Serena
Serena is an MCP server that gives AI coding agents IDE-style code search, editing, and refactoring for developers working in large codebases.
What it is good for
- Finding and editing code across large projects without reading whole files
- Renaming functions and moving code safely across many files
- Giving an AI coding assistant better understanding of code structure
- Debugging code with symbol-aware navigation
At a glance
- Who it is for
- Setup
- Guided command-line setup
Level 4 of 5. You copy and paste commands into a terminal by following the instructions. Comfortable territory for vibe coders.
- Cost
- Free tier plus paid plans
- Type
- MCP server or connector
- Tasks
- Works with
- Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, OpenCode, Gemini-CLI, VSCode
Momentum
- Rank this week
- Not ranked yet
- Best rank
- None yet
- GitHub stars
- 31,008
GitHub numbers as of Nov 2, 2026. Updated weekly.
Official links
Setup steps are on the official pages. We do not repeat them here, since they change.
Questions
- Is Serena free?
- It has a free plan and paid plans, according to its own description.
- Do I need to know how to code to use Serena?
- You do not need to write code, but setup means copying and pasting commands into a terminal by following its instructions.
- What does Serena work with?
- According to its own documentation, it works with Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, OpenCode, Gemini-CLI, and VSCode.
- What is Serena good for?
- Finding and editing code across large projects without reading whole files, renaming functions and moving code safely across many files, giving an AI coding assistant better understanding of code structure, and debugging code with symbol-aware navigation.
Similar agents to Serena
- REA
REA is an MCP server that lets AI agents reverse engineer apps and native binaries to explain how a feature works.
- CodeGraph
CodeGraph is a code knowledge graph that gives AI coding agents the relevant source code in fewer steps, running locally on your machine for developers.
- Context7
Context7 is an MCP server that gives AI coding agents up-to-date library documentation for developers.
- chrome-devtools-mcp
Chrome DevTools MCP is a connector that lets coding agents control and inspect a live Chrome browser for testing and debugging.
- codebase-memory-mcp
codebase-memory-mcp is an MCP server that builds a local map of a code repository so AI coding agents can find and trace code faster.
- Playwright MCP
Playwright MCP is an MCP server that lets AI apps control a web browser for you, for people who want their AI to click through websites and read pages.