Claude Code

Claude Code extends through skills, MCP servers, and plugins. Smithers ships into all three. The fastest path is:

bunx smithers-orchestrator skills add
bunx smithers-orchestrator mcp add --agent claude-code

That syncs generated Smithers CLI skill files to Claude’s supported skill location and registers the MCP server in ~/.claude.json. Restart Claude Code (or run /mcp) and it can list, run, watch, and approve workflows.

Curated onboarding skill

The onboarding skill teaches Claude the Smithers mental model and ships the full docs bundle next to it. init installs it automatically when Claude Code is detected:

bunx smithers-orchestrator init

Claude loads a skill when its description matches the request, so once it’s installed you just ask for the outcome, “orchestrate an agent to add rate limiting and keep iterating until the tests pass”, and Claude reaches for Smithers itself.

Generated CLI skills

skills add syncs generated skill files for Smithers CLI command groups:

bunx smithers-orchestrator skills add

For project-scoped generated skill files, pass --no-global.

Register the MCP server

mcp add writes the registration for you. To do it by hand, add a server with the Claude CLI:

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user smithers \
  -- bunx smithers-orchestrator --mcp

Or commit a project-scoped .mcp.json so the whole team gets it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smithers": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["smithers-orchestrator", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The server exposes the semantic tool surface: list_workflows, run_workflow, watch_run, list_pending_approvals, resolve_approval, explain_run, and more. See the MCP Server reference for every tool.

Claude Code plugin

A plugin bundles the skill and MCP server behind a single install, namespaced as smithers:. The manifest lives at .claude-plugin/plugin.json:

{
  "name": "smithers",
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "description": "Durable control plane for long-running coding agents"
}

The MCP server is wired through a sibling .claude-plugin/.mcp.json, and the skill is auto-discovered from the plugin’s skills/ directory, so neither is declared inside plugin.json itself. Install from a marketplace and reload without restarting:

/plugin marketplace add smithersai/smithers
/plugin install smithers@smithersai
/reload-plugins

See the worked examples: plugin (skill) and plugin (orchestrator).

Standing instructions

Add a line to CLAUDE.md so Claude remembers Smithers is the tool for durable, multi-step work:

## Orchestration
For multi-step, long-running, or human-in-the-loop agent work, use Smithers:
`bunx smithers-orchestrator starters` lists ready-made workflows.

Smithers runs Claude Code too

In the other direction, Smithers spawns Claude Code as a worker inside a workflow via ClaudeCodeAgent, with native session hijack:

import { ClaudeCodeAgent } from "smithers-orchestrator";

const claude = new ClaudeCodeAgent({ model: "claude-fable-5" });

By default this bills your Claude Pro/Max subscription: ClaudeCodeAgent clears ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from the spawned process so the CLI uses subscription auth, no API key required. To run multiple subscriptions side by side, set one up with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=<dir> claude plus /login, then pass configDir: "<dir>". Passing apiKey switches that invocation to Anthropic API billing. You can also call it once for a typed completion with no graph:

const { output } = await claude.generate({
  prompt: 'Reply with JSON: {"ok": true}',
  outputSchema: z.object({ ok: z.boolean() }),
  timeout: { totalMs: 60_000, idleMs: 30_000 },
});

See CLI Agents → Claude Code and Subscription-mode structured completion.

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Curated onboarding skill

Generated CLI skills

Register the MCP server

Claude Code plugin

Standing instructions

Smithers runs Claude Code too

​Curated onboarding skill

​Generated CLI skills

​Register the MCP server

​Claude Code plugin

​Standing instructions

​Smithers runs Claude Code too

Curated onboarding skill

Generated CLI skills

Register the MCP server

Claude Code plugin

Standing instructions

Smithers runs Claude Code too