This page documents the configuration files that codebase-memory-mcp reads or writes today.
| Purpose | Path | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global custom extension mapping | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/codebase-memory-mcp/config.json |
JSON | Falls back to ~/.config/codebase-memory-mcp/config.json when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset. |
| Per-project custom extension mapping | {repo_root}/.codebase-memory.json |
JSON | Overrides conflicting global extra_extensions entries. |
| CLI-managed runtime settings | ${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/_config.db |
SQLite | Written by codebase-memory-mcp config set/reset. |
| UI settings | ${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/config.json |
JSON | Stores ui_enabled and ui_port. |
| Daemon operation log | ${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/logs/cbm-daemon.log |
Structured log | Durable daemon lifecycle, watcher/indexing, UI, resource, and error events. |
| Admission conflict log | ${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/logs/daemon-conflicts.ndjson |
NDJSON | Exact-build, ABI, and canonical-cache conflicts. |
| Activation log | ${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/logs/activation-events.ndjson |
NDJSON | Install/update/uninstall activation progress and outcomes. |
CBM resolves CBM_CACHE_DIR to a canonical per-account path before using any of these locations. The log directory and files are private to the account.
Two optional JSON files let you map additional file extensions to built-in languages.
Default path:
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/codebase-memory-mcp/config.json
Fallback when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset:
~/.config/codebase-memory-mcp/config.json
Place this file in the repository root:
.codebase-memory.json
{
"extra_extensions": {
".blade.php": "php",
".mjs": "javascript",
".twig": "html"
}
}Notes:
- Extension keys must include the leading dot.
- Language names are case-insensitive.
- Unknown language names are skipped.
- Missing files are ignored.
- If the same extension appears in both files, the per-project file wins.
The config subcommand stores runtime settings in a small SQLite database:
${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/_config.db
Inspect or change values with the CLI:
codebase-memory-mcp config list
codebase-memory-mcp config get auto_index
codebase-memory-mcp config set auto_index true
codebase-memory-mcp config set auto_index_limit 50000
codebase-memory-mcp config reset auto_indexCurrent keys:
| Key | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
auto_index |
false |
Automatically index new projects when an MCP session starts. |
auto_index_limit |
50000 |
Maximum file count allowed for automatic indexing of a new project. |
The optional built-in graph UI stores its settings in:
${CBM_CACHE_DIR:-~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp}/config.json
Current format:
{
"ui_enabled": false,
"ui_port": 9749
}Notes:
- If the UI-enabled binary has embedded assets and no UI config file exists yet, the UI auto-enables on first run.
CBM_CACHE_DIRchanges both the UI config location and the runtime settings database location.- CBM resolves
CBM_CACHE_DIRto one canonical per-account cache root. A process configured with a different root fails while any CBM session or command is active; close them before switching roots.
These environment variables affect runtime behavior:
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
CBM_ALLOWED_ROOT |
(unset) | Restrict index_repository to paths within this directory. When set, a repo_path that resolves (after symlink / .. resolution) outside this root is refused; unset imposes no restriction. Useful when the server may be driven by an untrusted caller (agentic or multi-tenant deployments). |
CBM_CACHE_DIR |
~/.cache/codebase-memory-mcp |
Override the cache directory used for indexes, _config.db, and UI config.json. |
CBM_DIAGNOSTICS |
false |
Enable periodic snapshot.json and retained trajectory.ndjson below a fresh owner-private directory in the system temp directory. The daemon records the randomized paths in the diagnostics.start discovery record (a single JSON line) in ${CBM_CACHE_DIR}/logs/cbm-daemon.log; that one record is emitted even when CBM_LOG_LEVEL suppresses ordinary logging, so the paths always remain discoverable. |
CBM_DOWNLOAD_URL |
GitHub releases | Override the update download URL. |
CBM_LOG_LEVEL |
info |
Set the log level to debug, info, warn, error, or none (or 0-4). Thin-frontend messages use that session's stderr; detached daemon events use ${CBM_CACHE_DIR}/logs/cbm-daemon.log. |
CBM_WORKERS |
auto-detected | Override the indexing worker count. |
Environment used by daemon-owned components—such as diagnostics, daemon logging, and process-wide indexing resource limits—is captured from the first daemon-backed session that starts the daemon. Later sessions join the existing process and cannot replace those values. To change them, close every daemon-backed session, update the relevant agent configurations consistently, and restart a session. CBM_ALLOWED_ROOT remains session-specific, a conflicting CBM_CACHE_DIR is rejected, and one-shot CLI commands use their own current environment without starting the daemon.
The install command can also write MCP entries and instruction blocks into agent/editor config files such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, VS Code, Cursor, Zed, and others.
Those target paths vary by tool and platform, so the easiest way to inspect the exact files for your machine is:
codebase-memory-mcp install --dry-runThat prints the specific config files the installer would modify without writing anything.