Codebase Memory MCP Integration

Audience

Developers and reviewers who want local codebase intelligence for HELM AI Kernel, adjacent HELM repositories, or a larger polyrepo workspace.

Outcome

After this page you should know how codebase-memory-mcp fits beside HELM: it is a local read/query MCP server for code discovery, not a HELM execution boundary and not proof of governed side effects.

Source Truth

• Upstream project: https://github.com/DeusData/codebase-memory-mcp
• Upstream docs: https://deusdata.github.io/codebase-memory-mcp/
• HELM governed MCP path: MCP integration
• Validation: make docs-coverage and make docs-truth

Local Setup

Install the UI build when you want the optional graph browser:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DeusData/codebase-memory-mcp/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --ui
codebase-memory-mcp config set auto_index true
codebase-memory-mcp config set auto_index_limit 100000

Index a checkout:

codebase-memory-mcp cli index_repository '{"repo_path":"/absolute/path/to/helm-ai-kernel"}'
codebase-memory-mcp cli get_architecture '{"project":"helm-ai-kernel","aspects":["all"]}'

For a polyrepo workspace, add a root .cbmignore before indexing so duplicate worktrees, generated scans, and recovery archives do not dominate the graph.

HELM Boundary

Use Codebase Memory for read-oriented discovery:

• finding symbols, routes, functions, and call paths
• architecture orientation across repositories
• local semantic search over indexed source
• diff impact review before a HELM change

Do not treat Codebase Memory output as a HELM receipt, EvidencePack, policy decision, production deployment fact, or approval artifact. If an MCP tool can write files, call networks, mutate infrastructure, spend money, or dispatch another tool, route that side effect through the HELM MCP gateway and keep the receipt-backed path in MCP integration.

Optional UI

The UI variant can serve the local graph browser:

codebase-memory-mcp --ui=true --port=9749

The UI is local developer tooling. It does not publish HELM source truth and does not replace make docs-truth, conformance tests, or verifier output.