Install

Choose your method

Whichever method you pick, you're installing one thing: mergen-server — the runtime every surface connects to. The CLI operates it, My Machine governs through it, your IDE connects via MCP. Start with Claude Code for the smoothest experience.

Claude Code

Easiest — Recommended

Best for: Direct integration with Claude Code via MCP

Time< 1 minute

claude mcp add mergen --transport stdio -- npx mergen-server start

Verify connection

claude -c "ask mergen for recent logs"

Verify

Check your installation

Run after any install method

mergen-server --version
mergen-server test
mergen-server start

Expected output

✓ Server binary exists

✓ Server starts successfully

✓ Health endpoint responds

✓ Event ingestion works

✓ IDE configured correctly

Mergen is ready to use!

Compare

Methods at a glance

Method	Time	Dependencies	Updates	Best For
Claude Code (MCP)	< 1 min	Claude Code	Auto (npx)	Claude Code users
NPM	2 min	Node.js	Auto	Any MCP-compatible IDE
Homebrew	3 min	macOS	brew upgrade	Mac users
Docker	1 min	Docker	Manual	Containers

Troubleshooting

Common issues

"Command not found: claude"

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

"Mergen index failed: no documents found"

Ensure your postmortems are in .md format
Check the directory path provided to the index command

"IDE not showing Mergen tools"

# Restart your IDE after setup
# Verify MCP config file exists:
# Cursor:    ~/.cursor/mcp.json
# VS Code:   ~/.vscode/mcp.json

Next Steps

You're ready. Start debugging.

Start server

mergen-server start

Open your AI IDE

Cursor / Claude Code / VS Code

Ask your AI

"Get recent logs"

Web UI (optional)

http://127.0.0.1:3000/setup

GitHub Report an Issue

Security

✓ No data leaves your machine✓ Server runs on localhost only (127.0.0.1)✓ Local-first by default — cloud sync is opt-in, never required✓ No analytics