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Agent skill

MCP Setup

by vellum-ai in vellum-ai/vellum-assistant

Add, authenticate, list, and remove MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers — connect any external tool or service that publishes an MCP endpoint to the assistant

MITAuto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install MCP Setup

skills CLI
$ npx skills add vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill mcp-setup -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install vellum-ai/vellum-assistant mcp-setup --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/vellum-ai/vellum-assistant.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/mcp-setup .claude/skills/mcp-setup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
mcp-setup
GitHub stars
1.4k
Token cost
~1.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
707 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
108
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Add, authenticate, list, and remove MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers — connect any external tool or service that publishes an MCP endpoint to the assistant

  • Works in 3 steps: Detect your environment → Check the recipe table → Unknown service
  • Tasks that involve MCP servers
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use, Prefer Native OAuth…, Step 1 — Detect your environment and Step 2 — Check the recipe table, plus 4 more sections
  • Reaches mcp.context7.com and mcp.linear.app

What it does

MCP Setup is an agent skill from vellum-ai/vellum-assistant. Add, authenticate, list, and remove MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers — connect any external tool or service that publishes an MCP endpoint to the assistant

Its SKILL.md is about 1.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts. Compatibility notes: Works on both the Vellum desktop app (local daemon) and the Vellum web app (platform-hosted). Auth flow differs by environment.

It sits in Agent Workflows, covering MCP servers. It works with Model Context Protocol and Bash. The repository describes itself as: An AI Assistant that’s easy to setup, does your work 24/7, knows your preferences and gets better over time. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve MCP servers

Example prompts

  • “/mcp-setup”

Requirements

  • Node.js
  • Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Works on both the Vellum desktop app (local daemon) and the Vellum web app (platform-hosted). Auth flow differs by environment.

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Detect your environment
  2. Check the recipe table
  3. Unknown service

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 33cc983. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • mcp.context7.com
    • mcp.linear.app
    • mcp.figma.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

  • Compatibility

    Works on both the Vellum desktop app (local daemon) and the Vellum web app (platform-hosted). Auth flow differs by environment.

    From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

MCP Setup loads about 1.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 42 tokens; SKILL.md has 707 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~42
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from vellum-ai/vellum-assistant at commit 33cc983, republished under its MIT licence (© vellum-ai). 707 words, ~1,556 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/mcp-setup/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
mcp-setup
description
Add, authenticate, list, and remove MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers — connect any external tool or service that publishes an MCP endpoint to the assistant
compatibility
Works on both the Vellum desktop app (local daemon) and the Vellum web app (platform-hosted). Auth flow differs by environment.
metadata.emoji
🔌

Configure MCP servers to give the assistant access to any external tool or service that publishes an MCP endpoint.

DO NOT run exploratory commands. Do not check available CLI commands, search for bun/npx/node, or investigate transport types. Follow the steps below exactly and stop when done. (Looking up a service's MCP endpoint URL in its own documentation is allowed when the service is not in the recipe table, per Step 3.)

When to Use

USE THIS SKILL WHEN:

  • User asks to connect any external tool or service via MCP
  • User asks "what MCP servers / integrations do I have?"
  • An MCP tool returns an auth error → run assistant mcp auth <name>
  • User wants to disconnect an integration

Prefer Native OAuth Integration (check this first)

Many services have built-in OAuth integrations that are simpler and more reliable than MCP. Before setting up MCP, check whether the service already has a native OAuth provider:

assistant oauth providers list

If the service appears in that list, connect it natively instead of using MCP:

assistant oauth connect <provider>

Only use MCP when:

  • The service is not in assistant oauth providers list
  • The user explicitly asks to use MCP for a specific service
  • The native OAuth integration fails or lacks features the user needs

Step 1 — Detect your environment

Before doing anything else, determine which environment you are in.

Try host_bash:

echo "desktop ok"
  • If it succeeds → you are on the desktop app. Use host_bash for all commands, including auth (opens a local browser).
  • If it is unavailable → you are on the web app (or a cloud-hosted session). Use bash for all commands, including auth (the platform handles the browser redirect).

Both environments fully support MCP. The only difference is which tool runs the commands.

Step 2 — Check the recipe table

Check this table before doing anything else. If the service is listed, run the command shown and do nothing else — no exploration, no checking available commands, no looking up documentation.

ServiceCommandAfter?
Context7 (docs)assistant mcp add context7 -t streamable-http -u https://mcp.context7.com/mcp -r lowDone — no auth needed
Linearassistant mcp add linear -t streamable-http -u https://mcp.linear.app/mcpRun assistant mcp auth linear
Figmaassistant mcp add figma -t streamable-http -u https://mcp.figma.com/mcpRun assistant mcp auth figma

If the service is not in this table, go to Step 3.

Step 3 — Unknown service

Find the MCP endpoint URL in the service's documentation, then run:

assistant mcp add <name> -t streamable-http -u <url>

Then run assistant mcp list. If it shows ! Needs authentication, run assistant mcp auth <name>.

