setup-mcp

name	setup-mcp
description	Set up this ExileApiMcp server so your AI assistant can query live game state. Finds the bridge directory, creates .mcp.json, builds, and tells the user to restart their AI client.
user_invocable	true
argument_description	Optional path to the ExileApi bridge directory

Setup MCP Server

Automated setup for ExileApiMcp. This skill detects your environment, configures your AI client, and verifies the build -- so you don't have to edit config files by hand.

Prerequisites

• What's an AI Bridge? plugin installed and enabled in ExileApi (GitHub)
• .NET 10 SDK installed (dotnet --list-sdks to check)

Instructions

Step 1: Locate This Project

The current working directory should contain ExileApiMcp.csproj. If not, search for it:

1. Check the current directory and immediate subdirectories
2. If not found, tell the user to run this skill from the ExileApiMcp directory

Store the absolute path to the directory containing ExileApiMcp.csproj.

Step 2: Detect the Bridge Directory

The AI Bridge plugin writes bridge-port.txt and bridge-token.txt to a bridge directory. Find it by searching in order:

1. If an argument was provided, use that path
2. Check if BRIDGE_DIR environment variable is already set
3. Check the default path: ~/Documents/PoeHelper/claude-bridge/
4. Search common locations: ~/Documents/*/claude-bridge/

Verify the directory exists and contains bridge-port.txt (present when the plugin has been started at least once). If not found, tell the user:

• Make sure ExileApi has been launched at least once with the AI Bridge plugin enabled
• The plugin creates the bridge directory on first run
• They can pass the path directly: /setup-mcp C:\path\to\claude-bridge

Store the resolved bridge directory path for later steps.

Step 3: Build and Verify

dotnet build "<ExileApiMcp path>"

If the build fails:

• Check that .NET 10 SDK is installed: dotnet --list-sdks
• If missing, tell the user to install from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/10.0
• Run dotnet restore to fetch NuGet packages and retry

Step 4: Create .mcp.json

Determine the user's working directory (where they'll use the MCP tools from). This is typically the current working directory.

Check if .mcp.json already exists there:

• If it exists and already has an exileapi server entry, ask before overwriting
• If it exists with other servers, merge the new entry in
• If it doesn't exist, create it

Use absolute paths with double backslashes for Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exileapi": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": ["run", "--project", "<absolute path to ExileApiMcp>"],
      "env": {
        "BRIDGE_DIR": "<absolute path to bridge directory>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Report

Tell the user:

1. What was configured:

   • ExileApiMcp location
   • Bridge directory location
   • .mcp.json created/updated at which path

2. Next steps:

   • Restart Claude Code (or their AI client) to pick up the new MCP server
   • After restart, run /mcp to verify the server appears
   • Launch ExileApi with the game running, then try: "Use get_bridge_status to check the connection"

3. If tools hang after setup:

   • ExileApi must be in the foreground, or enable Core > Force Foreground in ExileApi settings
   • The AI Bridge plugin must be enabled in the plugin list

$ARGUMENTS