Merge pull request #1287 from oraios/serena_init_cmd

Serena init cmd

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 Status of the `main` branch. Changes prior to the next official version change will appear here.
 
+* General:
+  - Added `serena init` command  
+
 * Dashboard:
   - Add version display 
 

README.md

@@ -178,24 +178,26 @@ https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6eaa9aa1-610d-4723-a2d6-bf1e487ba753
 
 **Prerequisites**. Serena is managed by *uv*. If you don’t already have it, you need to [install uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) before proceeding.
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> When using the language server backend, some additional dependencies to be installed for certain languages; see the [Language Support](https://oraios.github.io/serena/01-about/020_programming-languages.html) page for details.
-
-**Starting the MCP Server**. The easiest way to start the Serena MCP server is by running the latest version from GitHub using uvx:
+**Initialize Serena**. To initialize Serena, simply run:
 
 ```bash
-uvx -p 3.13 --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server
+uvx -p 3.13 --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena init
 ```
 
-If this is the first time you are starting Serena, the necessary configuration files will be created, and 
-you should see the Serena dashboard appear. You can terminate the server by pressing Ctrl+C (multiple times, if necessary).
+This will create the global configuration file `~/.serena/config.yaml`.
+
+The default code intelligence backend for Serena is the free LSP backend. You can add `-b JetBrains` to the `init` command
+to set up the JetBrains as the default code intelligence backend instead, see [JetBrains Plugin page](https://oraios.github.io/serena/02-usage/025_jetbrains_plugin.html) for more details.
+
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> When using the language server backend, some additional dependencies to be installed for certain languages; 
+> see the [Language Support](https://oraios.github.io/serena/01-about/020_programming-languages.html) page for details.
+
 
 **Configuring Your Client**. To connect Serena to your preferred MCP client, you typically need to [configure a launch command in your client](https://oraios.github.io/serena/02-usage/030_clients.html).
 Follow the link for specific instructions on how to set up Serena for Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, MCP-enabled IDEs and other clients (such as local and web-based GUIs). 
 
-**Switching to the JetBrains Backend**. The default code intelligence backend for Serena is the free LSP backend.
-For using the more powerful JetBrains backend, follow the instructions on the [JetBrains Plugin page](https://oraios.github.io/serena/02-usage/025_jetbrains_plugin.html).
-
 > [!TIP]
 > While getting started quickly is easy, Serena is a powerful toolkit with many configuration options.
 > We highly recommend reading through the [user guide](https://oraios.github.io/serena/02-usage/000_intro.html) to get the most out of Serena.

docs/02-usage/025_jetbrains_plugin.md

@@ -65,24 +65,22 @@ After installing the plugin, you need to configure Serena to use it.
 
 **Central Configuration**.
 
-If you ever executed Serena before, you will have the global Serena configuration file located at `~/.serena/serena_config.yml` 
-(`%USERPROFILE%\.serena\serena_config.yml` on Windows).
-
-If the configuration file does not exist, run
+You can run
 
 ```shell
-uvx -p 3.13 --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server
+uvx -p 3.13 --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena init -b JetBrains
 ```
 
-(see [running Serena](020_running.md) for alternative options) to install all dependencies and create configuration files. Terminate the server with `Ctrl+C` after it has started.
+to set the default code intelligence backend to JetBrains in the global Serena configuration file.
 
-In your configuration, change the `language_backend` setting as follows:
+Alternatively, you can also manually edit the configuration file  `~/.serena/serena_config.yml` 
+(`%USERPROFILE%\.serena\serena_config.yml` on Windows) and set
 
 ```yaml
 language_backend: JetBrains
 ```
 
-*Note*: you can also use the button `Edit Global Serena Config` in the Serena MCP dashboard to open the config file in your default editor.
+Note that the file might not exist yet if you never executed Serena before.
 
 **Per-Instance Configuration**.
 The configuration setting in the global config file can be overridden on a

pyproject.toml

@@ -61,8 +61,6 @@ explicit = true
 
 [project.scripts]
 serena = "serena.cli:top_level"
-serena-mcp-server = "serena.cli:start_mcp_server"
-index-project = "serena.cli:index_project"        # deprecated
 
 [project.license]
 text = "MIT"

scripts/mcp_server.py

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from serena.cli import start_mcp_server
+from serena.cli import top_level
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    start_mcp_server()
+    top_level.start_mcp_server()

src/serena/cli.py

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ from solidlsp.util.subprocess_util import subprocess_kwargs
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-_MAX_CONTENT_WIDTH = 100
+_MAX_CONTENT_WIDTH = 200
 _MODES_EXPLANATION = f"""\b\nBuilt-in mode names or paths to custom mode YAMLs with which to 
 override the default modes defined in the global Serena configuration or 
 the active project.
@@ -155,6 +155,28 @@ class TopLevelCommands(AutoRegisteringGroup):
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         super().__init__(name="serena", help="Serena CLI commands. You can run `<command> --help` for more info on each command.")
 
+    @staticmethod
+    @click.command(
+        "init",
+        help="Initialize Serena by creating a global config file with the specified default language backend.",
+        context_settings={"max_content_width": _MAX_CONTENT_WIDTH},
+    )
+    @click.option(
+        "--language-backend",
+        "-b",
+        type=click.Choice([b.value for b in LanguageBackend]),
+        default=LanguageBackend.LSP.value,
+        show_default=True,
+        help="Default code intelligence backend (can be overridden in the project config).",
+    )
+    def init(language_backend: Literal["LSP", "JetBrains"] = "LSP"):
+        serena_config = SerenaConfig.from_config_file()
+        serena_config.language_backend = LanguageBackend(language_backend)
+        serena_config.save()
+        click.echo(
+            f"Initialized Serena with default backend: {language_backend}.\nFind the global Serena config in:\n   {serena_config.config_file_path}"
+        )
+
     @staticmethod
     @click.command("start-mcp-server", help="Starts the Serena MCP server.", context_settings={"max_content_width": _MAX_CONTENT_WIDTH})
     @click.option("--project", "project", type=PROJECT_TYPE, default=None, help="Path or name of project to activate at startup.")
@@ -1109,23 +1131,16 @@ class PromptCommands(AutoRegisteringGroup):
         click.echo(f"Deleted override file '{prompt_yaml_name}'.")
 
 
-# Expose groups so we can reference them in pyproject.toml
-mode = ModeCommands()
-context = ContextCommands()
-project = ProjectCommands()
-config = SerenaConfigCommands()
-tools = ToolCommands()
-prompts = PromptCommands()
+_mode = ModeCommands()
+_context = ContextCommands()
+_project = ProjectCommands()
+_config = SerenaConfigCommands()
+_tools = ToolCommands()
+_prompts = PromptCommands()
 
-# Expose toplevel commands for the same reason
+# Expose so we can use this as an entrypoint
 top_level = TopLevelCommands()
-start_mcp_server = top_level.start_mcp_server
 
 # needed for the help script to work - register all subcommands to the top-level group
-for subgroup in (mode, context, project, config, tools, prompts):
+for subgroup in (_mode, _context, _project, _config, _tools, _prompts):
     top_level.add_command(subgroup)
-
-
-def get_help() -> str:
-    """Retrieve the help text for the top-level Serena CLI."""
-    return top_level.get_help(click.Context(top_level, info_name="serena"))