---
slug: "clj"
source_type: "readme"
source_url: "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/bigsy/clj-kondo-mcp@main/README.md"
repo: "https://github.com/bigsy/clj-kondo-mcp"
source_file: "README.md"
branch: "main"
---
# clj-kondo MCP Server [![npm version](https://badge.fury.io/js/clj-kondo-mcp.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/js/clj-kondo-mcp)

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides clj-kondo linting capabilities for Clojure/ClojureScript/EDN files. Handy for Claude code and desktop where there are no built in linting capabilities. You may want to consider editing your CLAUDE.md asking it to lint after editing.

## Features

- Lint Clojure files via MCP tool calls
- Supports all clj-kondo analysis capabilities
- Optional explicit configuration directory support

## Installation

### Quick Install
```bash
npx clj-kondo-mcp
```
or IDE config
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clj-kondo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["clj-kondo-mcp"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}
```

### Manual Installation

1. Install clj-kondo:
Make sure you have [clj-kondo](https://github.com/clj-kondo/clj-kondo) installed and available on your system PATH. See the [installation instructions](https://github.com/clj-kondo/clj-kondo/blob/master/doc/install.md) for your platform.

2. Install dependencies:
```bash
npm install
```

3. Build the server:
```bash
npm run build
```

## Usage

### Running the Server
```bash
node build/index.js
```

### MCP Tool Calls
The server provides one tool:

**lint_clojure** - Lint Clojure/ClojureScript/EDN content

Parameters:
```json
{
  "file": "/absolute/path/to/file.clj", // Must be absolute path - can be a file, directory, or classpath
  "configDir": "/absolute/path/to/config/dir", // Optional, must be absolute path if provided
  "level": "warning" // Optional, defaults to error level
}
```

The `file` parameter accepts:
- A single file path (e.g. "/path/to/src/my_file.clj") 
- A directory path (e.g. "/path/to/src") - will lint all .clj, .cljs and .cljc files recursively
- A classpath string - will lint all Clojure files in the classpath
  - For Leiningen projects: Use output of `lein classpath`
  - For deps.edn projects: Use output of `clojure -Spath`

**Note**: Both file and configDir parameters must be absolute paths since the MCP server runs as a separate process. Relative paths will not work correctly.

By default, clj-kondo will automatically look for configuration in the `.clj-kondo` directory in the current and parent directories. You can override this by specifying the `configDir` parameter to point to a specific configuration directory.

For more information about clj-kondo configuration, see the [official documentation](https://github.com/clj-kondo/clj-kondo/blob/master/doc/config.md).


## Configuration

Add to your MCP settings file (for Cline, located at `~/Library/Application Support/Code - Insiders/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json`):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clj-kondo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["clj-kondo-mcp"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}
```

For manual builds, use:
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clj-kondo": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["build/index.js"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}
```

### Build
```bash
npm run build
```

### Watch Mode
```bash
npm run dev
```