> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resumecontext.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Set up ResumeContext (for coding agents) > Instructions written for a coding agent asked to set ResumeContext up in a folder. **This page is addressed to a coding agent.** A person can hand their agent this and say "set this up in this folder": ``` Set up ResumeContext on this project, following https://resumecontext.com/docs/agent-setup.md (if your browser tool cannot read it, run: curl -fsSL https://resumecontext.com/docs/agent-setup.md) ``` That URL is this page as plain markdown, which is what an agent can read — the rendered page is a few hundred kilobytes of HTML that some agents cannot make sense of. If a tool reports it cannot read the page, fetch it with `curl -fsSL` instead: some agents answer a URL by *searching* for it rather than fetching it, and a recently published page is not indexed anywhere yet. If you are a person reading this, the human version is the [quickstart](/docs/quickstart). You are setting up ResumeContext for the person you are working for: ResumeContext records every coding-agent session in a project folder into one shared archive, and hands it back to any agent through an MCP server. ## Rules 1. **Ask before installing anything** and before changing files outside the project folder. Show the command you intend to run. 2. **Never commit the token.** The token `resumecontext mcp` prints grants access to the person's projects for a year and cannot be revoked. Keep it out of git, out of shared files, and out of anything you print into a report. Add any config file that contains it to `.gitignore`. 3. **Configure MCP for this folder only**, never a global or shared scope. Another project would otherwise connect to the wrong archive. 4. **Stop and show the person the output** if any command fails, or if a command asks something you cannot answer from what they told you. Do not guess an email address, an account or a project. 5. **Never run `resumecontext uninstall`**, `logout`, or `resumecontext projects delete`. They are destructive and are not part of setup. ## Step 1: check the machine ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} node --version && resumecontext --version || true ``` * **Node.js 22 or newer** is required. If it is older or missing, stop and tell the person. * **On Windows** everything here works except background auto-sync, which needs launchd or systemd. Say so, and tell the person that syncing there is `resumecontext sync`, run when they want to push. * **`resumecontext` 0.3.0 or newer** is required: everything below relies on flags that older versions do not have, and an older one fails with `unknown option`. Install or upgrade it, after asking: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} npm install -g resumecontext@latest ``` Install it globally even inside a project. Background sync runs the installed command, so it is not set up when run through `npx`, and a folder install stops working when that folder is deleted. On macOS and Linux this needs no `sudo` with a normal Node.js setup; if npm reports a permissions error, show the person rather than re-running with `sudo`. ## Step 2: see what is already set up, and sign in Check the state of this folder first, so you never redo work that is already done: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext verify --json ``` * **Exit code 0** — the archive side is already set up, by an earlier run or from another agent. **This does not mean there is nothing to do**: you are probably not part of it yet. Skip `init` and follow **"Already set up? Add yourself"** below. * **`signed-in` passes but others fail** — skip to step 3 and carry on from there. * **`signed-in` fails** — sign in below. When `signed-in` passes, its `detail` names the account (`signed in as ...`). Show it and check it is the account the person means. If it is not, they can switch with `resumecontext logout` followed by `auth` — ask first, because it signs this machine out of every project. To sign in, run: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext auth --no-browser ``` This prints a link and waits. **Give the person the link and ask them to open it.** It finishes on its own once they have signed in, and prints `Logged in as `. Do not run it in the background where its output is lost, and do not attempt to sign in on their behalf. ## Already set up? Add yourself You are the second (or third) agent on a folder someone already connected. Nothing needs creating; two things need adding, and both are about **you**: 1. **Is your own history being synced?** ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext agents --list --json ``` `configured` is what this project syncs from today, as `{"claude-code": {"dirs": ["/Users/me/.claude"]}}`. If the agent you are is missing from it, add yourself — passing **the existing entries as well**, because `--set` replaces the whole list: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} # configured had claude-code; you are Cursor resumecontext agents --set claude-code=/Users/me/.claude,cursor --json ``` Use each agent's own `dirs` from `configured`, and your own from `available` (the `defaultDir` of your entry, or a path the person gives you). If your entry shows `"found": false`, your history is not where it normally lives — ask the person for the path rather than guessing. 2. **Can you search the archive?** Configure the MCP server for yourself, as step 5 describes for your agent, unless this folder already has it. Then run step 6 (verify) and report. Do not run `init`: this folder already belongs to a project, and the rest of this page is for setting one up from scratch. ## Step 3: ask which coding agents this is for This machine may hold history for several agents. Which ones belong to this project, and where their history lives, is the person's call — ask, do not assume. Their answer decides two things: whose sessions are archived (step 4), and which agents get the MCP server configured so they can search it (step 5). ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext agents --list --json ``` It prints every supported agent with `defaultDir` (where its history normally lives) and `found` (whether it is actually there). Show the person that list — the found ones, with their directories — and ask: 1. **Which of these should sync into this project?** Their sessions are archived, and each one they name also gets connected to the archive in step 5 — including agents that are not you. Include **yourself** unless they say otherwise: an agent that sets this up and then does not sync its own sessions is the surprise nobody wants. 2. **Are those the right directories?** Someone with history in an unusual place can give you another path. Keep their answer for the next step, as `name` or `name=/path/to/history` entries: `claude-code,cursor` or `claude-code=/Users/me/work/.claude`. An agent that keeps history in more than one place is repeated, once per directory: `claude-code=~/.claude,claude-code=/archive/.claude`. ## Step 4: connect the folder First find out which case you are in. Look in this folder **and every folder above it**, because a marker in a parent means this project already exists and running `init` here would create a second, separate one: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} dir=$PWD; while [ "$dir" != "/" ]; do [ -f "$dir/.resumecontext.json" ] && echo "$dir/.resumecontext.json" && break; dir=$(dirname "$dir"); done ``` If it finds one **above** the current folder, that folder is the project: work there instead, and tell the person rather than creating a new project for a subfolder. A new project. Confirm with the person that **this exact folder** is what they want archived (`init` never walks up to a git root, so a monorepo subfolder can be its own project), then pass what they chose in step 3: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext init --agents claude-code,cursor --json ``` Use `name=/path/to/history` for any directory they corrected. `--yes` instead of `--agents` takes every agent found on this machine without asking — only use it if they said so. The project already exists — a teammate created it, or this is another of the person's own machines, and the file came with the repository. Run the same command **in the folder that contains the file**, not a subfolder. ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext init --agents claude-code,cursor --json ``` It connects this machine to the existing project and leaves the file unchanged. If it reports a **pending invite**, the person has been invited but has not accepted: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext accept --agents claude-code,cursor --json ``` `.resumecontext.json` is meant to be **committed**: it is how teammates and the person's other machines join the same project. Do not add it to `.gitignore`. If `init` fails with `No history found at ...`, that directory is not where that agent keeps its history on this machine. Ask the person for the right path and pass it as `--agents name=/path`. If it fails with **`You don't have access to this project`**, the marker belongs to someone else's project and this account was never invited. Stop: the person needs the owner to run `resumecontext share `, and then `resumecontext accept` here. Do not delete the marker, and do not create a new project in its place. To change the choice later, at any time: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext agents --set claude-code=/path/to/history,cursor --json ``` ## Step 5: connect the MCP server, for every agent they chose Two different things share the word "agent", and this step is the second one: * **Step 3** was whose history is **read into** the archive. * **This step** is which agents can **search** it. Do this for **every agent the person named in step 3**, not only the one you are. Someone who picked Claude Code and Cursor expects both to be able to ask the archive questions; configuring only yourself leaves them with half a setup and no way to know. Get this project's MCP URL and token once: ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext mcp --json ``` It prints `{"mcpUrl": "...", "token": "..."}`. Every block below uses those two values. Keep them out of anything shared, and add each file you create to `.gitignore`. **If a config file already exists, merge into it.** Add the `resumecontext` entry beside whatever servers are already there; never overwrite the file. If an entry named `resumecontext` is already present with a different URL or token, show the person both and ask which to keep. Most of these need one action from the person afterwards, which you cannot do for them. Note each one as you go and list them all in step 7. ### Claude Code ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} claude mcp add-json resumecontext \ '{"type":"http","url":"","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer "}}' \ --scope local ``` `--scope local` means this folder only, and keeps the token out of any shared file. Do not use `--scope user` (global) or `--scope project` (writes the token into a committed `.mcp.json`). The single quotes above work in a POSIX shell and in PowerShell. In `cmd.exe` they are not quoting at all: use double quotes around the JSON and double the quotes inside it, or run the command from PowerShell, Git Bash or WSL. **Then the person must:** start a new Claude Code session in this folder, or run `/mcp` in the current one, before the tools appear. Run the command even if you are not Claude Code — it only needs the `claude` CLI on PATH. If it is not installed, say so rather than writing `~/.claude.json` yourself. ### Cursor Create `.cursor/mcp.json` in the project folder: ```json theme={"theme":"nord"} { "mcpServers": { "resumecontext": { "url": "", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer " } } } } ``` **Then the person must:** open **Cursor Settings → MCP & Tools** (called **Tools & MCP** in some versions), find **resumecontext**, and enable and approve it. Cursor does not load a project