Tool Reference

Complete reference for Claude Code tools, MCP servers, and integrations.

Built-in Tools

Core File Operations

Read Tool

Purpose: Read file contents with optional line ranges.

bash

# Basic file reading
claude-code "Read the main.py file"

# Read specific lines
claude-code "Read lines 10-20 of config.py"

# Read multiple files
claude-code "Read all Python files in the src/ directory"

Parameters:

file_path: Path to file (absolute or relative)
start_line: Optional starting line number
end_line: Optional ending line number

Write Tool

Purpose: Create new files or overwrite existing files.

bash

# Create new file
claude-code "Write a README.md file for this project"

# Overwrite existing file
claude-code "Rewrite the config file with new settings"

Safety Features:

Requires confirmation for existing files
Backup created automatically
Can be undone with git

Edit Tool

Purpose: Make targeted edits to files using find/replace.

bash

# Replace specific text
claude-code "Change all instances of 'old_function' to 'new_function' in main.py"

# Edit specific lines
claude-code "Update the database URL in line 15 of config.py"

Advanced Usage:

python

# Pattern-based editing
claude-code "Replace all TODO comments with actual implementations"

# Multi-file editing
claude-code "Update the import statements across all Python files"

Search & Discovery Tools

Grep Tool

Purpose: Search for text patterns in files.

bash

# Basic text search
claude-code "Find all files containing 'database'"

# Regex search
claude-code "Find all email addresses in the codebase"

# File type specific search
claude-code "Search for 'API_KEY' in all .env files"

Search Patterns:

Literal text matching
Regular expressions
Case-sensitive/insensitive
File type filtering

Glob Tool

Purpose: Find files matching patterns.

bash

# Find files by extension
claude-code "List all TypeScript files"

# Complex patterns
claude-code "Find all test files in nested directories"

# Multiple patterns
claude-code "Show all config files (json, yaml, toml)"

Pattern Examples:

bash

*.py                    # All Python files
**/*.test.js           # All test files recursively
src/**/components/*.tsx # React components
config.{json,yaml}     # Config files in multiple formats

Terminal Integration

Bash Tool

Purpose: Execute shell commands and scripts.

bash

# Run tests
claude-code "Run the test suite"

# Build commands
claude-code "Build the project for production"

# System operations
claude-code "Check disk space and memory usage"

Common Commands:

bash

# Package management
npm install
pip install requirements.txt
yarn build

# Git operations
git status
git add .
git commit -m "message"
git push origin main

# System monitoring
df -h          # Disk usage
top           # Process monitor
ps aux        # Running processes

Safety Features:

Dangerous commands require confirmation
Command history tracking
Output capture and analysis

Git Integration

Git Tool

Purpose: Version control operations.

bash

# Status and changes
claude-code "Show git status and recent changes"

# Branch operations
claude-code "Create a new feature branch"

# Commit operations
claude-code "Commit these changes with an appropriate message"

Git Workflow Commands:

bash

# Check repository status
git status
git diff
git log --oneline -10

# Branch management
git branch -a
git checkout -b feature/new-feature
git merge main

# Remote operations
git fetch
git pull
git push origin feature/branch

MCP Servers

Filesystem Server

Purpose: Enhanced file system operations.

Installation:

bash

npm install -g @anthropic/mcp-server-filesystem

Configuration:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-filesystem", "/path/to/directory"]
    }
  }
}

Capabilities:

Recursive directory traversal
File metadata access
Advanced search operations
Batch file operations

GitHub Server

Purpose: GitHub API integration.

Installation:

bash

npm install -g @anthropic/mcp-server-github

Configuration:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-github-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Features:

bash

# Repository operations
claude-code "List all repositories in my GitHub account"

# Issue management
claude-code "Create an issue for this bug"

# Pull request operations
claude-code "Create a PR for the current branch"

# Release management
claude-code "Create a release with these changes"

Database Servers

PostgreSQL Server

Installation:

bash

npm install -g @anthropic/mcp-server-postgres

Configuration:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "postgres": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-postgres"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://user:password@host:port/database"
      }
    }
  }
}

Database Operations:

bash

# Schema operations
claude-code "Show the database schema"

# Query execution
claude-code "Find all users created in the last week"

# Data analysis
claude-code "Analyze the most active users"

SQLite Server

Installation:

bash

npm install -g @anthropic/mcp-server-sqlite

Configuration:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sqlite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-sqlite", "--db-path", "./database.db"]
    }
  }
}

Web Server

Purpose: Web scraping and HTTP operations.

Installation:

bash

npm install -g @anthropic/mcp-server-web

Web Operations:

bash

# Fetch web pages
claude-code "Get the content from https://example.com"

# API calls
claude-code "Call the /users API endpoint and analyze the response"

# Web scraping
claude-code "Extract all links from this webpage"

Slack Server

Purpose: Slack workspace integration.

Installation:

bash

npm install -g @anthropic/mcp-server-slack

Slack Operations:

bash

# Channel management
claude-code "List all channels in our workspace"

# Message operations
claude-code "Send a deployment notification to the team channel"

# User management
claude-code "Find all active users in the engineering channel"

IDE Integrations

VS Code Extension

Features:

Inline Claude Code access
File context awareness
Terminal integration
Command palette integration

Commands:

bash

# Open Claude Code in current file context
Cmd+Shift+P → "Claude Code: Start in Current File"

# Quick commands
Cmd+Shift+P → "Claude Code: Explain Selection"
Cmd+Shift+P → "Claude Code: Generate Tests"
Cmd+Shift+P → "Claude Code: Review Code"

Keyboard Shortcuts:

Action	Shortcut	Description
Start Claude Code	`Ctrl+Shift+C`	Open in current context
Explain Code	`Ctrl+Shift+E`	Explain selection
Generate Tests	`Ctrl+Shift+T`	Create tests
Review Code	`Ctrl+Shift+R`	Code review

JetBrains Plugin

Supported IDEs:

IntelliJ IDEA
PyCharm
WebStorm
PhpStorm
CLion

Features:

Project context integration
Smart code suggestions
Refactoring assistance
Testing support

Command Line Tools

GitHub CLI (gh)

Integration: Works seamlessly with Claude Code.

