add-skill-parallel

name	add-skill-parallel
description	Add Parallel AI web research to NanoTars via MCP Servers. Enables quick web search and deep research tasks with citations. Guides through API key setup. Triggers on "add parallel", "parallel ai", "parallel setup", "web research".

Add Parallel AI (MCP Servers)

Configures Parallel AI web research for agent containers using their HTTP-based MCP servers. Agents get tools for quick web search and deep research tasks.

Preflight

Before installing, verify NanoTars is set up:

[ -d node_modules ] && echo "DEPS: ok" || echo "DEPS: missing"
docker image inspect nanoclaw-agent:latest &>/dev/null && echo "IMAGE: ok" || echo "IMAGE: not built"
if grep -q "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY\|CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN" .env 2>/dev/null || [ -f "$HOME/.claude/.credentials.json" ]; then echo "AUTH: ok"; else echo "AUTH: missing"; fi

If any check fails, tell the user to run /nanotars-setup first and stop.

Prerequisites

• Parallel AI API key from https://platform.parallel.ai

Step 1: Check Existing Configuration

grep "^PARALLEL_API_KEY=" .env 2>/dev/null && echo "KEY_SET" || echo "KEY_MISSING"
[ -d plugins/parallel ] && echo "PLUGIN_EXISTS" || echo "PLUGIN_MISSING"

If already configured, ask the user if they want to reconfigure or just verify.

Step 2: Get API Key

Ask the user:

Do you have a Parallel AI API key, or should I help you get one?

If they need one:

1. Go to https://platform.parallel.ai
2. Sign up or log in
3. Navigate to API Keys section
4. Create a new API key
5. Copy the key and paste it here

Wait for the API key.

Step 3: Save to .env

sed -i '/^PARALLEL_API_KEY=/d' .env
echo "PARALLEL_API_KEY=THE_KEY_HERE" >> .env

Sync to container environment:

cp .env data/env/env

Step 4: Install Plugin

cp -r ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/files/ plugins/parallel/

Step 5: Plugin Configuration

By default this plugin is available to all groups and channel types. To restrict access, edit plugins/parallel/plugin.json and set:

• "groups" to specific group folder names (e.g., ["main"]) instead of ["*"]
• "channels" to specific channel types (e.g., ["whatsapp"]) instead of ["*"]

Ask the user if they want to restrict access. Most users will keep the defaults.

Step 6: Build and Restart

npm run build
nanotars restart  # or launchctl on macOS

Verify

Send a message in your channel like:

• "What's the latest news about AI?"
• "Search for recent developments in quantum computing"

The agent now has Parallel AI search and deep research tools. Quick search is used freely; deep research asks for permission first.

Troubleshooting

• Agent says "no Parallel tools available": Check that plugins/parallel/mcp.json has the MCP server entries and PARALLEL_API_KEY is in .env
• 401 Unauthorized: API key is invalid -- regenerate at https://platform.parallel.ai
• Connection timeout: Parallel AI servers may be down -- check https://status.parallel.ai
• Deep research tasks never complete: Check that the scheduler is running and the polling task was created

Per-group overrides: If a specific group needs a different Parallel API key, add PARALLEL_API_KEY=... to groups/{folder}/.env. See /create-skill-plugin for details.

Remove

1. rm -rf plugins/parallel/
2. Remove env var from .env:

   sed -i '/^PARALLEL_API_KEY=/d' .env
   cp .env data/env/env
   

3. Rebuild and restart