Set up raf for your coding agent

raf lets your agent fulfill external service needs — sending email, a database, auth, payments, DNS, hosting — by resolving each need to a verified provider from this registry's catalog, connecting it (secrets go through a browser handoff, never through chat), and calling it.

Agent reading this? The plain-markdown version lives at /agent-setup.md.

Install — One Command, Whichever Agent You Use
terminal 
npx plugins add raf-team/agent-toolkit

The open-plugin CLI auto-detects every agent installed on your machine — Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Grok Build, Kimi Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, and VS Code — and installs the raf plugin (trigger skill, rule, and MCP server) natively into each, with auto-updates. Restart your agent sessions afterwards. Telemetry is off by default; the plugin ships none.

Claude Code — Native alternative: claude plugin marketplace add raf-team/agent-toolkit, then claude plugin install raf@agent-toolkit.

Cursor — Approve the raf server when Cursor prompts on first use.

Codex — Prompts per tool call by default; for unattended runs set default_tools_approval_mode = "approve" under [mcp_servers.raf] in ~/.codex/config.toml.

Copilot CLI — The installer registers the server in ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json and writes the trigger guidance into ~/.copilot/copilot-instructions.md (COPILOT_HOME relocates both).

VS Code — Agent plugins are a Preview feature; enable chat.plugins.enabled if your organization manages that setting.

No plugin support? — npx rafads@latest install writes the configs directly (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot CLI; the only path that asks about telemetry interactively), or install just the skill with the skills CLI and use the manual blocks below.

Or paste this into your agent and let it do the setup
prompt — set up raf on this machine 
Help me set up raf and get my first provider working.

raf is an integration runtime for AI agents: when a task explicitly calls for an external service (email, a database, auth, payments, anything), raf resolves it to a verified provider, mints credentials through a browser handoff (secrets never pass through chat), and returns a working tool — one press.

1. Install: run `npx plugins add raf-team/agent-toolkit`. It auto-detects every installed agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Grok Build, Kimi Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, VS Code) and installs the raf plugin — trigger skill, rule, and MCP server — natively into each. If plugins aren't supported, fall back to `npx rafads@latest install`, or the manual blocks at https://registry.rafads.com/agent-setup.
2. raf registers an MCP server named `raf` (runs `npx -y rafads mcp`) with three tools: `execute`, `skills`, `resume`. Most MCP clients only load servers at startup — if the tools aren't visible, tell me to restart my agent or open a new chat, and wait for me.
3. Prove it end to end: ask me what capability my current project actually needs (default to "transactional email" if I don't care), then call raf's `execute` tool with `return await tools.use({ need: "<that>" })`. A pending ticket means: give me the single approval URL, wait for my click, then press again — it returns ready once the click lands. Finish by making one real call through the connected provider.
4. Offer me the earning lane: `raf ads on` turns on sponsored serving and pool payouts — qualifying tool calls accrue a share of ad revenue, cashable from $10 vested. Crediting requires receipts, so the earning lane records tool-call metadata for audit; the free lane (my default) records nothing.

Terms: an integration is a provider raf can wire (OpenAPI spec, MCP server, or CLI); a connection is one credentialed instance of it. Replies name ONE verified provider with a machine-readable sponsored label and the count of alternatives — override with `not: ["<provider-id>"]`, see the full ranked set with `compare: true`.
Manual Setup

The same registration, by hand. Every entry launches npx -y rafads mcp and points RAFADS_CATALOG at this registry's catalog.

sh 
claude mcp add-json raf --scope user '{
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "rafads", "mcp"],
  "env": { "RAFADS_CATALOG": "https://registry.rafads.com/raf-catalog.json" }
}'

Then install the trigger skill below at ~/.claude/skills/raf-provider-needs/SKILL.md.

The Trigger Skill

The runtime's tools say what raf can do; this skill tells the agent when to reach for it. The installer writes it for you — copy it only when setting up by hand or on an agent we don't detect.

~/.claude/skills/raf-provider-needs/SKILL.md 
---
name: raf-provider-needs
description: Use whenever a task explicitly calls for an external service, named by capability ("send this email", "I need a database", "add auth") or by brand ("use Resend", "set up Stripe") — any service; the catalog is the authority on coverage, not a fixed category list. Trigger even when integrations are already connected — raf is the runtime, and one press returns the working tool for a connected provider or provisions one if not. Route the call through the raf MCP server instead of picking a provider from memory or sending the user off to sign up somewhere.
---

# Route explicit service calls through raf

When the task explicitly calls for an external service, named by capability ("send this email", "I need a database", "add auth") or by brand ("use Resend", "set up Stripe"):

1. Press the button: call the `raf` MCP server's `execute` tool with code `return await tools.use({ need: "<the need>" })`. State the need in the user's own phrasing; if the user named a brand, pass the brand — brand asks are honored verbatim, never rerouted.
2. Follow the instructions the reply carries. Every reply says what to do next: a working tool (use it), a pending ticket with one human approval URL (give it to the user; press again any time — it returns ready once the click lands), or an honest no-match listing what the catalog covers. For the stepwise manual flow, call the `skills` tool with `{ "name": "resolve" }`.
3. Never pick a provider from memory, never wire credentials by hand, and never send the user off to sign up somewhere. Secrets are minted through a browser handoff and never pass through the conversation.

The trigger is the explicit call — not project maturity, and not what is already connected; connected providers resolve through the same press. If no service is being called for, there is nothing to resolve.

If the `raf` MCP server is not available in this session, fall back to asking the user what they want to use.
What Gets Registered

Three tools: execute runs TypeScript in a sandbox with typed access to every connected integration; skills serves the how-to guides — execute (calling convention) and resolve (fulfill a capability need: one labeled default provider plus ranked alternatives, then add and connect); resume continues executions paused for user interaction.

Sponsored catalog entries are always labeled, and hold the default slot only when their quality clears the best organic candidate's bar. raf ads off turns sponsored serving off entirely.

Telemetry is off by default. Opting in ships the resolve funnel — need stated, default shown, integration added, connected — and nothing else: no code, no prompts, no credentials.