PiloTY vs Serena

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

	PiloTY Persistent, interactive PTY terminal for AI agents over MCP — SSH, REPLs, password prompts, long-running jobs. Unverified stdio (local) No auth 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	38	12k
Last commit	2 months ago	23 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`codex mcp add piloty -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/yiwenlu66/PiloTY.git piloty`	`uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick PiloTY if you prefer its approach (persistent, interactive pty terminal for ai agents over mcp — ssh, repls, password prompts, long-running jobs).

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

Add PiloTY

Install / run

codex mcp add piloty -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/yiwenlu66/PiloTY.git piloty

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "piloty": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/yiwenlu66/PiloTY.git",
        "piloty"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

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

PiloTY or Serena — which is better?

Pick PiloTY if you prefer its approach (persistent, interactive pty terminal for ai agents over mcp — ssh, repls, password prompts, long-running jobs). Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want a verified, documented setup.

Can I use both PiloTY 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 PiloTY and Serena work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View PiloTY →View Serena →More comparisons →