Sourcegraph MCP Server: Endpoints, Tools, and Access Compared

Published 2026-09-20 · Last verified 2026-09-20

This page is for teams comparing MCP servers for coding agents. Sourcegraph ships an MCP server that connects an agent to your Sourcegraph instance; Symvanta is an MCP endpoint whose whole product is the code graph. Both speak the Model Context Protocol, and both authenticate with OAuth, so the useful comparison is what tools each one exposes, what the agent gets back, and what it takes to connect. If you are comparing the platforms more broadly, start with Sourcegraph alternative. If price is the deciding factor, read Sourcegraph pricing.

What the Sourcegraph MCP server is

The Sourcegraph MCP server gives AI agents programmatic access to a Sourcegraph instance's code search, navigation, and analysis features. It became generally available on February 25, 2026, with OAuth Dynamic Client Registration enabled by default and a dedicated mcp OAuth scope, in Sourcegraph Cloud and self-hosted 7.0 (Sourcegraph changelog, MCP server GA).

It runs against your own instance. A client points at https://your-sourcegraph-instance.com/.api/mcp, not at a shared vendor endpoint, so the instance has to be provisioned and indexed before an agent can query it. The documentation lists the server as supported on Enterprise plans (Sourcegraph MCP server docs).

Supported clients include Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, OpenCode, Amp, Google Gemini Code Assist, and VS Code, including the Antigravity and Windsurf variants (Sourcegraph MCP client integrations).

Endpoints and tool sets

Sourcegraph splits the MCP server across three endpoints so a client can load only the tools it needs (Sourcegraph MCP server docs):

Endpoint	Purpose	Notable tools
`/.api/mcp`	Core search, repository, history, and Deep Search reading	`code_finder`, `keyword_search`, `read_file`, `list_files`, `list_repos`, `commit_search`, `diff_search`, `deepsearch_read`, `evaluator`; `nls_search` as a fallback when `code_finder` is unavailable
`/.api/mcp/all`	Full suite	Everything above plus `go_to_definition`, `find_references`, `list_refs`, `compare_revisions`, `get_contributor_repos`, `nls_search`, `deepsearch`
`/.api/mcp/deepsearch`	Deep Search agent tools only	`deepsearch`, `deepsearch_read`

Two details matter when you plan an agent session. First, the default endpoint cannot create new Deep Search conversations; a client needs /.api/mcp/all or /.api/mcp/deepsearch for that. Second, code_finder, the agentic file-finding tool, is metered against the instance's entitlement and returns an error when the quota is exhausted.

Authentication and access control

The server supports OAuth 2.0 through Dynamic Client Registration or pre-registered clients, and Sourcegraph access tokens as an alternative. Administrators control it at four levels:

mcp.enabled turns the MCP endpoints on or off for the whole instance.
mcp.tools.disabled removes individual tools while keeping the rest of the server available.
The Dynamic Client Registration setting can be disabled so only pre-registered OAuth clients connect.
The MCP#ACCESS permission gates who can use MCP at all. It is granted to the built-in User role by default, and it is separate from repository permissions: users still only read repositories they already have access to.

How Symvanta's MCP endpoint compares

Symvanta is a hosted MCP endpoint, https://mcp.symvanta.com/mcp, with OAuth 2.0 (PKCE) on first connect and an API key option for clients that cannot run a browser flow. There is no instance to provision, no site configuration to manage, and no separate decision about which endpoint to use: one endpoint exposes the whole tool set, and every plan includes it.

The tool shapes differ where an edit is at stake. Sourcegraph returns search hits, file contents, definitions, references, and history. Symvanta returns relationships between resolved symbols:

find_node resolves a symbol to its file, line range, and signature.
relate with kind: callers returns direct callers resolved through call edges, not text matches.
relate with kind: dependencies returns the outgoing edges a symbol uses.
relate with kind: blast_radius walks transitively outward for refactor impact.
find_http_route maps an HTTP method and path to the handler that serves it.
diff_impact reports what a branch or pending diff affects, including cross-repository fallout.

Symvanta also indexes tracked feature branches and working-tree overlays, so an agent can query the code you are changing rather than only the last indexed commit of the default branch.

Side by side

	Sourcegraph MCP server	Symvanta
Hosting	Your Sourcegraph instance, pointed at `/.api/mcp`	Hosted endpoint at `mcp.symvanta.com/mcp`
Plans	Supported on Enterprise plans	Every plan, starting with the $19/month Starter plan
Endpoints	Three, with different tool sets	One endpoint with the full tool set
Authentication	OAuth 2.0 with DCR or pre-registered clients, or access tokens	OAuth 2.0 (PKCE), or an API key for non-browser clients
Primary retrieval	Search, file and repository reads, history, precise navigation on the full endpoint	Parsed code graph: symbols and typed edges, plus semantic and text search
Impact tools	Search, navigation, and history combined by the agent	`relate` with `kind: blast_radius`, plus `diff_impact`
Branch context	Revision arguments on tool calls	Tracked branches and working-tree overlays
Setup work	Provision or use an instance, index repositories, configure the site	Connect a repository, add the endpoint, sign in

Which to choose

Choose the Sourcegraph MCP server if your organization already runs Sourcegraph Enterprise and wants agents to query the same instance and indexes your engineers use, under the same permissions and admin controls. The search, history, and navigation tools are a direct line into a platform that already indexes your code hosts.

Choose Symvanta if you want the graph itself, quickly. The endpoint resolves symbols, callers, dependencies, routes, and blast radius, it comes with the plan rather than an instance, and it is self-serve: connect a GitHub repository, add the endpoint to your client, and ask about a symbol you maintain. See the MCP server page for the connection steps, or compare hosted, instance-backed, and local graph servers before choosing the architecture.

Frequently asked questions

Does Symvanta need a self-hosted instance like the Sourcegraph MCP server?

No. Symvanta is a hosted MCP endpoint. You connect a GitHub repository and authenticate with OAuth 2.0 (PKCE); there is no server to install, no site configuration to manage, and no indexing cluster to run. Sourcegraph's MCP server runs against your own Sourcegraph instance, which can be a single-tenant cloud deployment or self-hosted.

Can Symvanta answer the same questions as Sourcegraph's search tools?

The overlap is discovery. Sourcegraph exposes keyword and semantic search, file and repository reads, and history; Symvanta exposes semantic search and text search alongside the graph. The difference shows up in relationship questions: relate with kind: callers, dependencies, or blast_radius returns resolved edges and impact paths, while search tools return matches the agent still has to interpret.

Which MCP clients work with each server?

Sourcegraph documents Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, OpenCode, Amp, Google Gemini Code Assist, and VS Code, including Antigravity and Windsurf. Symvanta works with any MCP-compatible client over a URL-based endpoint, including those clients, and has per-client setup guides in the integrations library.

Connect your first repository, then ask the agent who calls a function you know well. Start a free 7-day trial, or read the MCP server page for the endpoint and client setup.

See Symvanta on your own codebase →