MCP server until they do, so the file alone changes nothing. Add `.cursor/mcp.json` to `.gitignore`. ### Codex Create `.codex/config.toml` in the project folder: ```toml theme={"theme":"nord"} [mcp_servers.resumecontext] url = "" http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer " } ``` **Then the person must:** trust this project when Codex asks, and restart Codex if it is already running. Codex ignores project configuration for untrusted folders. Add `.codex/config.toml` to `.gitignore`. ### opencode Create `opencode.json` in the project root: ```json theme={"theme":"nord"} { "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "mcp": { "resumecontext": { "type": "remote", "url": "", "enabled": true, "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer " } } } } ``` **Then the person must:** restart opencode if it is running. Add `opencode.json` to `.gitignore`. ### Any other agent Use its own **folder-level** MCP configuration, with the same URL and an `Authorization: Bearer ` header. If you cannot find one, say so and give the person the two values — do not put them in a global configuration. ### What to hand back | Agent | What the person still has to do | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Claude Code | New session in this folder, or `/mcp` | | Cursor | Settings → MCP & Tools → enable and approve `resumecontext` | | Codex | Trust the project, restart Codex | | opencode | Restart opencode | ## Step 6: verify ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext verify --json ``` Exit code `0` means every check passed. Otherwise each failing check carries a `fix`; apply the ones you can, and show the person the rest. `verify` covers the archive side — signed in, folder connected, history syncing. It cannot see any agent's MCP configuration, which is why step 5 and the question below are separate checks. | Check | Means | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | `signed-in` | This machine has a session | | `machine-bound` | Sessions will be attributed to this machine | | `project-marker` | The folder is connected to a project | | `project-access` | The account can reach that project | | `agents-configured` | Which agents this machine reads history from | | `auto-sync` | The background service is running and covers this folder | | `sync` | History was scanned and anything new was pushed just now | If the `sync` check says turns were found locally but none were pushed, that is normal for a session written moments ago: the last turn of a session is held back for a few seconds in case the file is still being written, and auto-sync picks it up within about 20 seconds. Then confirm the MCP server is connected from your side. You can only check your own tools — for the other agents the person chose, the check is theirs to run once they have done their part from step 5, by asking the same question in that agent. Reconnect or restart so the new server is loaded, and ask it something only the archive can answer: ``` who all are a part of this project? ``` A connected agent lists the project's members. If your tools do not include ResumeContext, the MCP configuration in step 4 has not been picked up yet. ## Step 7: tell the person what happened Report, briefly: * which account is signed in, which folder is now archived, and which coding agents it syncs from; * **what they still have to do by hand**, per agent, from the table in step 5 — Cursor in particular does nothing until they enable the server in its settings; * that sessions sync automatically about every 20 seconds, with nothing to run; * which config file you created, and that you added it to `.gitignore`; * anything you could not finish, with the exact command that failed. Do not print the token in your summary. ## If something goes wrong | Symptom | What it means | | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | A command hangs | It is waiting for an answer it cannot get. Stop it, and use the flags above (`--agents`, `--yes`, `--no-browser`) instead. | | `not an interactive terminal` | Same thing, reported properly. The message names the flag to use. | | `Auto-sync couldn't be set up` | Everything else works; syncing needs `resumecontext sync` by hand. Show the person the reason. See [daemon](/docs/cli/daemon). | | `You're not logged in` | Go back to step 2. | | `No resumecontext project found` | You are not in the project folder, or step 3 did not finish. | | MCP tools missing | The agent has not reloaded its MCP configuration, or has not been enabled in its settings (Cursor) or trusted (Codex). See the table in step 5. | | `unknown option '--json'` (or `--agents`) | The installed CLI is older than 0.3.0. `npm install -g resumecontext@latest`. | | `You don't have access to this project` | The marker belongs to a project this account was never invited to. See step 4. | | A second project appeared for the same repo | `init` was run in a subfolder of a folder that already had a marker. The marker in the subfolder should be deleted, and the extra project removed by its owner. | ## Every command works this way Anything the CLI can do, you can do for the person: every command takes `--json` and prints one object, and every command that would ask something takes a flag that answers it instead — `--agents`/`--yes` for the agent question, `-y` for a confirmation. A command that still cannot get an answer fails immediately and names the flag, rather than hanging. ```bash theme={"theme":"nord"} resumecontext members --json # who has access resumecontext share teammate@example.com --json # invite someone resumecontext projects list --json # every project resumecontext daemon status --json # is auto-sync running here resumecontext sync --json # push now, don't wait ``` Two exceptions to run only when asked in so many words, because they cannot be undone: `resumecontext projects delete -y` and `resumecontext uninstall -y`. The full human documentation is at [resumecontext.com/docs](/docs/quickstart), and every page is available as raw markdown by adding `.md` to its URL.