  • On desktop → run via host_bash (opens the local browser).
  • On web app → run via bash (the platform handles the browser redirect).
Show full SKILL.md (283 more words)Show less

Reference: All Commands

Run list, add, remove, and reload via bash on both environments. Run auth via host_bash on desktop, or via bash on the web app.

List servers
assistant mcp list
assistant mcp list --json   # machine-readable output

Shows each server's connection status, transport, and URL/command. Status indicators:

  • ✓ Connected
  • ✗ Error
  • ! Needs authentication
Add a server
assistant mcp add <name> -t <transport> -u <url>

Transport types:

  • streamable-http — most modern remote servers (use this by default)
  • sse — legacy remote servers
  • stdio — local process: use -c <command> and -a <args...> instead of -u

Examples:

assistant mcp add linear -t streamable-http -u https://mcp.linear.app/mcp
assistant mcp add context7 -t streamable-http -u https://mcp.context7.com/mcp
assistant mcp add local-db -t stdio -c npx -a -y @my/mcp-server
Authenticate (OAuth)
assistant mcp auth <name>
  • On desktop → run via host_bash (opens the user's local browser for OAuth login).
  • On web app → run via bash (the platform handles the browser redirect and saves tokens).

Tokens are saved automatically. Use when:

  • assistant mcp list shows ! Needs authentication
  • An MCP tool call fails with an auth/token error
  • Setting up a new OAuth-protected server for the first time
Remove a server
assistant mcp remove <name>

Removes config and cleans up stored OAuth credentials.

Reload
assistant mcp reload

Manually signals the assistant to reconnect all MCP servers from disk. Normally not needed — the assistant detects changes automatically after add, remove, and auth. Use this only if a server's tools aren't appearing after ~10 seconds.

Advanced Configuration

mcp add covers the common cases. For stdio environment variables, edit $VELLUM_WORKSPACE_DIR/mcp.json under mcpServers.<name>.env. Auth headers for remote servers go through assistant mcp add -H or the settings UI, not mcp.json.

SKILL COMPLETE WHEN

Match the completion condition to the task:

  • Add / authenticate: the server appears in assistant mcp list with status ✓ Connected and the user confirms its tools are available in the conversation.
  • List: the current servers (or the fact that none are configured) have been reported to the user.
  • Remove / disconnect: assistant mcp remove <name> succeeds and the server no longer appears in assistant mcp list.

© vellum-ai, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/mcp-setup of vellum-ai/vellum-assistant.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 33cc983

Compare with similar skills

MCP Setup next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

MCP Setup compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
MCP Setup this skillvellum-ai/vellum-assistant1.4k—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Crush Configurationcharmbracelet/crush29k—~3.7kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Record Demoapify/mcpc1k—~3.3kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Releasejgravelle/jcodemunch-mcp2.7k—~6.5kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Mcpcapify/mcpc1k—~3.6kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Tool Selectiondatabricks-solutions/ai-dev-kit1.9k—~519Automated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Works with

Categories

Questions about MCP Setup

What does MCP Setup do?

Add, authenticate, list, and remove MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers — connect any external tool or service that publishes an MCP endpoint to the assistant. MCP Setup is an agent skill from vellum-ai/vellum-assistant.

When should I use MCP Setup?

MCP Setup fits situations like: tasks that involve MCP servers.

How do I install MCP Setup in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill mcp-setup -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/mcp-setup in vellum-ai/vellum-assistant) into .claude/skills/mcp-setup in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install MCP Setup in Codex?

Run `npx skills add vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill mcp-setup -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/mcp-setup in vellum-ai/vellum-assistant) into .agents/skills/mcp-setup in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use MCP Setup in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add vellum-ai/vellum-assistant --skill mcp-setup -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/mcp-setup, .gemini/skills/mcp-setup, .github/skills/mcp-setup and .opencode/skills/mcp-setup in your project.

What does MCP Setup need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: MCP Setup is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: Node.js. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Works on both the Vellum desktop app (local daemon) and the Vellum web app (platform-hosted). Auth flow differs by environment..

Does MCP Setup access the network?

SKILL.md names 3 domains. In commands or code: mcp.context7.com, mcp.linear.app and mcp.figma.com; the agent is likely to contact these when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is MCP Setup safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does MCP Setup use?

MCP Setup is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does MCP Setup use?

About 1.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to MCP Setup?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with MCP Setup: Crush Configuration (charmbracelet/crush, 29k stars), Record Demo (apify/mcpc, 1k stars), Release (jgravelle/jcodemunch-mcp, 2.7k stars) and Mcpc (apify/mcpc, 1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains MCP Setup?

vellum-ai (a GitHub organization) maintains it in vellum-ai/vellum-assistant, which has 1,408 GitHub stars. The repository holds 108 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

Source: vellum-ai/vellum-assistant on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.