Integrate Ruflo with Claude Code via the MCP Server

Ruflo’s primary integration point is Claude Code. Once connected as an MCP server, Claude Code gains a full nervous system: 313 tools for agent orchestration, swarm coordination, HNSW vector memory, 27 hooks, a background daemon, and the self-learning loop that makes every task smarter than the last. You keep writing code — Ruflo handles the coordination. There are two integration modes with different surface areas. Choose based on what you need:

MCP Server (Full)
Plugin Marketplace (Lite)

The full integration registers Ruflo as an MCP server inside Claude Code. This unlocks all 313 tools (swarm_init, agent_spawn, memory_search, and 310+ more), installs 27 hooks, activates the background daemon, and enables the complete self-learning loop. This is the recommended path for production use.

Initialize Ruflo in your project

Run the init wizard in your project directory. This creates .claude/, .claude-flow/, CLAUDE.md, helpers, and settings.

npx ruflo@latest init

For a guided interactive setup:

npx ruflo@latest init wizard

Add Ruflo as an MCP server in Claude Code with a single command:

claude mcp add ruflo -- npx ruflo@latest mcp start

This registers Ruflo permanently. Claude Code will start the MCP server automatically on each session.

Verify the registration

Confirm Ruflo appears in the MCP server list:

claude mcp list

You should see ruflo in the output with status enabled.

Test in Claude Code

Open a Claude Code session and try these tools to confirm the integration is live:

swarm_init — initialize an agent swarm
agent_spawn — spawn a specialized agent
memory_search — search patterns with HNSW vector search
hooks_route — intelligent task routing

If any of these tools appear in Claude’s tool list, the full loop is active.

The plugin marketplace path installs slash commands, skills, and agent definitions directly into Claude Code — with zero files added to your workspace. The Ruflo MCP server is NOT registered in this mode, so memory_store, swarm_init, agent_spawn, and similar tools are unavailable to Claude. Use this to try individual plugins without committing to the full install.

# Add the Ruflo marketplace (one-time)
/plugin marketplace add ruvnet/ruflo

# Install individual plugins
/plugin install ruflo-core@ruflo
/plugin install ruflo-swarm@ruflo
/plugin install ruflo-rag-memory@ruflo

After installing, run /reload-plugins if new slash commands don’t appear immediately.

Want the full loop? Use the MCP Server tab. The plugin marketplace is a lightweight preview — for production use, npx ruflo@latest init is the right path.

Controlling Which MCP Tool Groups Load

Ruflo exposes 313 MCP tools across 31 modules. In environments where loading all tools creates latency or token overhead, use CLAUDE_FLOW_TOOL_GROUPS to restrict which groups are active:

CLAUDE_FLOW_TOOL_GROUPS=coordination,memory,monitoring npx ruflo@latest mcp start

Available groups: create, issue, branch, implement, test, fix, optimize, monitor, security, memory, all, minimal Preset modes map to common workflows:

Mode	Groups Loaded	Best For
`develop`	create, implement, test, fix, memory	Active development
`pr-review`	branch, fix, monitor, security	Code review sessions
`devops`	create, monitor, optimize, security	Infrastructure work
`triage`	issue, monitor, fix	Bug triage

Set a preset with:

export CLAUDE_FLOW_TOOL_MODE=develop
npx ruflo@latest mcp start

MCP Tool Groups Reference

Once the MCP server is running, Claude Code can call tools across these categories:

Category	Key Tools	Purpose
Coordination	`swarm_init`, `agent_spawn`, `task_orchestrate`	Swarm and agent lifecycle
Monitoring	`swarm_status`, `agent_list`, `agent_metrics`	Real-time status and metrics
Memory & Neural	`memory_search`, `memory_store`, `neural_train`	Vector memory and learning
GitHub	`github_swarm`, `pr_enhance`, `code_review`	Repository integration
Workers	`worker/run`, `worker/status`, `worker/alerts`	Background task management
Hooks	`hooks/pre-task`, `hooks/post-task`, `hooks/route`	27 lifecycle hooks

Slash Commands (Plugin Marketplace)

When installed via the plugin marketplace, Ruflo adds slash commands to Claude Code:

Plugin	Slash Commands Added
`ruflo-core`	`/status`, `/doctor`, `/mcp`
`ruflo-swarm`	`/swarm`, `/monitor`
`ruflo-autopilot`	`/loop`
`ruflo-loop-workers`	`/workers`, `/cron`
`ruflo-rag-memory`	`/memory`, `/search`
`ruflo-testgen`	`/testgen`, `/coverage`
`ruflo-security-audit`	`/security`, `/audit`

Dual-Mode: Claude Code and Codex Simultaneously

Ruflo supports running Claude Code for interactive development while spawning headless Codex workers for parallel background tasks. Initialize for both platforms at once:

npx ruflo@latest init --dual

This creates both CLAUDE.md (for Claude Code) and AGENTS.md (for Codex) and configures shared memory namespaces so both platforms read and write to the same vector store.

# Spawn parallel background workers from Claude Code
claude -p "Analyze src/auth/ for security issues" --session-id "task-1" &
claude -p "Write unit tests for src/api/" --session-id "task-2" &
claude -p "Optimize database queries in src/db/" --session-id "task-3" &
wait

Dual-Mode Feature	Benefit
Parallel execution	4–8× faster for bulk tasks
Cost optimization	Route simple tasks to cheaper workers
Context preservation	Shared memory namespace across both platforms

Cursor and Windsurf users: Ruflo works in both IDEs via the same MCP server config. Create .cursor/mcp.json or ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json pointing to npx ruflo@latest mcp start.

Cursor must be in Agent Mode (not Ask Mode) to access MCP tools and supports up to 40 MCP tools.
Windsurf supports up to 100 MCP tools — click Refresh in the MCP settings after adding the server.

For a complete reference of all 313 MCP tools, see MCP Overview.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Configuration

Integrate Ruflo with Claude Code via the MCP Server

Controlling Which MCP Tool Groups Load

MCP Tool Groups Reference

Slash Commands (Plugin Marketplace)

Dual-Mode: Claude Code and Codex Simultaneously

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Configuration

Documentation Index

​Controlling Which MCP Tool Groups Load

​MCP Tool Groups Reference

​Slash Commands (Plugin Marketplace)

​Dual-Mode: Claude Code and Codex Simultaneously

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Controlling Which MCP Tool Groups Load

MCP Tool Groups Reference

Slash Commands (Plugin Marketplace)

Dual-Mode: Claude Code and Codex Simultaneously