Setup:

bash

# Install GitHub CLI
brew install gh  # macOS
winget install GitHub.cli  # Windows

# Authenticate
gh auth login

# Configure Claude Code to use gh
# Add to CLAUDE.md:
## GitHub Operations
Use `gh` commands for all GitHub operations:
- `gh repo list` - List repositories
- `gh issue create` - Create issues
- `gh pr create` - Create pull requests

Common Operations:

bash

# Repository management
gh repo create my-new-repo
gh repo clone owner/repo

# Issue management
gh issue list
gh issue create --title "Bug report" --body "Description"

# Pull request workflow
gh pr create --title "Feature" --body "Description"
gh pr merge 123

Docker Integration

Setup:

bash

# Ensure Docker is installed and running
docker --version

# Add Docker commands to allowlist
claude-code config tools.allowlist add docker

Container Operations:

bash

# Build and run
claude-code "Build a Docker image for this application"
claude-code "Run the application in a container"

# Development workflows
claude-code "Create a development Docker Compose setup"
claude-code "Set up container for testing"

Kubernetes Integration

Setup:

bash

# Install kubectl
brew install kubectl  # macOS

# Configure access to cluster
kubectl config current-context

Kubernetes Operations:

bash

# Deployment management
claude-code "Deploy this application to Kubernetes"
claude-code "Check the status of all pods"

# Debugging
claude-code "Debug why this pod is failing"
claude-code "Analyze the logs from the failed deployment"

Custom Tool Development

Creating MCP Servers

Basic Structure:

typescript

// my-custom-server.ts
import { Server } from '@anthropic/mcp-sdk/server/index.js';

const server = new Server(
  {
    name: "my-custom-server",
    version: "0.1.0",
  },
  {
    capabilities: {
      tools: {},
    },
  }
);

// Register tools
server.setRequestHandler('tools/list', async () => {
  return {
    tools: [
      {
        name: "my_custom_tool",
        description: "Does something useful",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            input: {
              type: "string",
              description: "Input parameter"
            }
          },
          required: ["input"]
        }
      }
    ]
  };
});

server.setRequestHandler('tools/call', async (request) => {
  if (request.params.name === "my_custom_tool") {
    // Implement tool logic here
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: "Tool executed successfully"
        }
      ]
    };
  }
});

Tool Configuration

Project Configuration (.mcp.json):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-custom-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./my-custom-server.js"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Global Configuration (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "global-tool": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@my-company/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "CONFIG_PATH": "/path/to/config"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tool Performance & Monitoring

Performance Metrics

bash

# Monitor tool usage
claude-code --tool-stats

# Check MCP server status
claude-code --mcp-status

# Performance profiling
claude-code --profile-tools

Troubleshooting Tools

Debug Mode:

bash

# Enable debug logging
claude-code --debug

# Test specific tools
claude-code --test-tool bash
claude-code --test-mcp filesystem

Common Issues:

Issue	Solution
Tool not found	Check installation and PATH
Permission denied	Update tool allowlist
MCP server failed	Check server logs and config
Slow tool response	Optimize tool implementation

Tool Optimization

Best Practices:

Minimize tool calls - Combine operations when possible
Cache results - Store frequently accessed data
Parallel execution - Run independent tools concurrently
Error handling - Implement robust error recovery
Resource limits - Set appropriate timeouts and limits

Configuration Optimization:

json

{
  "tools": {
    "timeout": 30000,
    "max_concurrent": 5,
    "cache_ttl": 300,
    "retry_attempts": 3
  }
}

Quick Reference: Use /tools command in Claude Code to see all available tools and their current status.

Tool Reference ​

Built-in Tools ​

Core File Operations ​

Read Tool ​

Write Tool ​

Edit Tool ​

Search & Discovery Tools ​

Grep Tool ​

Glob Tool ​

Terminal Integration ​

Bash Tool ​

Git Integration ​

Git Tool ​

MCP Servers ​

Filesystem Server ​

GitHub Server ​

Database Servers ​

PostgreSQL Server ​

SQLite Server ​

Web Server ​

Slack Server ​

IDE Integrations ​

VS Code Extension ​

JetBrains Plugin ​

Command Line Tools ​

GitHub CLI (gh) ​

Docker Integration ​

Kubernetes Integration ​

Custom Tool Development ​

Creating MCP Servers ​

Tool Configuration ​

Tool Performance & Monitoring ​

Performance Metrics ​

Troubleshooting Tools ​

Tool Optimization ​

Tool Reference

Built-in Tools

Core File Operations

Read Tool

Write Tool

Edit Tool

Search & Discovery Tools

Grep Tool

Glob Tool

Terminal Integration

Bash Tool

Git Integration

Git Tool

MCP Servers

Filesystem Server

GitHub Server

Database Servers

PostgreSQL Server

SQLite Server

Web Server

Slack Server

IDE Integrations

VS Code Extension

JetBrains Plugin

Command Line Tools

GitHub CLI (gh)

Docker Integration

Kubernetes Integration

Custom Tool Development

Creating MCP Servers

Tool Configuration

Tool Performance & Monitoring

Performance Metrics

Troubleshooting Tools

Tool Optimization