Claude Code CLI

Valency Bond™ works with the Claude Code CLI (opens in new tab) over MCP using OAuth. Installing the Valency plugin brings the MCP connection and the research skills in one step.

Already added Valency from the Claude connector directory?

If you added Valency from the Claude connector directory (opens in new tab) for Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, the MCP connection carries over to the CLI, assuming you're logged in there with the same user account. Type /mcp inside Claude Code and you should see a line like Valency · ✔ connected · 38 tools.

Installing the plugin below is still worth it: it adds the research skills, which the directory connector doesn't carry. If you only want the skills, see Install skills with npx.

1. Add the Valency marketplace, install the plugin, and sign in with one chained command:

   claude plugin marketplace add valency-oss/valency-connectors --scope user && \
     claude plugin install valency@valency-claude-plugin --scope user && \
     claude mcp login plugin:valency:valency

   The plugin carries both the Valency Bond MCP connection and the research skills, so there's no separate MCP server to add.

   Complete sign-in when the browser opens, then return to the terminal.

   Note

   A Valency account is created automatically the first time you sign in. The email you use does not have to match the email on your Claude account.

2. Reload plugins so Claude Code picks up the new tools and skills. Restart it, or run this from inside the session:

   Claude Code

   /reload-plugins

3. Verify the connection:

   Claude Code

   /mcp

   Valency appears as connected with its tools listed.

4. Start a new conversation and ask (more prompt ideas):

   Use Valency to search for papers about quantum computing

You're connected

You see paper results in your terminal. You can also explicitly invoke Valency tool calls.

Skills

The plugin also installs a set of multi-step research workflows on top of the MCP tools. Each one is a prescribed chain of tool calls, not a single search.

Skill	Ask things like
profile	"Who is Yoshua Bengio and what do they work on?"
landscape	"Give me a landscape of cs.LG"
similar	"Find papers similar to arXiv 1706.03762"
trends	"Is diffusion model research still growing?"
network	"Who does Yann LeCun collaborate with?"
reading-list	"What should a student of geometric deep learning be reading?"
fresh-collaborators	"Who should this researcher be talking to that they aren't already?"

Trigger a skill by slash command or natural language:

Claude Code

/valency:profile Yoshua Bengio
What should David Hogg be reading next?

Troubleshooting

Plugin didn't install cleanly? Run claude plugin list to confirm valency is present. If the marketplace step failed, re-add it with claude plugin marketplace add valency-oss/valency-connectors --scope user and install again.

Tools or skills don't appear? Run /reload-plugins, or restart Claude Code so it picks up the new plugin.

Need to start over? Remove the plugin and its marketplace, then reinstall:

claude plugin uninstall valency@valency-claude-plugin --scope user && \
  claude plugin marketplace remove valency-claude-plugin --scope user

The add command uses the repository source. Claude Code registers that marketplace under its manifest name, valency-claude-plugin, which the remove command expects.

If Claude still shows Valency tools afterwards, you may have an older manually added server. Run claude mcp list, confirm which entry it is, and remove it with claude mcp remove <name> --scope <scope>.

Install skills with npx

Optional. If you connected through the Claude connector directory (opens in new tab) and only want the research skills, or you already manage agent skills with the skills CLI (opens in new tab), you can install the same seven workflows without the plugin:

npx skills@latest add valency-oss/valency-connectors

Toggle Valency Skills to select or clear all of them, or pick individual ones. Skills installed this way don't add an MCP server, so pair them with the directory connector above. See Skills only for details and removal.

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Need help?

If something isn't working, check Troubleshooting for common fixes. See the FAQ for general questions, or report an issue if you're still stuck.