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BigParse

STDIO

MCP server giving LLMs efficient access and search capabilities for your codebase

BigParse 🚀

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives Claude and other LLMs instant, intelligent access to your codebase. Think of it as "giving your LLM a GPS for your code" - instead of reading every file, BigParse lets LLMs navigate and search your codebase efficiently.

Why BigParse?

The Problem

Without BigParse, when you ask Claude about your code:

  • You manually paste files (uses lots of context)
  • Claude has to parse everything from scratch
  • Limited to what fits in the context window
  • No way to search across large codebases

The Solution

With BigParse, Claude can:

  • Search your entire codebase instantly
  • Navigate to exact file locations and line numbers
  • Understand code structure without reading every file
  • Work with codebases of ANY size

Features ✨

  • ⚡ Lightning-fast code search - Regex-based search across your entire codebase in milliseconds
  • 🔍 Smart symbol extraction - Extract classes, functions, interfaces using Language Server Protocol
  • 💾 Intelligent caching - Re-indexing is 1000x+ faster with smart caching
  • 🌐 Multi-language support - TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Rust, Go, Dart/Flutter, and more
  • 🔒 Secure subprocess handling - Safe installation of language servers with command validation
  • 🤖 MCP integration - Seamlessly works with Claude Desktop and Claude Code
  • 📊 Performance metrics - See exactly how fast BigParse is working

Installation

Option 1: Claude Desktop (Auto-updating)

  1. Add to Claude Desktop config:

    # macOS
open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

# Windows
notepad %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

# Linux
nano ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

  2. Add BigParse to the mcpServers section:

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "BigParse": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["bigparse"],
      "env": {
        "WORKSPACE_ROOT": "/path/to/your/projects"
      }
    }
  }
}

  3. Replace /path/to/your/projects with the directory you want to analyze

  4. Restart Claude Desktop

Benefits:

  • ✅ Always runs the latest version
  • ✅ No installation needed
  • ✅ No manual updates
  • ✅ Works on all platforms

Option 2: Claude Code CLI

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 16+
  • npm or yarn

Quick Start

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/agentbrazley/BigParse.git
cd BigParse
  1. Install dependencies:
npm install
  1. Build the project:
npm run build
  1. Install for Claude Code:
./scripts/install-for-claude.sh

Or manually:

claude mcp add bigparse "node" "$(pwd)/dist/index.js"

Language Server Support

For enhanced features, install language servers:

# TypeScript/JavaScript
npm install -g typescript-language-server typescript

# Python
pip install python-lsp-server

# Rust
rustup component add rust-analyzer

# Go
go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest

# Dart/Flutter
# Included with Flutter SDK

How It Works

BigParse creates a searchable index of your codebase that LLMs can query efficiently:

  1. Indexing: Scans your codebase and extracts symbols, creating a searchable map
  2. Caching: Stores results for instant access on subsequent queries
  3. Search: Uses optimized regex search with file type filtering
  4. LSP Integration: Leverages language servers for accurate symbol extraction

Performance Example

Without BigParse:

  • Claude: "Please share your WebSocket files"
  • You: paste multiple large files
  • Context used: 5000+ tokens

With BigParse:

  • Claude: searches for "WebSocket"
  • Instant results with exact locations
  • Context used: ~50 tokens

Usage

Once installed, BigParse tools are automatically available in Claude. Just ask:

  • "Search for all React components in this project"
  • "Find where the WebSocket handler is defined"
  • "Show me all TypeScript interfaces"
  • "What's the structure of this codebase?"

Setting the Workspace

Claude Desktop

To change the workspace directory, edit your Claude Desktop config file and update the WORKSPACE_ROOT environment variable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "BigParse": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/BigParse/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "WORKSPACE_ROOT": "/new/project/path"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop.

Claude Code CLI

By default, BigParse uses the current directory. To analyze a specific project:

# Using the helper script
./scripts/update-workspace.sh /path/to/your/project

# Or with environment variable
claude mcp remove bigparse -s local
claude mcp add bigparse "node" "/path/to/BigParse/dist/index.js" --env "WORKSPACE_ROOT=/path/to/project"

Available Tools

| Tool | Description | Example | |------|-------------|---------|| | index_codebase | Index project files for searching | "Index this TypeScript project" | | search_code | Search with regex patterns | "Find all async functions" | | get_symbols | Extract symbols from files | "Show symbols in main.ts" | | find_references | Find all references to a symbol | "Find all uses of WebSocketClient" | | go_to_definition | Jump to symbol definition | "Go to definition of handleMessage" | | check_language_servers | Check installed LSPs | "What language servers are installed?" | | install_language_server | Install language servers | "Install TypeScript language server" |

Configuration

Supported Languages

  • TypeScript/JavaScript (.ts, .tsx, .js, .jsx)
  • Python (.py)
  • Rust (.rs)
  • Go (.go)
  • Java (.java)
  • C# (.cs)
  • C/C++ (.c, .cpp, .h)
  • Ruby (.rb)
  • PHP (.php)
  • Swift (.swift)
  • Dart (.dart)

Cache Location

BigParse stores its cache in .bigparse/ within your project directory. Add this to .gitignore:

.bigparse/

Development

Building from Source

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

# Run tests
npm test

Project Structure

BigParse/
├── src/                    # TypeScript source files
│   ├── index.ts           # MCP server entry point
│   ├── lsp/               # Language Server Protocol integration
│   ├── indexing/          # Code indexing and caching
│   ├── tools/             # MCP tool definitions
│   └── subprocess/        # Secure subprocess handling
├── dist/                  # Compiled JavaScript
├── config/                # Language configurations
└── scripts/               # Helper scripts

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Security

BigParse includes security features to safely handle subprocess commands:

  • Command whitelisting for language server installation
  • Pattern detection to prevent command injection
  • Validation of all subprocess operations

Troubleshooting

BigParse not showing in Claude

# Check if installed
claude mcp list

# Reinstall if needed
./install-for-claude.sh

Language server not working

# Check installed servers
claude mcp get bigparse
# Then ask Claude to use check_language_servers tool

Cache issues

# Clear cache
rm -rf .bigparse/

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file

Credits

Created by Lancio AI (2025)

Support

Made with ❤️ for the Claude community

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