# Claude Flow (MCP server)

> Claude Flow is an MCP server that adds developer tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. AI orchestration with hive-mind swarms, neural networks, and 87 MCP tools for enterprise dev. It has 74,016 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with npx -y claude-flow.

An agent meta-harness for Claude Code and Codex. Start in Claude Code with core tools, the visual console and runtime mods. Requires Claude Code 2.1.287 or later. Run inside Claude Code:

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/ruvnet/ruflo |
| GitHub stars | 74,016 |
| License | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | npm: claude-flow |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Developer tools |
| Latest release | v3.54.0 (Oct 7, 2026) |
| Last commit | Oct 7, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.ruvnet/claude-flow |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-flow": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "claude-flow"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "FLOW_NEXUS_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-value --env GITHUB_TOKEN=your-value --env FLOW_NEXUS_API_KEY=your-value --transport stdio claude-flow -- npx -y claude-flow
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-flow": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "claude-flow"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "FLOW_NEXUS_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "anthropic_api_key",
      "description": "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "github_token",
      "description": "GITHUB_TOKEN",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "flow_nexus_api_key",
      "description": "FLOW_NEXUS_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "claude-flow": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "claude-flow"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "${input:anthropic_api_key}",
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "${input:github_token}",
        "FLOW_NEXUS_API_KEY": "${input:flow_nexus_api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` (secret): Anthropic API key for Claude AI models
- `CLAUDE_FLOW_MODE`: Operation mode: development, production, or test
- `CLAUDE_FLOW_MEMORY_PATH`: Path for persistent memory storage
- `CLAUDE_FLOW_MAX_AGENTS`: Maximum number of concurrent agents
- `CLAUDE_FLOW_PORT`: MCP server port
- `GITHUB_TOKEN` (secret): GitHub personal access token for repository operations
- `FLOW_NEXUS_API_KEY` (secret): Flow Nexus cloud platform API key

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