Magg vs Serena

A side-by-side comparison of two Developer Tools servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Magg Meta-MCP server that manages, aggregates, and proxies other MCP servers so LLMs can extend themselves. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Stale Python	Serena LSP-powered coding agent toolkit: semantic symbol search, references and structural edits. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Language	Python	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	134	12k
Last commit	10 months ago	15 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`uv tool install magg`	`uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Magg if you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want a verified, documented setup.

Add Magg

Install / run

uv tool install magg

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "magg": {
      "command": "magg",
      "args": [
        "serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add Serena

Install / run

uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena",
        "serena",
        "start-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

Magg or Serena — which is better?

Pick Magg if you need the broadest set of tools. Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want a verified, documented setup.

Can I use both Magg and Serena?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Magg and Serena work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Magg →View Serena →More comparisons →