The skill in your project
Along with the MCP configuration, connect and init write a skill into your project at .claude/skills/staves/SKILL.md and .agents/skills/staves/SKILL.md. Your client discovers the skill after project trust and any required reload; MCP activation may still need approval. Delete the file and nothing else changes.
What it is for
Section titled “What it is for”The server gives an agent the tools. The skill gives it the judgement about when and how to use them: scope one workflow rather than a whole platform, describe work in the language of the work rather than the system, cite the files you read, and ask a question on the board rather than inventing an answer. That guidance used to live inside the server, where an agent met it late and a person never saw it at all.
A skill is not a replacement for the server
Section titled “A skill is not a replacement for the server”This is the thing most often asked, so it is worth being exact about. A skill is instructions. A server is capability. The skill tells an agent how to work and still calls the tools underneath — so it helps an agent that can already reach Staves, and does nothing for one that cannot.
A coding agent with terminal access can also call every tool using staves tool, without waiting for an MCP reload. The skill explains how to interview in that conversation and save the graph incrementally.
If you would rather write your own
Section titled “If you would rather write your own”Edit the file to suit your project. Existing custom skill files are preserved by connect and init. Current interview instructions are also available through staves_interview.
Updating an existing installation
Section titled “Updating an existing installation”Generated MCP configurations pin the installed package version. Run npx @staves/cli@latest setup from the project to refresh registration and generated instructions while preserving its connection. Then reload MCP. Running npx @staves/cli@latest does not rewrite an already running MCP process.
The updated guidance covers coherent interview batches, explicit conversation scope and intention, Git-linked assessment returns, and optional Langfuse evidence. Existing custom skill files remain untouched. Compare their guidance with this documentation; current interview instructions remain available through staves_interview.
Unmodified generated skills are upgraded safely. Customized skills are preserved, with updated generated guidance provided separately for comparison. Run staves doctor to distinguish saved configuration from verified account access; it cannot certify that your client has activated its MCP tools.