iterm-mcp vs Serena

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

	iterm-mcp Give MCP clients access to your iTerm session to run commands, read output, and drive REPLs. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Stale TypeScript	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	TypeScript	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	560	12k
Last commit	9 months ago	15 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y iterm-mcp`	`uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick iterm-mcp if you prefer its approach (give mcp clients access to your iterm session to run commands, read output, and drive repls).

Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Add iterm-mcp

Install / run

npx -y iterm-mcp

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "iterm-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "iterm-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

iterm-mcp or Serena — which is better?

Pick iterm-mcp if you prefer its approach (give mcp clients access to your iterm session to run commands, read output, and drive repls). Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both iterm-mcp 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 iterm-mcp and Serena work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View iterm-mcp →View Serena →More comparisons →