GeneXus for Agents - Installation guide

Below are the requirements and steps to install and configure GeneXus for Agents.

Required components

1. A CLI, for example Claude Code or CODA CLI
2. GeneXus Next (including GeneXus MCP Server)
3. GeneXus skill: nexa

Supported scenarios

• Windows Native: Use GeneXus Next (without Docker).
• Browser (Docker): Run GeneXus Next in your browser using a containerized environment.
• macOS Native: Use the native IDE, with the backend running on Docker.

This guide focuses on the Windows Native setup.

1. CLI

Choose the CLI of your preference:

1.1. Claude Code

Download and install it if you choose this option.

1.2. CODA CLI

Read the documentation for installation and configuration in Coding Agent.

2. GeneXus Next Native for Windows (GeneXus MCP Server included)

This is the recommended setup for Windows environments, as it does not require Docker.

2.1. Download

Download the Desktop App Win Native installer from the GeneXus Download Center and install it on your machine.

2.2. Run GeneXus Next

After installing GeneXus Next for Native Windows, there are two ways to run it:

1. The MCP Server starts automatically when the IDE starts and becomes available for use via CLI.

2. You can run only the BL (MCP) without starting the IDE. To do this, go to the installation folder (GeneXusNext installation folder/bl) and run genexus.services.host.exe. It starts in console mode, which is useful for monitoring interactions between CLI and MCP.

In both cases, you can monitor execution using generated log files (GXMBLServices.log in the GeneXus installation folder).

2.3. Configuration settings

When running GeneXus Next for the first time, a default settings.json file is created in the installation/bl directory. This file contains the default settings used by GeneXus Next, such as:

• The location where Knowledge Bases (KBs) are created or searched.
• SQL Server (or LocalDB) connection information.

To customize these settings without modifying the default settings.json, create a settings-overrides.json file in the same directory with the values you want to override.

Example settings-overrides.json:

{
  "ProjectsFolder": "e:\\KBSNext",
  "ProjectsDataFolder": "e:\\KBSNext",
  "SqlServerDefaultInstance": ".\\SQLEXPRESS"
}

2.4. Connect GeneXus MCP Server to your CLI

The MCP Server is included with GeneXus Next and is available once the application is running.

See how to start it depending on the CLI you are using:

2.4.1. Claude Code

Project-level configuration

To configure the GeneXus MCP Server in Claude Code at the project level, run the following command:

claude mcp add --transport http gxnext http://localhost:8001/mcp

To verify that the MCP Server is connected, run:

/mcp

You should see gxnext. ✅ connected:

User-level configuration

You can also configure it at the user level (across all projects on the machine) by running:

claude mcp add --scope user --transport http gxnext http://localhost:8001/mcp

This returns a message like the following:

PS C:\Folder> claude mcp add --scope user --transport http gxnext http://localhost:8001/mcp
Added HTTP MCP server gxnext with URL: http://localhost:8001/mcp to user config
File modified: C:\Users\myuser\.claude.json

2.4.2 CODA CLI

In CODA CLI, the MCP Server can be added by running the /mcp command. A list of options will be displayed for you to select from:

Select option 2: Add server (JSON). Follow the steps until you paste the MCP Server configuration.

GeneXus MCP Server configuration in JSON format:

{
    "mcpServers": {
    "gxnext":  {
        "transport":  "http",
        "url":  "http://localhost:8001/mcp"
      }
    }
  }

This leaves the JSON at C:\Users\MyUser.coda.tools\mcp\global_default_mcp.json.

3. GeneXus skill: nexa

The nexa skill is available in the public GitHub repository: https://github.com/genexuslabs/genexus-skills/. Refer to the README.md file for more information and installation steps (including cloning the repository).

You can clone the repository or download it as a ZIP file.

After downloading the repository, locate the nexa folder and identify the required files:

• nexa/references/
• nexa/SKILL.md

These files define the skill and must be used when installing it in your coding CLI.

For installation steps (for example, Claude Code, CODA CLI, Codex, or OpenCode), follow the instructions provided in the repository README.md.

Additional resources

You can install the GeneXus KB Text Support extension for Visual Studio Code to get syntax highlighting, diagnostics, and navigation for .gx files.