Roo Code (Cline fork) — MCP server + custom instructions

Category 2 (MCP-capable, no native session-start hook).

Roo Code (formerly Roo Cline) is a fork of Cline maintained by the Roo team. The recipe is largely identical to cline.md — same MCP-server registration shape, same custom-instructions surface — with the divergences noted below. If you have already installed the Cline recipe, you can copy the same MCP-server JSON across; only the config file path differs.

Part 1 — MCP server

Roo Code’s MCP config path differs from upstream Cline. Recent versions store it under the VS Code extension storage:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/mcp_settings.json (the “rooveterinaryinc” publisher id is the historical Roo Cline id; newer builds may use a roo-code slug — check ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ for the active directory)
• Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/mcp_settings.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline\settings\mcp_settings.json

If the canonical path varies on your install, the Roo Code Settings panel (Command Palette → “Roo Code: Open MCP Settings”) opens the active file — preferred over hand-typing the path. The schema is identical to Cline’s:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ai-memory": {
      "command": "ai-memory",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": { "AI_MEMORY_DB": "${HOME}/.claude/ai-memory.db" },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": ["memory_session_start", "memory_recall", "memory_capabilities"]
    }
  }
}

autoApprove lets the model call read-only memory tools without prompting for permission on every call — required for a smooth boot path.

Using --tier smart or --tier autonomous with a non-default LLM backend? Post-#1146 (v0.7.0) the recommended path is a [llm] section in ~/.config/ai-memory/config.toml — single source of truth across MCP / HTTP daemon / CLI / boot banner / doctor probe. Example: backend = "xai", model = "grok-4.3", api_key_env = "XAI_API_KEY" (the env-var name, not the literal key — inline keys are rejected at parse time). Export the named env var in your shell rc; the MCP config can stay minimal. Override path: extend the env block above with AI_MEMORY_LLM_BACKEND, AI_MEMORY_LLM_API_KEY, and AI_MEMORY_LLM_MODEL — shell exports don’t reach MCP-spawned subprocesses (#1144). Full schema + per-vendor recipes: ../CONFIG_SCHEMA.md + llm-backends.md.

Part 2 — Custom Instructions (best-effort)

Roo Code’s custom-instructions surface is reachable via Settings → Roo Code → Custom Instructions (same UI affordance as Cline). Roo Code also supports per-mode instructions (the “Mode” abstraction is a Roo addition not present in upstream Cline) — if you use modes, set the directive on the default / “Code” mode for first-turn coverage.

At the start of every conversation, before responding to the user’s first message, call memory_session_start then memory_recall against the current project’s namespace. Reference recalled titles in your first reply.

Divergence from Cline

Otherwise the shapes are identical. If a future Roo Code release diverges further (e.g., changes the MCP settings schema), this recipe will pick up the delta and re-document.

Quick install

Manual install only until PR-2’s installer follow-up adds explicit Roo Code support. The MCP-settings JSON edit above is the manual form; track the installer issue for one-line bootstrap that handles the publisher-id variance and per-mode instructions.

End-user diagnostic

Roo Code surfaces MCP tool calls in its chat transcript, so when the directive fires you will see memory_session_start in the tool-call log on the first turn. If you don’t, either MCP is not loading the server (check the Roo Code output panel in VS Code: View → Output → “Roo Code”) or the directive is not being applied to the active mode. The ai-memory boot status-header diagnostic (see README.md) does not apply here because Roo Code’s integration is MCP-only.

Limitations

• Category-2: text-directive in custom instructions is subject to model compliance.
• Roo Code’s per-mode instructions are powerful but easy to misconfigure — verify the directive is in the active mode, not just the global textbox.
• The publisher id and storage path have changed at least once across Roo Code’s history (Roo Cline → Roo Code rename). The recipe pins the historical id; on a fresh install confirm the active directory before pasting.

Better, when Roo Code lands a session-start hook

We have an open feature request at the Roo Code repo to add a documented session-start hook (cross-filed from issue #487). When that ships, replace Part 2 with a hook entry pointing at:

ai-memory boot --quiet --no-header --limit 10 --budget-tokens 4096

This recipe will be updated in place once the hook lands.

Related

• README.md — integration matrix and the universal primitive.
• cline.md — the upstream parent recipe; most of the shape is shared.
• Issue #487 — RCA + cross-files for category-2 native-hook requests.