# Quickstart

> Markdown variant of <https://www.skillzdrive.com/docs/quickstart>.
> Connect an MCP client to SkillzDrive and run your first skill in 3 steps.

Prerequisite: a SkillzDrive API key. Create one at
<https://www.skillzdrive.com/dashboard/get-setup>. Replace
`sk_live_YOUR_KEY` in the snippets below with your actual key.

## Step 1 — Connect your client

Add SkillzDrive to your MCP client configuration. The MCP endpoint is
the same across all clients: `https://www.skillzdrive.com/api/mcp`.

### Claude Code (`~/.claude.json` or `.mcp.json`)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skillzdrive": {
      "url": "https://www.skillzdrive.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Claude Desktop

Edit `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
on macOS, or `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` on
Windows. Same JSON structure as Claude Code above.

### Cursor (`~/.cursor/mcp.json` or `.cursor/mcp.json`)

Same JSON structure as Claude Code above.

### Custom agent (TypeScript)

```ts
import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";
import { StreamableHTTPClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/streamableHttp.js";

const client = new Client({ name: "my-agent", version: "1.0.0" });
const transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(
  new URL("https://www.skillzdrive.com/api/mcp"),
  { requestInit: { headers: { Authorization: "Bearer sk_live_YOUR_KEY" } } },
);
await client.connect(transport);
```

### Web-based clients (Claude.ai, ChatGPT)

These use built-in connector UIs rather than JSON config. See the
visual setup guides on the human-facing quickstart page.

## Step 2 — Download the guide skill

The `skillzdrive-mcp-guide` skill is included in every account by
default. It teaches your agent all 29 MCP tools, the correct
execution workflows, error handling patterns, and management
operations — no system-prompt changes required.

Install it locally where your agent connects to SkillzDrive. Download
URL is exposed via the dashboard or by calling
`GET /api/skills/lookup?slug=skillzdrive-mcp-guide` followed by
`GET /api/skills/<id>/archive`.

## Step 3 — Test with a query

Ask your agent a natural-language question:

```
You: "What skills do I have?"
Agent: calls listSkills → shows your skill library

You: "Find me a skill for checking the weather"
Agent: calls discoverSkills → searches marketplace → suggests import
```

No manual tool calls required. The guide skill gives your agent the
context it needs to handle the workflow automatically.

## The Golden Path

The standard execution sequence for a script-based skill:

```
searchSkills → listScripts → runScript → readFile → closeSession
```

1. `searchSkills(query)` finds the right skill slug.
2. `listScripts(skillSlug)` returns exact script names — never guess.
3. `runScript(skillSlug, scriptName, reuseSession: true)` returns a `sessionId`.
4. `readFile(sessionId, "/tmp/last_run.out")` returns the script output.
5. `closeSession(sessionId)` frees the sandbox (or pass `closeAfter: true` on the final readFile).

## Next steps

- [Managing your drive with AI](https://www.skillzdrive.com/docs/guides/managing-drive.md)
- [Discovering skills](https://www.skillzdrive.com/docs/guides/discovering-skills.md)
- [Custom agent integration](https://www.skillzdrive.com/docs/agent-integration.md) — for developers building custom agents.
- [AI context system prompt](https://www.skillzdrive.com/docs/ai-context.md) — drop into Claude Projects / Custom GPTs / .cursorrules.