MCP & sign-in

How the hosted Ancher MCP server is authorized, and why no API token is needed.

Hosted, not local

The installer configures the hosted Ancher MCP server. There is no local server to run and no API token to paste for normal interactive use.

Because the agent talks to that hosted MCP server directly, Agent Skills works without the Ancher CLI installed. See CLI and Agent Skills are independent.

Signing in

Sign-in is browser-based OAuth, performed once per agent. First sign in to your Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor account as usual, then connect that agent to your Ancher account. The exact step differs per agent — follow Supported agents.

After signing in, restart Codex or open a new agent session, then ask something like:

Search my Ancher notes for the decisions about this project.

When a token is required

Only for CI and other non-interactive environments. Create an API token in Ancher → Settings → API, export it, and install with --token:

bash

export ANCHER_API_TOKEN=...
npx -y @ancher-ai/agent-skills install --agent codex --token

The installer references the environment-variable name in each agent’s configuration. Do not place a token directly in a command.

CLI and Agent Skills are independent

This package configures AI agents. Install the CLI separately when you want to work from a terminal:

bash

npm install -g @ancher-ai/cli
ancher login