Guild gives your existing coding agent memory, skills, approvals, and connector tools over MCP.
Already have a coding agent open (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT, …)? Just point it at this page. It figures out the rest — no picking a harness, no copy-pasting a setup prompt.
Tell whatever coding agent you already have open:
Go to https://guild.dacdev.studio/install/agent and set up Guild for me — figure out which harness you're running in, add the Guild MCP server, sign me in through the browser, then sync the starter skills and tell me what you can now do.
Share https://guild.dacdev.studio/install with anyone who wants Guild. The agent can also fetch the raw, machine-readable playbook at https://guild.dacdev.studio/install/agent.
MCP endpoint: https://mcp.guild.dacdev.studio/mcp
This is exactly what the agent follows when it lands on this page. You don't need to read it — it's here so you know what to expect.
Identify your harness
Work out which coding agent / harness and operating system you are running in (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT, Antigravity, opencode, …). Detect whether the harness exposes its plugin command before choosing plugin or Tools-only mode.
Add the Guild MCP server
Mount the hosted Guild MCP endpoint https://mcp.guild.dacdev.studio/mcp using your harness's method (see the per-harness list). Always use the hosted HTTP endpoint, not local stdio.
Install the Guild plugin + lifecycle hooks if your harness supports them
This layer is ADDITIVE and fail-soft on top of the MCP server. The hooks add governance gating, telemetry, and automatic identity / memory / skill context injection at session start — but MCP-server-only is still a valid end state, so a missing or flaky hook layer never blocks setup. Use the "plugin + hooks" line for your harness below (Claude Code and Codex CLI ship it today; Cursor and Hermes are coming soon, MCP-only for now; ChatGPT and other harnesses get tools / skills / memory / personality from the MCP server with no hook layer). If the plugin install fails, fall back to MCP-server-only — never block the agent loop on the hook layer.
Sign the user in
Report two auth states separately: Guild tools is hosted MCP OAuth; Local lifecycle hooks is the local Guild CLI credential. When a device flow starts, relay the URL/code immediately and keep the command alive until approval or a clear timeout. The first hosted sign-in creates the profile automatically. Never ask the user to change sandbox/full-filesystem permissions for Guild setup; diagnose command availability, PATH, OAuth, or harness support instead.
Run the post-install setup
Once the Guild MCP tools are available, call get_setup_instructions(target=<your harness>) and follow it. Both setup tools default to target="codex", so always pass your detected harness (e.g. claude_code, cursor, vscode, opencode, antigravity, codex) — otherwise you sync Codex-formatted files into the wrong harness. When it says to sync local artifacts, call install_recommended_artifacts(target=<your harness>, response_mode="full"); the default inventory mode returns no write_plan, so you must request full mode, then write every write_plan entry where write=true (creating parent directories) and restart the harness so the new skills load.
Offer the quick onboarding interview
Optionally ask three questions — what should Guild remember about how the user works, which clients/projects/workflows matter most right now, and how proactive the PA should be — and save confirmed answers with the Guild memory / user-context tools.
Verify
Return one compact capability result: Guild tools ✓, Plugin ✓/not supported, Lifecycle hooks ✓/not supported, Skills synced ✓/unverified. For Codex, verify with `codex mcp get guild` and `guild doctor --harness codex`; for Claude Code, run `/reload-plugins` and `/dac-guild:guild-doctor`. Tools-only is a successful degraded state, not a failed install.
The agent uses the row for its own harness. All default to the hosted HTTP endpoint, not local stdio.
Claude Code
Codex CLI
Cursor
VS Code
ChatGPT
Hermes
Antigravity
opencode
Other MCP-capable harnesses
This layer is additive and fail-soft. The hooks add governance gating, telemetry, and automatic identity / memory / skill context injection at session start — but adding only the MCP server above is still a valid setup, so a plugin hiccup never strands the agent. If the plugin install fails, fall back to MCP-server-only — never block the agent loop on the hook layer.
Claude Code
Codex CLI
Cursor(coming soon)
Hermes(coming soon)
Other MCP-capable harnesses
Pick your harness for a ready-to-paste setup prompt and the direct command.
Paste this into the local agent that has access to the user's machine.
Set up Guild in Codex CLI.
Recommended on Windows, macOS, and Linux — install/update the public Guild CLI, then install its bundled Codex plugin. No WSL or hand-wired hooks file is required:
Windows PowerShell (one command keeps the freshly installed CLI on PATH):
iwr https://guild.dacdev.studio/api/v1/install.ps1 -UseBasicParsing | iex; guild plugin install codex
macOS/Linux:
curl -fsSL https://guild.dacdev.studio/api/v1/install.sh | sh && "$HOME/.local/bin/guild" plugin install codex
Complete the two independent auth states:
1. Guild tools in Codex (hosted MCP OAuth):
codex mcp login --scopes mcp:apps,mcp:skills:install,mcp:approvals:decide,offline_access guild
2. Local lifecycle hooks (Guild CLI credential): run this, immediately open the printed URL/code on this phone or another device, and leave the command running until it confirms success:
Windows PowerShell:
$guild = if (Test-Path "C:\source\guild.exe") { "C:\source\guild.exe" } else { Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Programs\guild\guild.exe" }; & $guild login --no-browser --scopes "mcp:full offline_access"
macOS/Linux:
"$HOME/.local/bin/guild" login --no-browser --scopes "mcp:full offline_access"
If this Codex build does not support plugins, Tools-only mode is a valid completed setup: register the hosted MCP server in ~/.codex/config.toml, then run the Guild tools login. Upgrade Codex later to add lifecycle hooks:
[mcp_servers.guild]
url = "https://mcp.guild.dacdev.studio/mcp"
enabled = true
required = false
startup_timeout_sec = 10
tool_timeout_sec = 60
codex mcp login --scopes mcp:apps,mcp:skills:install,mcp:approvals:decide,offline_access guild
Restart Codex once after the plugin/config and both sign-ins are complete.
After restart, use the Guild MCP setup tools to finish the local runtime setup:
1. Call get_setup_instructions with target="codex".
2. Call install_recommended_artifacts with target="codex", scope="user", profile="starter", response_mode="full".
3. Write each returned write_plan entry where write=true, creating parent directories.
4. Restart again only if the newly written $ skills are not discovered in the current session.
5. Ask the optional three-question onboarding interview and save confirmed answers with Guild MCP memory/user-context tools.
Never ask the user to grant full filesystem/sandbox access just to install or authenticate Guild; diagnose the actual command, PATH, OAuth, or unsupported-plugin issue.
If the current Codex session cannot see Guild MCP tools yet, tell me: "Restart Codex, then ask me to sync Guild artifacts."
Verify in the fresh session by asking: "what Guild skills are available?"Add [mcp_servers.guild] url = "https://mcp.guild.dacdev.studio/mcp" to ~/.codex/config.toml, then run codex mcp login --scopes mcp:apps,mcp:skills:install,mcp:approvals:decide,offline_access guild