setup

name	setup
description	Install and configure SeriousLetter MCP for Claude Code. USE WHEN user says "install seriousletter", "setup seriousletter mcp", "configure seriousletter", OR wants to set up the SeriousLetter MCP server.

SeriousLetter MCP Setup Wizard

This skill installs and configures the SeriousLetter MCP server so Claude Code can connect to the SeriousLetter job application platform.

Work through each step in order. Every step checks its own preconditions, so the wizard is safe to re-run if setup was interrupted.

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Step 1: Check Prerequisites

Check: Verify that Node.js 18+ and bun are available.

node --version
bun --version

Action if missing:

• If node is not found or the version is below 18: direct the user to https://nodejs.org and ask them to install it, then re-run this skill.
• If bun is not found: run curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash or direct the user to https://bun.sh. Then re-run this skill.

Report the installed versions before continuing.

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Step 2: Locate or Clone the Repository

Check: Look for an existing clone at ~/dev/ai/seriousletter-mcp/. Check whether dist/index.js already exists (indicates a previous successful build).

ls ~/dev/ai/seriousletter-mcp/dist/index.js 2>/dev/null && echo "EXISTS" || echo "NOT_FOUND"

Action if not found: Ask the user where to clone the repository:

Where should I clone the SeriousLetter MCP repository? Default: ~/dev/ai/seriousletter-mcp Press Enter to accept the default, or type a path.

Once confirmed, clone:

git clone https://github.com/mnott/SeriousLetter-MCP.git <chosen-path>

If the directory exists but is incomplete (no dist/), skip cloning and continue from Step 3.

Record the resolved install path for use in later steps.

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Step 3: Install Dependencies

Check: Look for node_modules/ in the install directory.

ls <install-path>/node_modules 2>/dev/null | head -1

Action if missing:

cd <install-path> && bun install

Report success or any errors before continuing.

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Step 4: Build the Server

Check: Verify dist/index.js exists and is newer than src/index.ts.

ls -la <install-path>/dist/index.js 2>/dev/null

Action if missing or stale:

cd <install-path> && bun run build

Confirm that dist/index.js was produced. If the build fails, report the error output in full and stop — the user needs to resolve compile errors before continuing.

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Step 5: Check Existing Registration

Check: Read ~/.claude.json and look for a seriousletter key under mcpServers.

grep -c '"seriousletter"' ~/.claude.json 2>/dev/null || echo "0"

If already registered: Show the current configuration (mask the token — show only the first 8 characters followed by ...). Ask:

SeriousLetter MCP is already registered. Do you want to update the configuration? (yes/no)

If no, skip to Step 9.

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Step 6: Collect the API Token

Action: Ask the user for their SeriousLetter API token.

Please paste your SeriousLetter API token. (Sign in at https://jobs.seriousletter.com, go to Profile > API Tokens, and generate one if you do not have one yet.)

If the user already has a token configured (detected in Step 5), offer to keep the existing one:

A token is already configured. Press Enter to keep it, or paste a new one.

Do not display the full token value in any output — mask it as <token> in status messages.

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Step 7: Confirm the API URL

Action: Confirm the base URL. The default is the production server.

SL_API_URL (default: https://jobs.seriousletter.com): Press Enter to accept, or type an override.

Accept the default unless the user explicitly types a different URL. Do not suggest dev URLs unless the user brings them up.

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Step 8: Register in ~/.claude.json

Action: Edit ~/.claude.json to add or update the seriousletter entry under mcpServers.

The entry to write:

"seriousletter": {
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "node",
  "args": ["<absolute-install-path>/dist/index.js"],
  "env": {
    "SL_API_URL": "<confirmed-url>",
    "SL_API_TOKEN": "<token>"
  }
}

Use the absolute path to dist/index.js (expand ~ to the real home directory path).

Read ~/.claude.json first to parse the existing JSON. If mcpServers does not exist, create it. Insert or replace the seriousletter key without disturbing other entries. Write the result back as valid JSON.

Verify the file is valid JSON after writing:

node -e "JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync(process.env.HOME + '/.claude.json', 'utf8'))" && echo "VALID"

If the parse fails, show the diff and ask the user to review ~/.claude.json manually before continuing.

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Step 9: Verify the Server Starts

Action: Confirm the built server exits cleanly without crashing.

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1"}}}' \
  | SL_API_URL=https://jobs.seriousletter.com SL_API_TOKEN=test \
    node <absolute-install-path>/dist/index.js 2>/dev/null | head -1

This sends a minimal MCP initialize request. A JSON response starting with {"jsonrpc" confirms the server loads correctly. An empty response or a Node.js stack trace indicates a problem — report it and stop.

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Step 10: Report Completion

Report a summary of what was done:

• Install path
• Node.js and bun versions confirmed
• Whether the repo was cloned or already present
• Whether ~/.claude.json was updated or already correct
• Server startup verified

Then instruct the user:

Setup is complete. Restart Claude Code (quit and reopen, or run /quit and relaunch) for the new MCP server to take effect.

After restart, the SeriousLetter tools will be available as: mcp__seriousletter__sl_list_jobs mcp__seriousletter__sl_scrape_and_create ... (50 tools total)

To add a second user, ask Claude: "Add as a SeriousLetter user with token ".

To verify the connection after restart, ask Claude: "List my SeriousLetter jobs"