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Dynamic Project Switching ​

CTX allows you to manage multiple projects and seamlessly switch between them.

Note: After switching projects, you may need to restart MCP clients (like Claude) to ensure they recognize the new context.

This feature is especially valuable for developers who:

  • Work on multiple projects simultaneously
  • Need to provide context from different codebases to AI assistants
  • Want to maintain separate configurations for different projects

Using Dynamic Project Switching ​

With Project Switching, you can start the MCP server without specifying a project path:

bash
ctx server

When the -c option is omitted, CTX will use the globally registered projects configuration. This means:

  1. The server starts with the currently active project (if one is set)
  2. You can switch between registered projects using console commands
  3. AI assistants like Claude will always have access to the current project context

Project Management Commands ​

CTX provides several commands for managing your projects:

Adding a Project (project:add) ​

Register a new project with the system:

bash
ctx project:add <path> [--name=<alias>] [--config-file=<path>] [--env-file=<path>]

Example:

The easiest way to add a project is to run the command from the project directory:

bash
ctx project:add . --name=my-backend

If you want to specify environment variables for the project, you can do so with the --env-file option:

bash
ctx project:add . --name=my-backend --env-file=.env.dev

Arguments:

  • path: Path to the project directory. Use . for current directory.

Options:

  • --name: Alias name for the project (optional)
  • --config-file or -c: Path to custom configuration file within the project (optional)
  • --env-file or -e: Path to .env file within the project (optional)

Switching Between Projects (project) ​

Switch to a different registered project:

bash
ctx project [<path_or_alias>]

Arguments:

  • path_or_alias: Path or alias to the project (optional). If omitted, displays an interactive selection menu.

Example:

Switch to a project using its alias:

bash
ctx project my-backend

or switch to a project using its path:

bash
ctx project .

or you can omit the argument to see a list of all registered projects:

bash
ctx project

Listing Projects (project:list or projects) ​

View all registered projects:

bash
ctx project:list

Example output:

┌─────────────────────────────┬────────────────────┬──────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────┐
│ Path                        │ Config File        │ Env File │ Aliases         │ Added           │ Current │
├─────────────────────────────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────┤
│ /home/user/projects/my-app  │                    │          │ my-app          │ 2025-05-01 10:15│         │
├─────────────────────────────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────┤
│ /home/user/projects/backend │ custom-context.yaml│ .env.dev │ my-backend,     │ 2025-05-01 14:30│ active  │
│                             │                    │          │ backend         │                 │         │
├─────────────────────────────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────┤
│ /home/user/projects/frontend│                    │          │ my-ui           │ 2025-05-02 09:45│         │
└─────────────────────────────┴────────────────────┴──────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────┘

Configuring MCP Server for Project Switching ​

In your Claude app configuration, set up the MCP Server without specifying a project path:

Linux Configuration ​

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ctx": {
      "command": "ctx",
      "args": [
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windows Configuration ​

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ctx": {
      "command": "C:\\ctx.exe",
      "args": [
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windows with WSL Configuration ​

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ctx": {
      "command": "bash.exe",
      "args": [
        "-c",
        "ctx server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

This configuration allows the MCP server to automatically use the currently active project from your project registry without requiring a specific path at startup time.

MCP Tools for Project Management ​

In addition to the command-line interface, CTX provides MCP tools that AI assistants can use to manage projects programmatically. Read more about MCP Tools.