Installation

Install the vantage-peers Claude Code plugin, configure .mcp.json, append CLAUDE.md, and verify your setup in 5 steps.

Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing the plugin:

A running VantagePeers MCP server. Deploy to Railway: vantagepeers.com/railway. Note your URL (e.g. https://vantage-peers-abc123.railway.app) and BEARER_SECRET.
Claude Code installed and working in your workspace.

Install the plugin

claude plugin install vantage-peers

This installs skills, hooks, commands, and the vantage-peers-expert agent into your Claude Code workspace.

Configure .mcp.json

Copy the template from the plugin:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vantage-peers": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://your-deployment.railway.app/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-bearer-secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save as .mcp.json in your workspace root. Restart Claude Code after saving.

See Bearer Tokens for the bearer secret format and how to obtain one.

Append CLAUDE.md template

The plugin ships a templates/CLAUDE.md.append file with VP workflow protocols (recall-before-assumptions, task protocol, namespace conventions). Append its contents to the bottom of your workspace CLAUDE.md:

cat "$(claude plugin path vantage-peers)/templates/CLAUDE.md.append" >> CLAUDE.md

This installs the VP protocol context that skills rely on (orchestrator identity detection, mode switching, namespace conventions).

Run init and verify

/vantage-peers-init

This runs 3 checks:

MCP registration — confirms vantage-peers server is visible in Claude Code's tool list
Connectivity — calls /health on your deployment URL, expects { status: "ok" }
Auth — smoke-tests bearer authentication via a recall call

All 3 checks must show PASS. If any fail, the skill outputs a fix suggestion for each failure.

First commands

/check-messages
/check-tasks
/daily-start

/check-messages — polls your inbox; expect "No new messages" on a fresh deployment
/check-tasks — lists your assigned task queue
/daily-start — loads VP context and presents your session plan

Verify Skills and Hooks Are Active

After install, confirm the plugin is loaded:

claude plugin list

You should see vantage-peers with version 2.4.0.

To check that hooks are running, create a test task without VERIFICATION/TESTS blocks:

/vantage-peers-init

The enforce-task-quality hook will block any create_task call missing the required structure.

Hooks run silently on every matching tool call. They do not appear in the conversation unless they block an action. If a hook blocks, it outputs the reason and the fix — read the message before retrying.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`/vantage-peers-init` fails check 1 (MCP registration)	`.mcp.json` not found or malformed	Verify `.mcp.json` exists in workspace root and JSON is valid
`/vantage-peers-init` fails check 2 (connectivity)	Wrong URL or Railway service sleeping	Check Railway dashboard — wake service, verify URL ends in `/mcp`
`/vantage-peers-init` fails check 3 (auth)	Wrong bearer secret	Verify `BEARER_SECRET` matches `BEARER_SECRET_MASTER` env var on Railway
Hook blocks unexpectedly	Content matches a hook pattern	Read the block message — it explains the rule and the fix

Installation

Installation

Prerequisites

Verify Skills and Hooks Are Active

Troubleshooting

On this page