> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.telys.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.telys.ai/mcp/client-other.md).

# Other clients

Telys speaks plain MCP over stdio, so any client that can spawn a stdio server can use it — not just the ones with dedicated pages. This page covers Codex, the generic contract for everything else, and how to confirm the server runs before you wire it up.

## The stdio contract

Every MCP client needs the same four facts about the Telys server:

| Field       | Value                                                             |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Transport   | stdio (standard input/output)                                     |
| Command     | `telys` (or the absolute path from `which telys`)                 |
| Arguments   | `["mcp"]` — optionally `["mcp", "--path", "/abs/path/to/memory"]` |
| Environment | Optional `TELYS_MEMORY_PATH` to choose the store                  |

The server identifies itself as `telys` and negotiates protocol version `2025-06-18`. It needs no API key or network access — set the memory directory and nothing else. With neither `--path` nor `TELYS_MEMORY_PATH`, it uses `~/.telys/memory`.

## Codex

The Codex CLI stores MCP servers as TOML in `~/.codex/config.toml`. Let the installer write it:

```bash
telys mcp install --client codex
```

Or add the table yourself:

{% code title="\~/.codex/config.toml" %}

```toml
[mcp_servers.telys]
command = "telys"
args = ["mcp"]

[mcp_servers.telys.env]
TELYS_MEMORY_PATH = "/Users/you/.telys/memory"
```

{% endcode %}

Restart Codex to pick up the new server.

## Any other MCP client

Most clients accept the JSON `mcpServers` shape. Add a `telys` entry and adapt the surrounding structure to your client's schema:

{% code title="mcp config (generic stdio)" %}

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telys": {
      "command": "telys",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TELYS_MEMORY_PATH": "/Users/you/.telys/memory"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

{% endcode %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
If the client is launched by a GUI or service manager it may not inherit your shell's `PATH`. Set `command` to the absolute path from `which telys` (a pipx install is typically `/Users/you/.local/bin/telys`) to avoid "server not found" errors.
{% endhint %}

## Verify the server starts

Before blaming the client, confirm the server itself runs. Start it directly from a terminal:

```bash
telys mcp
```

### What you will see

Nothing is printed and the process does not exit — it blocks on stdin, waiting for a client. **That is success.** Press Ctrl-C to stop it. To confirm it reads a custom store, point it at one:

```bash
telys mcp --path /tmp/telys-scratch
```

It behaves the same way (silent, blocking) and reads and writes collections under `/tmp/telys-scratch`. If the command errors immediately, the runtime is usually missing — run `telys runtime verify` and check [MCP client won't connect](/troubleshooting/mcp-client.md).

## Next steps

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Configuration &#x26; scoping</strong></td><td>Choose the store and share memory per project.</td><td><a href="/pages/WSNXqM7PJEas18L3bBPP">/pages/WSNXqM7PJEas18L3bBPP</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Tool: telys_search</strong></td><td>The search tool in full.</td><td><a href="/pages/MCot2Px9N71YmDCmVoPk">/pages/MCot2Px9N71YmDCmVoPk</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>telys mcp reference</strong></td><td>Every flag for the mcp subcommands.</td><td><a href="/pages/ybkX8RDOAgjAOVltcNoS">/pages/ybkX8RDOAgjAOVltcNoS</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


---

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