Agent Skills & Plugins

Overview

CodeAlive offers three integration methods that complement each other:

MCP Server

Provides tools. Gives your agent direct access to the v3 Tool API set via the Model Context Protocol: get_data_sources, semantic_search, grep_search, repository ontology/tree/read tools, fetch_artifacts, get_artifact_relationships, ArtifactQuery tools, and stateless chat.

Agent Skill

Teaches workflows. Teaches your agent effective query patterns, cost-aware tool selection, and multi-step exploration workflows.

Claude Code Plugin

Bundles everything. Includes the skill plus authentication hooks and a code exploration subagent. Claude Code only.

The skill and MCP server work best together: the MCP server provides the tools, and the skill teaches the agent how to use them effectively.

Installing the Skill

Via Installer (Recommended)

The universal installer auto-detects your agents and installs the skill:

npx @codealive/installer

Select “CodeAlive Skill” when prompted. See the Installation Guide for details.

Via npx

Install the skill directly using the skills CLI:

npx skills add CodeAlive-AI/codealive-skills@codealive-context-engine

This works with any agent that supports the skills.sh standard.

Manual Installation

Copy the skills/codealive-context-engine folder into your agent’s skills directory:

Agent	Project scope	User scope
Claude Code	`.claude/skills/`	`~/.claude/skills/`
Cursor	`.cursor/skills/`	`~/.cursor/skills/`
GitHub Copilot	`.github/skills/`	`~/.copilot/skills/`
Windsurf	`.windsurf/skills/`	`~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/`
Gemini CLI	`.gemini/skills/`	`~/.gemini/skills/`
Codex	`.codex/skills/`	`~/.codex/skills/`
Goose	`.goose/skills/`	`~/.config/goose/skills/`
Amp	`.agents/skills/`	`~/.config/agents/skills/`
Roo Code	`.roo/skills/`	`~/.roo/skills/`
OpenCode	`.opencode/skill/`	`~/.config/opencode/skill/`
OpenClaw	`skills/`	`~/.openclaw/skills/`

Installing the Claude Code Plugin

For Claude Code users, the plugin provides the best experience — it includes the skill plus Claude-specific enhancements.

Add the Marketplace

In Claude Code, run:

/plugin marketplace add CodeAlive-AI/codealive-skills

Install the Plugin

/plugin install codealive@codealive-marketplace

The plugin includes:

The CodeAlive Context Engine skill
Authentication hooks for automatic API key injection
A code exploration subagent for guided analysis

Already using the plugin in Claude Code and want another agent (for example Codex CLI) to load the same skill files? See Share the plugin with Codex CLI for a symlink-based bridge that follows every claude plugin update.

Setup & Authentication

After installing, run the interactive setup:

python setup.py

This will ask for your API key, verify it, and store it securely in your OS credential store. For self-hosted CodeAlive, set CODEALIVE_BASE_URL to your deployment origin, for example https://codealive.yourcompany.com. https://host/api is also accepted and normalized automatically.

API Key Resolution Order

CODEALIVE_API_KEY environment variable
OS credential store:

Platform	Store	Manual command
macOS	Keychain	`security add-generic-password -a "$USER" -s "codealive-api-key" -w "KEY"`
Linux	Secret Service	`secret-tool store --label="CodeAlive API Key" service codealive-api-key`
Windows	Credential Manager	`cmdkey /generic:codealive-api-key /user:codealive /pass:"KEY"`

Available Tools

The skill provides local scripts for the complete Tool API v3 workflow plus an offline version check:

Tool	Script	Speed	Cost	Best For
List Data Sources	`datasources.py`	Instant	Free	Discovering indexed repos and workspaces
Semantic Search	`search.py`	Fast	Low	Finding relevant artifacts by meaning
Grep Search	`grep.py`	Fast	Low	Exact text and regex matches with line previews
Fetch Artifacts	`fetch.py`	Fast	Low	Retrieving full content for search results
Artifact Relationships	`relationships.py`	Fast	Low	Expanding call graph, inheritance, and references for one artifact
Chat with Codebase	`chat.py`	Slow	High	Synthesized answers, architectural explanations
Get Version	`get_version.py`	Instant	Free	Return the installed skill version as JSON without authentication or a network request

Check the installed version locally:

python scripts/get_version.py
# {"name": "codealive-context-engine", "version": "3.0.0"}

Cost guidance: semantic_search and grep_search should be the default starting point. Chat invokes an LLM on the server side, is stateless in v3, can take substantially longer than retrieval, and is usually unnecessary unless you specifically request a synthesized answer after search.

Supported Agents

The skill works with 30+ agents that support the skills.sh standard, including: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Codex, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, OpenCode, OpenClaw, Claude Code, and many more.

Troubleshooting

API key not configured

Run the setup script:

python setup.py

Or set the environment variable:

export CODEALIVE_API_KEY="your_key"

Skill not detected by agent

Verify the skill files are in the correct directory for your agent
Check that the SKILL.md file exists in the skill folder
Restart your agent

Python not found

The skill requires Python 3.8+. No third-party packages are needed — it uses only the standard library.

Credential store errors

If the OS credential store fails:

macOS: Ensure Keychain Access is unlocked
Linux: Install libsecret-tools (sudo apt install libsecret-tools)
Windows: Run as Administrator
Fallback: Use the CODEALIVE_API_KEY environment variable

For more solutions, see the Troubleshooting Guide.

Installation Guide

Universal installer for all components

MCP Integration

Set up the MCP server for direct tool access

GitHub

Skills source code

skills.sh

Agent skills standard

Getting Started

Features

Model Context Protocol