From ff2423fde7db37d07e6366fab4c374ae20a07fd8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Dominik Jain Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:12:17 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Improve instructions for Running Serena, adding a pointer to the option --language-backend and improving the description of --project-from-cwd --- docs/02-usage/020_running.md | 19 +++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/02-usage/020_running.md b/docs/02-usage/020_running.md index 91b804e6..a31362f6 100644 --- a/docs/02-usage/020_running.md +++ b/docs/02-usage/020_running.md @@ -6,18 +6,17 @@ This section describes * how to run and configure the most important command, i.e. starting the MCP server * other useful commands. +:::{tip} +By default, Serena will use language servers for code understanding and analysis. +With the [Serena JetBrains Plugin](025_jetbrains_plugin), we recently introduced a powerful alternative, +which has several advantages over the language server-based approach. +::: + ## Ways of Running Serena In the following, we will refer to the command used to run Serena as ``, which you should replace with the appropriate command based on your chosen method. -:::{note} -By default, Serena will use language servers for code understanding and analysis. -We provide a powerful alternative to that through the [Serena JetBrains Plugin](025_jetbrains_plugin), -which has several advantages over the language server approach. -Note that you don't have to use a JetBrains IDE as your editor to take advantage of this solution. -::: - ### Using uvx `uvx` is part of `uv`. It can be used to run the latest version of Serena directly from the repository, without an explicit local installation. @@ -157,7 +156,11 @@ to get a list of all available options. Some useful options include: * `--project `: specify the project to work on by name or path. - * `--project-from-cwd`: auto-detect project from current working directory (searches up for `.serena/project.yml` or `.git`, falls back to CWD). Intended only for CLI-based agents like Claude Code, Gemini and Codex. + * `--project-from-cwd`: auto-detect the project from current working directory + (looking for a directory containing `.serena/project.yml` or `.git` in parent directories, activating the current directory if none is found); + This option is intended for CLI-based agents like Claude Code, Gemini and Codex, which are typically started from within the project directory + and which do not change directories during their operation. + * `--language-backend JetBrains`: use the Serena JetBrains Plugin as the language backend (overriding the default backend configured in the central configuration) * `--context `: specify the operation [context](contexts) in which Serena shall operate * `--mode `: specify one or more [modes](modes) to enable (can be passed several times) * `--enable-web-dashboard `: enable or disable the web dashboard (enabled by default)