setup skill

How the looot plugin's setup skill connects the MCP server, checks the balance, and gets a top-up link.

setup gets a workspace ready for its first paid run. It loads automatically when the looot tools are missing or answer 401, when you ask to sign in, set up or connect looot, or before the first paid run in a new workspace. It’s also available as /looot:setup in Claude Code.

What it does

1. Sign in. looot is one MCP server at https://api.looot.ai/mcp, sign-in is OAuth in the browser, and nobody copies a key. In Claude Code, the plugin adds the server as plugin:looot:looot; the skill tells you to run /mcp, pick it, and choose Authenticate. The browser opens looot.ai, you sign in, pick the organization to bill, and click Connect. In Codex, codex mcp login <slug> does the same. In Cursor, the sign-in starts the first time a looot tool is used. The skill never asks you to paste a token into the chat, and never writes one into a URL or a file. A header token is only for CI and headless agents, created in Settings on looot.ai.
2. Check the connection, with the free catalog_overview call, which lists categories with endpoint counts.
3. Check the balance, with balance, reading available, reserved, and topUpLink.minimumUsd. A new workspace starts at $0; there’s no trial credit. Searching, inspecting and the overview are free; runs are paid.
4. Top up if short, with top_up, optionally passing amountUsd. Left out, looot suggests an amount, never below the minimum. The answer carries a Stripe checkoutUrl to show the user; the skill waits for confirmation of payment before calling balance again.
5. Hand off to the first run, usually a cheap one: verifying one email address, or turning one web page into markdown.

Worked example

User: “Connect looot and get me ready to run something.”

{"tool": "catalog_overview", "input": {}}

{"tool": "balance", "input": {}}

Balance comes back available: 0, topUpLink.minimumUsd set, checkoutUrl set.

{"tool": "top_up", "input": {"amountUsd": 5}}

Agent’s answer: “You’re signed in and connected. The workspace balance is $0, so nothing can run yet. Here’s a top-up link: [checkoutUrl]. Pay it, then tell me and I’ll check the balance again before we run anything.”

See money for how holds and charges work, and find-and-run for the first paid run.