Getting Started

Ready to try vibe coding with Nette? This guide walks you through the complete setup:

  • Choosing and installing an AI tool
  • Setting up MCP Inspector so AI can see your application
  • Making your first AI-assisted changes

The whole process takes about 10 minutes. Let's get started!

Choosing Your AI Tool

Nette AI tools work with any MCP-compatible AI assistant. We recommend Claude Code for the best experience – it has a dedicated Nette plugin with deep framework knowledge and automatic code validation.

Other options include Cursor, VS Code with Continue, and other MCP-compatible tools. See Other AI Tools at the end of this guide.

What You'll Need

Before we begin, make sure you have:

  • A Nette project – existing or new (composer create-project nette/web-project)
  • PHP 8.2+ – required for MCP Inspector
  • An AI tool – we'll install Claude Code below (Claude Pro costs $20/month)

Installation on macOS and Linux

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

On macOS, you can alternatively use Homebrew:

brew install --cask claude-code

After installation, skip to Starting Claude Code.

Installation on Windows via WSL

Claude Code requires a Unix environment. On Windows, use WSL:

wsl --install

This installs Ubuntu. Restart your computer after installation.

After restart, launch Ubuntu:

ubuntu

First launch will ask for a username and password – you'll need it for sudo later.

Installing Claude Code in WSL in the Ubuntu terminal:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Your Windows drives are mounted under /mnt/:

  • C:\Users\Jan\Projects → /mnt/c/Users/Jan/Projects
  • D:\Work → /mnt/d/Work

From Windows, access Linux files via \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\username in Explorer.

Starting Claude Code

Great, you have Claude Code installed! Let's start it up.

Navigate to your project directory:

# Windows (WSL)
cd /mnt/c/Users/Jan/Projects/my-app

# macOS/Linux
cd ~/projects/my-app

Start Claude Code:

claude

The first time you run it, Claude Code will ask you to authenticate. It will open a browser window where you can log in to your Anthropic account. After successful authentication, you'll see the claude> prompt and you're ready to go.

You can also use Claude Code on the web or via the desktop app, but local installation provides the best experience with direct file access.

Adding the Nette Plugin

Now let's give Claude deep knowledge of Nette. First, add the Nette marketplace and enable auto-updating:

/plugin marketplace add nette/claude-code

Then install the plugin:

/plugin install nette@nette

That's it! The plugin is now active. It includes 10 specialized skills that automatically activate based on what you're working on. When you ask about forms, it knows about Nette Forms. When you ask about templates, it knows about Latte.

Setting Up MCP Inspector

The final piece is MCP Inspector, which lets Claude see your actual application – your services, database schema, routes, and error logs.

The easiest way to install it is through Claude Code:

/install-mcp-inspector

This command adds the nette/mcp-inspector package to your project and configures everything automatically.

Alternatively, you can install it manually with Composer:

composer require nette/mcp-inspector

Important: After installing MCP Inspector, restart Claude Code (type /exit and run claude again) to activate the connection.

Testing Your Setup

Let's verify everything works. Try these prompts:

Test the Plugin Knowledge

Type:

What's the recommended directory structure for a Nette application?

Claude should respond with detailed information about presenters, models, templates, and configuration – knowledge that comes from the nette-architecture skill.

Test MCP Inspector

Type:

What services do I have registered in my DI container?

If MCP Inspector is working, Claude will call di_get_services() and show you the actual services from your application. If you see a list of your real services, congratulations – everything is set up correctly!

Test Database Introspection

If your application uses a database, try:

What tables do I have? Show me the columns in the user table.

Your First Real Task

Now that everything is set up, let's do something useful. Try this prompt:

I need a simple ArticlePresenter with list and detail actions.
Generate the presenter, templates, and tell me what routes I need.

Watch as Claude generates a complete, working presenter following Nette conventions. It will:

  • Create the presenter class with proper type hints
  • Generate Latte templates for both actions
  • Suggest the appropriate route configuration

If you have MCP Inspector set up and an article table in your database, try:

Look at my article table and generate an ArticleRow entity with proper type hints.

Other AI Tools

While we recommend Claude Code for the best Nette experience, MCP Inspector works with any MCP-compatible tool.

Cursor

Cursor is a popular AI-first code editor. To use MCP Inspector with Cursor:

  1. Install MCP Inspector: composer require nette/mcp-inspector
  2. Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project:
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "nette-inspector": {
            "command": "php",
            "args": ["vendor/bin/mcp-inspector"]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Cursor

Note: Cursor doesn't have the Nette-specific skills that the Claude Code plugin provides, but MCP Inspector will still give it access to your application's services, database, routes, and logs.

VS Code + Continue

Continue is an open-source AI coding assistant for VS Code. Configure MCP Inspector in Continue's settings following their MCP documentation.

Other MCP Tools

Any tool supporting the Model Context Protocol can use MCP Inspector. See the MCP Inspector manual configuration for setup instructions.

What's Next

You're now ready for AI-assisted Nette development! Here's where to go from here: