Claude Code

Claude Code is the primary integration target for CCE. Setup creates MCP configuration, an instruction file, session hooks, and memory capture hooks.

Quick setup

cce init --agent claude

This creates or updates the following files in your project root.

Files created

.mcp.json

Registers the CCE MCP server so Claude Code can call tools like context_search.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context-engine": {
      "command": "cce",
      "args": ["serve", "--project-dir", "/path/to/your/project"]
    }
  }
}

CLAUDE.md

Contains instructions telling Claude to use context_search for code questions instead of reading files directly. The CCE block is wrapped in markers:

<!-- CCE:BEGIN -->
...instructions...
<!-- CCE:END -->

You can add your own content above or below the markers. CCE will only update the section between them during upgrades.

Session hooks

CCE installs a SessionStart hook that prints a one-line status summary at the beginning of each Claude Code session:

CCE v0.4.23 · my-project · 1247 chunks indexed · 94% saved over 42 queries ($11.20 saved)
USE context_search MCP tool for all code questions. Do NOT use Read/Grep to explore code.

This reminds Claude to use CCE from the very first message.

Memory hooks

5 lifecycle hooks capture session context automatically:

• SessionStart prints the resume block (prior decisions, last session rollup, savings)
• UserPromptSubmit records each prompt
• PostToolUse captures tool calls and results
• Stop marks the turn complete, queues compression
• SessionEnd marks the session complete, queues rollup

These are stored in memory.db and surfaced in subsequent sessions via session_recall. The dashboard “Sessions” view shows all captured data.

Git hooks

Three git hooks keep the index fresh:

• post-commit runs cce index after each commit
• post-checkout runs cce index after branch switches
• post-merge runs cce index after merges

Each hook contains a CCE marker comment so cce uninstall can cleanly remove them.

Verify it’s working

After restarting Claude Code, check that CCE tools are available:

> What tools do you have from context-engine?

Claude should list context_search, expand_chunk, related_context, session_recall, etc.

Then ask a question about your code:

> How does the auth flow work?

Claude should use context_search instead of reading files. Check savings:

cce savings

Troubleshooting

”No MCP tools found”

Claude Code needs a restart after cce init. Close and reopen your terminal, or run /mcp in Claude Code to check registered servers.

Tools available but Claude doesn’t use them

Check that CLAUDE.md contains the CCE instructions block. Open it and look for the ## Context Engine (CCE) section. If missing, re-run cce init.

”cce: command not found” in MCP logs

The cce binary must be on your PATH. If you installed with uv tool install, it’s at ~/.local/bin/cce. Add ~/.local/bin to your PATH if not already there.

Windows: encoding errors

If you see UnicodeDecodeError on Windows, upgrade to v0.4.24+ which adds explicit UTF-8 encoding to all file operations.

Memory hooks not capturing

Run cce sessions status to check if the hook server is reachable. If it says “not active,” start cce serve in a separate terminal or verify the hooks are installed with cat .claude/settings.json | grep cce_hook.