Give your agent the handup workflow

Agents need the approval contract and usage instructions, not the handup application source. Install the compiled program separately using downloads and releases, then configure MCP or the appropriate native adapter: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or omp.

Use the installed program

For Claude Code, print the instruction snippet:

handup prompt --agent claude

Paste the output into your project’s agent instructions. handup prompt --help lists available agents. Printing instructions does not install the daemon, configure MCP or intercept native permissions; follow the integration guide for those steps.

An agent with CLI access can call handup commands; an MCP client can call its configured tools. If neither is available, it must stop consequential work and report missing setup—not proceed without approval.

Install the skill from GitHub

The skill installs handup’s approval workflow and complete offline user documentation into a supported agent’s skill directory. It is published from gethandup/handup, which holds handup’s docs, this skill and examples (not the application source). You need Node.js 22.20 or newer and Git. No handup npm package is needed: npx runs the skills installer, which fetches the Git repository.

Run from the project where the agent should use handup:

DO_NOT_TRACK=1 npx --yes skills@1.7.0 add gethandup/handup \
  --skill handup --agent claude-code codex cursor --yes

Replace the agent names with the targets you use. Add --global for user-level installation instead of project-local installation. The leading --yes belongs to npx; the trailing one belongs to the skills installer.

The repository is private for now. The installer clones https://github.com/gethandup/handup.git with your normal Git setup, so your Git must be able to clone it over HTTPS, for example after gh auth setup-git. With GitHub SSH access instead, use the SCP-style source git@github.com:gethandup/handup.git in place of gethandup/handup. Do not put a token in an install URL or copy credentials into the skill. Anonymous installation must be verified once the repository is public.

To target every agent registered by this version of the installer, use a project-local install:

DO_NOT_TRACK=1 npx --yes skills@1.7.0 add gethandup/handup \
  --skill handup --agent '*' --yes

Quote '*' so the shell does not expand it. “Every agent” means the installer’s supported targets, not every possible agent runtime. Wildcard selection skips targets whose project directory does not exist; explicitly name your agents to create their installation directories. Some targets have no global installation directory; use explicit targets rather than --global --agent '*'.

To inspect discovery without installing:

DO_NOT_TRACK=1 npx --yes skills@1.7.0 add gethandup/handup --skill handup --list

What the installed skill includes

The entire skill directory is installed, including:

• SKILL.md: approval/denial workflow, preview recipes, exit codes and topic routing.
• references/index.md: inventory of every bundled public guide and machine contract.
• references/llms-full.txt: full public guide text in one offline-readable file.
• references/docs/public/: getting started, all agent integrations, desktop/mobile, remote access, relay, rules, lifecycle hooks, OpenAPI and request/decision/event JSON schemas.
• references/examples/: runnable request examples and their preview assets.

Load only the relevant reference for the current task. The full documentation is available offline; it does not have to be inserted into every agent prompt. Copying only SKILL.md loses the reference bundle.

For an agent the skills CLI does not register, copy the whole .skills/handup directory into that agent’s documented skill-loading directory, or provide its workflow/reference files as instructions. omp and jcode are not valid --agent IDs in skills 1.7.0. A shell-capable agent can use the installed handup CLI; an MCP-capable agent can call configured handup tools. Neither path implies native tool interception. Installing the skill alone does not install the binary or configure MCP or native adapters.

Public documentation, private application source

The usage guides and machine contracts are readable independently of the application repository. The MCP guide and shell/CI guide describe the approval contract: wait for a human decision, bind the exact action to the returned content hash, and treat denial as a normal answer. Do not request application source access merely to install agent instructions.

Installer behavior is pinned to skills 1.7.0, published 2026-09-17. See its supported agents and source formats. Authenticated installation from GitHub (gethandup/handup) was verified on 2026-10-03; that is distinct from anonymous public access or native-hook enforcement.