Install SpecBase

Use without installing (remote MCP)

No installation required. Connect directly to the hosted MCP service:

Claude Code — add to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "specbase": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://mcp.specbase.net/mcp"
    }
  }
}

No binary required. The remote service is always up to date and works with any MCP-compatible agent. Full remote setup guide →

Install the CLI

Go install (recommended)

If you have Go 1.23+ installed:

go install github.com/aallbrig/specbase/cmd/specbase@latest

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew install aallbrig/tap/specbase

Scoop (Windows)

scoop bucket add specbase https://github.com/aallbrig/scoop-bucket
scoop install specbase

Download binary

Pre-built binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows are available on the GitHub Releases page.

Download the archive for your platform, extract it, and add the specbase binary to your PATH.

From source (contributors)

If you are working on the SpecBase repo and using the local stdio MCP transport (see MCP integration), rebuild and install the binary after any CLI or KB change:

make install

This runs go install -trimpath -ldflags ... ./cmd/specbase, writing specbase to $GOBIN (typically ~/go/bin). Start a new MCP session afterward — the agent loads the binary once per session, so KB or server changes only take effect on the next boot.

Verify installation

specbase --version

Quick start

Query the knowledge base for a web application with authentication:

specbase query web_app --features auth,i18n --format table

Initialize a project with generated spec stubs:

specbase init web_app --features auth,i18n --out ./specs

List all available project types:

specbase list-types

MCP integration

Add SpecBase as an MCP server in your AI agent config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "specbase": {
      "command": "specbase",
      "args": ["mcp", "--transport", "stdio"]
    }
  }
}

This works with Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot.