You generally only need to set up and run nREPL explicitly when using Claude Desktop (or other desktop chat apps) because they start MCP servers outside your project directory.
Add an :nrepl alias to your project's deps.edn:
{:aliases
{:nrepl
{:extra-paths ["test"]
:extra-deps {nrepl/nrepl {:mvn/version "1.3.1"}}
:main-opts ["-m" "nrepl.cmdline" "--port" "7888"]}}}Start the nREPL server from your project directory:
clojure -M:nreplStart an nREPL server from your project directory:
lein repl :headless :port 78887888is just an example. Any open port is fine as long as you use the same port when starting ClojureMCP (for Claude Desktop).