Codex CLI

Set up the SonarQube MCP Server with Codex CLI and start using Sonar tools from your agent.

Codex CLI is OpenAI's terminal-based AI coding assistant. Use this setup when you want to use Sonar tools from within a Codex CLI workflow.

Set up MCP for Codex CLI

Environment variables

The following Common variables are required. Note that SONARQUBE_TOKEN applies to stdio transport only. For HTTP, HTTPS, or the embedded SonarQube Cloud MCP server, use the Authorization: Bearer <YourSonarQubeUserToken> header instead.

• SONARQUBE_TOKEN: Your SonarQube user token (stdio transport).

• SONARQUBE_ORG: Your SonarQube Cloud organization key. Required for SonarQube Cloud only.

• SONARQUBE_URL: Your SonarQube Server or Community Build URL. Also required for SonarQube Cloud in the US region (https://sonarqube.us). Not needed for SonarQube Cloud in the EU region.

Your SonarQube token is a sensitive credential. Use environment variables to pass tokens rather than hardcoding them in configuration files. Never commit tokens to version control.

Connection and transport

In your ~/.codex/config.toml file, add the following configuration:

User tokens are required when setting up connected mode or an MCP Server between SonarQube (Server, Cloud) and SonarQube for IDE. Note that the binding will not function properly if project tokens, global tokens, or scoped organization tokens are used during the setup process.

SONARQUBE_URL should be defined as https://sonarqube.us each time you use a SonarQube Cloud configuration (SONARQUBE_TOKEN + SONARQUBE_ORG) and want to connect to US instance. See the Common variables article which explains when to use these variables.

This code sample configures the MCP server using Stdio transport, where SONARQUBE_TOKEN is passed as an environment variable.

For HTTP, HTTPS, or the MCP Server in SonarQube Cloud, the SONARQUBE_TOKEN header is deprecated. Pass the token using the "Authorization": "Bearer <YourSonarQubeUserToken>" header instead.

Codex CLI with SonarQube Cloud

[mcp_servers.sonarqube]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--init", "--pull=always", "-e", "SONARQUBE_TOKEN", "-e", "SONARQUBE_ORG", "mcp/sonarqube"]
env = { "SONARQUBE_TOKEN" = "<YourSonarQubeUserToken>", "SONARQUBE_ORG" = "<YourOrganizationName>" }

Codex CLI with SonarQube Server

[mcp_servers.sonarqube]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--init", "--pull=always", "-e", "SONARQUBE_TOKEN", "-e", "SONARQUBE_URL", "mcp/sonarqube"]
env = { "SONARQUBE_TOKEN" = "<YourSonarQubeUserToken>", "SONARQUBE_URL" = "<YourSonarQubeServerURL>" }

Use Sonar tools from Codex CLI

Once connected, Codex CLI can call SonarQube MCP tools on your behalf. See the Tools page for the full list of available tools.

Concrete workflow examples for this IDE will be added after engineering review.