# Quick start

Source: https://zshot-cli.com/reference/agents/quickstart/
Markdown: https://zshot-cli.com/reference/agents/quickstart/index.md
Section: [Reference](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/) › [Agents](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/agents/)

Wire ZShot into your agent and move on. Each app launches `zshot` as a local MCP server over stdio — it runs `zshot --mcp-local-server` as a subprocess and talks to it over stdin and stdout. See [Agents](/reference/agents) for how the transports differ and [MCP](/reference/agents/mcp) for running ZShot as an HTTP server instead.

The bundled [Agent Skill](/reference/agents/skills) teaches the agent what ZShot does and how to call it. Install it into the directory each app loads skills from, shown below. LM Studio loads no skills and relies on the MCP server's own tool descriptions.

## Claude Code

Register the server, then install the skill:

```sh
claude mcp add --transport stdio zshot -- zshot --mcp-local-server
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && zshot --install-skill ~/.claude/skills/
```

[Claude Code MCP docs](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/mcp).

## Claude Desktop

Add ZShot to `claude_desktop_config.json`, then restart Claude Desktop:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zshot": {
      "command": "zshot",
      "args": ["--mcp-local-server"]
    }
  }
}
```

The file lives at `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` on macOS. Build a skill bundle to import from Settings with `zshot --install-skill ./zshot.zip`.

[Claude Desktop MCP docs](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user).

## Cursor

Add ZShot to `~/.cursor/mcp.json`:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zshot": {
      "command": "zshot",
      "args": ["--mcp-local-server"]
    }
  }
}
```

Install the skill where Cursor loads them:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/.cursor/skills && zshot --install-skill ~/.cursor/skills/
```

[Cursor MCP docs](https://cursor.com/docs/mcp#using-mcpjson) · [skills](https://cursor.com/docs/skills).

## VS Code

Add ZShot to VS Code's `mcp.json` (note the top-level `servers` key, not `mcpServers`):

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "zshot": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "zshot",
      "args": ["--mcp-local-server"]
    }
  }
}
```

The file lives at `~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json` on macOS (`~/.config/Code/User/mcp.json` on Linux). Copilot's agent mode loads MCP servers directly — no skill needed.

[VS Code MCP docs](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agent-customization/mcp-servers).

## OpenCode

Add ZShot to the `mcp` block of `opencode.json`:

```json
{
  "mcp": {
    "zshot": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["zshot", "--mcp-local-server"],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

Install the skill where OpenCode loads them:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills && zshot --install-skill ~/.agents/skills/
```

[OpenCode MCP docs](https://opencode.ai/docs/mcp-servers/) · [skills](https://opencode.ai/docs/skills/).

## OpenAI Codex CLI

Add the server in one command:

```sh
codex mcp add zshot -- zshot --mcp-local-server
```

Or write the equivalent block to `~/.codex/config.toml`:

```toml
[mcp_servers.zshot]
command = "zshot"
args = ["--mcp-local-server"]
```

Install the skill where Codex loads them:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills && zshot --install-skill ~/.agents/skills/
```

[Codex MCP docs](https://developers.openai.com/codex/mcp) · [skills](https://developers.openai.com/codex/skills).

## LM Studio

Add ZShot to LM Studio's `mcp.json`:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zshot": {
      "command": "zshot",
      "args": ["--mcp-local-server"]
    }
  }
}
```

[LM Studio MCP docs](https://lmstudio.ai/docs/app/plugins/mcp).

## Navigation

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  - [Formats](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/formats/)
  - [Flags](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/flags/)
  - [Agents](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/agents/)
    - **Quick start**
    - [MCP](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/agents/mcp/)
    - [Skills](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/agents/skills/)
  - [Configuration](https://zshot-cli.com/reference/configuration/)
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