Release ⏱️ 4 min read

The Godmode MCP Server Is Live — Install Skills From Inside Claude

TL;DR

📦 Shipped: godmode-mcp on npm — one package wires the Godmode catalogue into Claude Code and Claude Desktop.
What it does: browse products, install Godmode Lite for free, install paid skills with a token — all from inside the chat.
🔒 Why it's safe: sha256-verified zips, atomic installs, auto-backups of any existing skill, locked to the getgodmode.dev host.
claude.ai — godmode-mcp interactive clear
#click a tool below — the chat will call it for you.
> awaiting tool call…

▾ click any tool to call it — chain commands like in the real chat

The MCP server publishes six tools. Four are free (list_products, get_product, open_pricing, install_lite); two require a token (list_owned_skills, install_skill). Each call is a single chat command.

SIX TOOLS · ONE INSTALL COMMAND

📝 The annoying old way

Until today, installing a Godmode skill meant leaving Claude. Visit the site, download a zip, find ~/.claude/skills/, unzip, rename, restart your client, hope you put the folder in the right spot.

Six steps, four context switches, and a good chance of pasting a skill into the wrong directory.

Think of it like this: skills used to be software you installed off a website. The MCP server turns them into apps you install from inside an app store — and the app store lives inside Claude.

📦 What the MCP server actually is

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the plug standard Anthropic uses to let Claude talk to outside services. An MCP server publishes a set of tools, and Claude can call them the same way it calls any built-in.

godmode-mcp publishes six tools. Two need your account token, four are free to everyone.

Tool Auth What it does
godmode_list_products Free List the full catalogue with price, version, blurb.
godmode_get_product Free Full details for one product by slug.
godmode_open_pricing Free Hand back the pricing-page URL to click.
godmode_install_lite Free Drop the free Lite skill into ~/.claude/skills/.
godmode_list_owned_skills Token List the skills tied to your purchases.
godmode_install_skill Token (paid) Verify entitlement, download, and install a paid skill safely.

🚀 Install it in one line

Pick the command that matches your client. A token is optional — the free tools work without one.

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add --transport stdio \
  --env GODMODE_MCP_TOKEN=<your-token> \
  godmode -- npx -y godmode-mcp@0.1.0

On Windows native shells, wrap the npx call in cmd /c so the right shim runs.

Claude Desktop

Add this block to claude_desktop_config.json and restart the app.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "godmode": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "godmode-mcp@0.1.0"],
      "env": { "GODMODE_MCP_TOKEN": "<your-token>" }
    }
  }
}

Grab your token from the Account pageMCP Access panel. If you only want the free tier, leave the env var blank.

🔄 What installing a skill actually looks like

Once the server is wired up, you talk to Claude in English and it does the file work. For a paid skill, the flow looks like this end-to-end.

  1. STEP 01
    request
    "install one-shot-scripts for me"
  2. STEP 02
    tool call
    godmode_install_skill fires
  3. STEP 03
    verify token
    checked vs your purchases
  4. STEP 04
    stream zip
    into .part staging
  5. STEP 05
    sha256
    vs server-signed hash
  6. STEP 06
    backup
    old → .bak-<ts>/
  7. STEP 07
    atomic rename
    single rename() commit
  8. STEP 08
    confirm
    Claude reports — ready

eight named, auditable stages — hover any to inspect; the green token sweeps left→right on view

No tabs opened, no downloads folder to dig through, no "wait did I put it in the right place".

🛡️ The safety rails that matter

Installing code on someone's machine from inside a chat is a category of thing that has to be tightly sandboxed. Here's what the server does by default.

🧮

Hash-verified zips

sha256 signed by the Godmode server — tampering breaks the install.

one-shot.zip sha256: a1b2c3...
click » demo
💫

Hardened extractor

Rejects zip-slip, zip-bombs, symlinks, absolute paths, and Windows-reserved names.

../../etc REJECT guard: zip-slip symlinks CON LPT absolute
click » demo
💾

Auto-backup existing

Existing skill folder renamed to <slug>.bak-<ts>/ before the new one lands.

one-shot/ v0.1.0 (old) one-shot .bak-1714 safe
click » demo
🔒

Host allowlist

Outbound traffic pinned to getgodmode.dev. Cross-origin redirects rejected.

evil.cdn getgodmode.dev ALLOWED redirects bounce off the gate
click » demo
🔑

Token hygiene

Token read once, wiped from process.env. Logs redact any bearer.

process.env GODMODE_TOKEN= tk_a8c1d2_... log line: Bearer ****** env wiped ✓
click » demo
🧹

Atomic installs

Stages under .staging/ then finalises with a single rename() — no half-installs.

.staging/ rename() one-shot/ live
click » demo

Core insight: a hash-check plus an atomic rename means either the install fully succeeds or the target stays exactly how you left it. There's no third state where your skills directory ends up half-broken.

💡 A couple of gotchas worth naming

Do

Pin the version: godmode-mcp@0.1.0. Supply-chain safety.

Set NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS if you're behind a corporate MITM proxy.

Use cmd /c on Windows native shells.

Don't

Run npx godmode-mcp without a pinned version — you'll pull whatever's latest every boot.

Paste your token into chat messages. It goes in the env var, not the prompt.

Install paid skills by downloading zips by hand now that the MCP does it for you.

Try it on your next task

Two paths depending on whether you've got a paid skill already.

If you're brand new

📦 1. Wire up the MCP server (no token needed)

🗣️ 2. Ask Claude to "install godmode lite"

🚀 3. Run the 4-layer protocol on a real task

If you already own skills

🔑 1. Grab your token from the Account page

📜 2. Ask Claude to "list my owned skills"

3. Ask it to install the one you want by slug

The "without leaving the chat" part, raced

BEFORE — manual install0.0s

          
        
AFTER — /godmode install0.0s

          
        
Race: same install — LEFT leaves the chat, RIGHT stays inside it. faster on average.

Wire up the Godmode MCP server

One npm package, one config block, and Claude can install every skill in the catalogue for you.

Setup Instructions Download Lite (free account) →