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Compatibility

Claude Code

Set up Mouse with Claude Code: MCP configuration for both the UI and CLI

Prerequisites

  • VS Code 1.85 or later
  • Claude Code (latest version recommended)
  • Node.js 20.x or later

Installing Mouse

  1. Open the Extensions panel in VS Code (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
  2. Search for Mouse by HIC AI, Inc.
  3. Click Install
  4. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run Mouse: Initialize Workspace

This creates a .hic directory in your project and generates the MCP configuration file at .mcp.json.

Claude Code will also automatically generate a .claude/settings.local.json file in your local workspace upon initializing Mouse, if you do not already have one configured.

Configuration

The workspace initialization creates the following configuration automatically. If you need to configure it manually, create .mcp.json at your project root with:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hic_local": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./.hic/mouse.cjs"],
      "env": {
        "HIC_AGENT_ADAPTER": "claude",
        "HIC_ALLOWED_DIRECTORIES": "./"
      }
    }
  }
}

NOTE

Claude Code and Claude Code CLI use the same MCP configuration. Claude Code is a UI wrapper around the CLI, so there is no difference in setup or usage between the two for purposes of configuring Mouse.

For the best experience with Mouse, replace your .claude/settings.local.json file, generated upon initializing your workspace for Claude, with the following:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__hic_local__*"
    ]
  },
  "enableAllProjectMcpServers": true,
  "enabledMcpjsonServers": [
    "hic_local"
  ],
  "disabledTools": [
    "Edit"
  ]
}

This single configuration block does the following:

  • permissions.allow: Auto-approves all Mouse tool calls without prompting for each one
  • enableAllProjectMcpServers: Automatically approves project MCP servers defined in .mcp.json without a trust prompt
  • enabledMcpjsonServers: Explicitly enables the hic_local Mouse server
  • disabledTools: Disables Claude Code's built-in Edit tool, ensuring Mouse is used for all file-editing operations

NOTE

The .claude/settings.local.json file is automatically generated by Claude Code when you initialize the workspace. It can also be configured globally at ~/.claude/settings.json.

Starting the MCP Server

VS Code extension: After initializing the workspace, you must manually start the MCP server by opening .mcp.json in the editor and clicking the Start button above the "hic_local" server configuration block.

CLI: MCP servers defined in .mcp.json start automatically when Claude Code launches. No manual start is needed.

Auto-Approving a Subset of Tools

If you prefer to auto-approve only certain Mouse tools instead of all of them, list each tool individually with the prefix mcp__hic_local__:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__hic_local__read_lines",
      "mcp__hic_local__read_first_n_lines",
      "mcp__hic_local__read_last_n_lines",
      "mcp__hic_local__jump_to_line_n",
      "mcp__hic_local__find_in_file",
      "mcp__hic_local__get_file_metadata",
      "mcp__hic_local__quick_edit",
      "mcp__hic_local__batch_quick_edit",
      "mcp__hic_local__save_changes",
      "mcp__hic_local__cancel_changes"
    ]
  }
}

Disabling Built-in Editing Tools

Claude Code provides a disabledTools setting that prevents the agent from using its built-in Edit tool. The recommended configuration above includes this setting. If you are configuring it separately, add the following to your .claude/settings.local.json:

{
  "disabledTools": [
    "Edit"
  ]
}

With Edit disabled, Claude Code will use Mouse tools exclusively for all file-editing operations.

Verifying the Connection

Ask your AI assistant:

"Use Mouse's get_file_metadata tool to check the metadata of any file in this workspace."

If the assistant successfully calls the tool and returns file metadata, Mouse is working correctly. Check the status bar; it should show Mouse: Trial or Mouse: Licensed.