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Claude Code extends through skills, MCP servers, and plugins. Smithers ships into all three. The fastest path is: 
bunx smithers-orchestrator skills add --agent claude-code
bunx smithers-orchestrator mcp add --agent claude-code
That installs the Smithers skill set under ~/.claude/skills/ and registers the MCP server in ~/.claude.json. Restart Claude Code (or run /mcp) and it can list, run, watch, and approve workflows.

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Install the skill

The onboarding skill teaches Claude the Smithers mental model and ships the full docs bundle next to it: 
bunx smithers-orchestrator skills add --agent claude-code
init runs this automatically; you only need it explicitly to re-install or update the skill. For project-scoped skills, pass --no-global to write to .claude/skills/ in the repo instead. 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.

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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.

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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": "0.1.0",
  "description": "Durable control plane for long-running coding agents",
  "skills": ["skills/smithers"],
  "mcpServers": {
    "smithers": { "command": "bunx", "args": ["smithers-orchestrator", "--mcp"] }
  }
}
Install from a marketplace and reload without restarting: 
/plugin marketplace add smithersai/smithers
/plugin install smithers@smithers
/reload-plugins
See the worked examples: plugin (skill) and plugin (orchestrator).

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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.

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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.