---
title: "Install the ShotOps Agent Skill"
description: "Install the portable ShotOps workflow Skill in Codex, Claude Code or a repository skills directory, then connect Local or Hosted MCP as a separate prerequisite."
canonical: "https://shotops.dev/docs/mcp/agent-skill"
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
shotops_mcp_version: "0.9.6"
result_contract_version: "2.0.0"
---
# Install the ShotOps Agent Skill

Install the portable ShotOps workflow Skill in Codex, Claude Code or a repository skills directory, then connect Local or Hosted MCP as a separate prerequisite.

The ShotOps Agent Skill teaches a compatible coding agent how to choose Local or Hosted MCP, make a preview, preserve a project, cross the production boundary, recover durable work and clean up safely. It is a small version-controlled instruction package, separate from the MCP connection that does the work.

## What the Skill adds

The Skill owns workflow decisions that do not belong in a tool schema: preview before production, when to reuse a saved Look, how to obtain an exact readiness waiver, what to retain across a disconnect and which cleanup actions still need a person.

It does not copy the tool catalog, schemas, prices, limits or availability table. The connected server and this documentation remain authoritative for those changing facts.

## Install the Skill

The portable source is the [skills/shotops folder](https://github.com/rgehrkedk/storeframe-studio/tree/main/skills/shotops). Clone or download the repository, then copy that whole folder into one skills directory your client discovers. Keep `SKILL.md`, `references/` and `evals/` together.

| Client or scope | Destination |
| --- | --- |
| Codex, for your account | ~/.codex/skills/shotops |
| Claude Code, for your account | ~/.claude/skills/shotops |
| A repository using the open Agent Skills layout | .agents/skills/shotops |

For example, from a checkout of this repository:

```
mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills
cp -R skills/shotops ~/.codex/skills/shotops
```

Restart or reload the client after copying the folder. Then ask it for a ShotOps outcome such as:

> Turn these screenshots into a preview, save the approved strip as a project and stop before store-ready production.

The Skill remains automatically discoverable for ShotOps workflow requests. Unrelated image work, internal documentation, deployment and unsupported App Store Connect mutation do not activate it.

## Connect ShotOps separately

Installing the Skill adds instructions, not tools or credentials. Connect one execution door too:

- [Your computer · Local MCP](https://shotops.dev/docs/mcp/your-computer) for paths on your machine and local rendering.
- [ShotOps Cloud · Hosted MCP](https://shotops.dev/docs/mcp/shotops-cloud) for ChatGPT, CI, remote inputs, retained refs and durable production.

After both pieces are available, ask the agent to call [`account_status`](https://shotops.dev/docs/mcp/reference/account_status). That read-only preflight confirms which door is connected and what it supports without starting a render.

## Verify the package

The checked-in Skill includes trigger cases and behavioral contracts for the direct workflow, spending and waivers, cancellation, missing or expired assets, and reconnecting after a timeout. Repository validation checks package integrity, registered tool names and published documentation links. Those static checks do not claim that an agent followed the Skill; representative cold-agent runs provide that behavioral evidence separately.

Continue with [Render your first preview](https://shotops.dev/docs/mcp/workflows/first-strip) after the connection preflight.