embark-claude-index

Fast code search for Unreal Engine projects in Claude Code.

What it does

• 11 MCP tools for searching types, members, files, assets, and code
• Indexes AngelScript, C++, Blueprints, and config files
• Sub-20ms queries across 100K+ types and 600K+ members
• Full-text code search via Zoekt (optional)
• Offline asset search across 400K+ content assets

Quick Install

1. Add the marketplace and install

In Claude Code, run:

/plugin marketplace add EmbarkStudios/UnrealClaudeFileHelper
/plugin install embark-claude-index@embark-claude-index

Or use the interactive plugin manager:

/plugin

2. Restart Claude Code

Restart to load the plugin and MCP tools.

3. Run setup

After restart, run the setup skill:

/embark-claude-index:setup

This will guide you through:

• Installing dependencies
• Detecting your .uproject file and project structure
• Configuring engine root and source paths
• Generating config.json
• Starting the indexing service and file watcher

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20.18+ (22+ recommended)
• WSL2 with Ubuntu (Windows) — the indexing service runs on Linux for SQLite performance
• Go 1.20+ (optional) — for Zoekt full-text search

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     POST /internal/ingest     ┌──────────────────┐
│  File Watcher    │ ──────────────────────────── │  Indexing Service │
│  (Windows)       │                               │  (WSL / Linux)   │
│  chokidar watch  │                               │  Express + SQLite │
└─────────────────┘                               │  In-memory index  │
                                                   │  Zoekt (optional) │
                                                   └────────┬─────────┘
                                                            │ HTTP API
                                                   ┌────────┴─────────┐
                                                   │   MCP Bridge     │
                                                   │  (stdio ↔ HTTP)  │
                                                   └──────────────────┘
                                                            │
                                                   Claude Code reads
                                                   tools via MCP

• File Watcher (src/watcher/watcher-client.js): Watches project directories for file changes, parses source files, and sends them to the service via HTTP.
• Indexing Service (src/service/index.js): Stores data in SQLite, loads everything into memory for fast queries. Optionally integrates with Zoekt for full-text search.
• MCP Bridge (src/bridge/mcp-bridge.js): Translates MCP tool calls from Claude Code into HTTP API calls against the service.
• Dashboard (http://localhost:3847): Web UI showing system health overview, watcher status with start/restart controls, query analytics, and MCP tool usage.

MCP Tools

Tool	Description
unreal_find_type	Find classes, structs, enums, delegates by name
unreal_find_children	Find all classes inheriting from a parent
unreal_find_member	Find functions, properties, enum values by name
unreal_explain_type	Get comprehensive type info (definition + members + children)
unreal_find_file	Find source files by filename
unreal_find_asset	Search 400K+ Unreal assets by name
unreal_browse_module	List types and files in a module/directory
unreal_list_modules	Discover code organization and module tree
unreal_grep	Full-text search across indexed source code
unreal_refresh_index	Rebuild the index on demand
unreal_batch	Execute multiple queries in a single call

Configuration

Configuration lives in config.json (generated by the setup wizard). See config.example.json for the full schema.

Key sections:

{
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "MyGame",
      "paths": ["C:/Path/To/Project/Script"],
      "language": "angelscript",
      "extensions": [".as"]
    }
  ],
  "service": {
    "port": 3847,
    "host": "127.0.0.1"
  },
  "zoekt": {
    "enabled": true,
    "webPort": 6070
  }
}

Supported project languages: angelscript, cpp, content (assets), config (ini files).

Troubleshooting

Tools say "Unreal Index Service is not running"

• Start the service: systemctl --user start unreal-index (or ./start-service.sh --bg from the repo)
• Check status: systemctl --user status unreal-index
• Check health: curl http://127.0.0.1:3847/health
• View logs: journalctl --user -u unreal-index -f

No results returned

• Check that the file watcher is running and has completed initial indexing
• Verify config.json paths point to your actual project directories
• Try removing the project filter — it may not match your project names

Node.js version errors

• The service requires Node.js 20.18+. Check with node --version
• On WSL, you may need to install a newer Node.js separately

WSL networking issues

• Ensure .wslconfig has networkingMode=mirrored for localhost access
• The service on WSL port 3847 should be accessible from Windows via localhost:3847

Setup wizard doesn't detect my project

• Run node src/setup.js directly and provide paths manually
• Or copy config.example.json to config.json and edit paths by hand