitored	Token counts tracked; thinking blocks not compressed (they’re generated, not input)
File reads from the AI	✅ Yes	MemStrata intercepts Read tool context before it’s sent

MCP tools exposed

MemStrata exposes three tools to Claude Code via MCP:

Tool	Description
`context_query`	Returns a compressed context slice for a given query. Claude Code calls this when it needs codebase context.
`index_status`	Returns the current index state (file count, last updated, coverage).
`savings_summary`	Returns the session’s token savings and dollar estimate so far.

Troubleshooting

memstrata not showing in /mcp
Check that the MCP config is in the right file and that memstrata mcp --stdio runs without error.

Harness returns 502 Bad Gateway
The harness is running but can’t reach Anthropic. Check ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set and that https://api.anthropic.com is reachable.

Context feels wrong or hallucinated
Run memstrata status to verify the project index is fresh. If the last indexed time is stale, run memstrata index.