setup-mcp

name	setup-mcp
description	Set up the ExileApiMcp server so your AI assistant can query live game state. Clones the MCP repo if needed, 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 where ExileApiMcp should be cloned

Setup MCP Server

Automated setup for the ExileApiMcp server. This skill detects your environment, clones the MCP repo if needed, 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
• .NET 10 SDK installed (dotnet --list-sdks to check)

Instructions

Step 1: 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. Check if BRIDGE_DIR environment variable is already set
2. Look for claude-bridge/ next to the plugin:
   • Find this plugin's directory (the folder containing this skill)
   • Walk up to the HUD install root (the directory containing ExileCore.dll)
   • Check <HUD root>/claude-bridge/
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

Store the resolved bridge directory path for later steps.

Step 2: Find or Clone ExileApiMcp

Check if ExileApiMcp is already available:

1. If an argument was provided, use that path
2. Check if ExileApiMcp.csproj exists in a sibling directory: ../ExileApiMcp/
3. Check common locations:
   • ~/Documents/ExileApiMcp/
   • ~/source/repos/ExileApiMcp/
4. Search for ExileApiMcp.csproj near the current working directory

If not found, clone it:

git clone https://github.com/ParogDev/ExileApiMcp.git

Clone location priority:

• If an argument was provided, clone there
• Otherwise clone as a sibling to the current working directory: ../ExileApiMcp/

Store the resolved ExileApiMcp path (the directory containing ExileApiMcp.csproj).

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