Install & authenticate

1. Install the plugin

In a Claude Code session:

/plugin marketplace add https://www.ear3.ai/claude/marketplace.json
/plugin install ear3@ear3

The first command registers Ear3’s marketplace catalog; the second installs the @ear3/claude-plugin package. This adds the skills and starts the bundled MCP server (npx -y @ear3/mcp).

ear3 before the @ is the plugin name; ear3 after the @ is the marketplace name — not a repo path. A plain link to a repo does nothing; Claude Code only sees plugins through a registered marketplace.

Confirm the server connected:

/mcp

You should see an ear3 server with its ear3_* tools. The skills are available as /ear3:create-interview, /ear3:edit-interview, and so on — and Claude invokes them on its own when a task matches.

2. Authenticate once

The server needs an Ear3 secret key. Log in once and both the plugin and the CLI are authenticated (they share the same store):

npx @ear3/voice-config-cli login

Approve the printed link in your browser.

The secret key (sk_…) is resolved inside the server — it never appears in the chat. Never paste an sk_… key into a prompt or into browser code; browsers only ever get the publishable pk_… key.

Alternative: an environment variable

Instead of login, set EAR3_CONFIG_CLI_KEY in the MCP server’s env block (an sk_… key from Dashboard → Settings → API Keys). Use EAR3_API_BASE to point at a non-production host.

Until you authenticate, the tools still connect and list — they just return an actionable “not authenticated” message when called.

Other agents (Cursor, Windsurf, …)

Add the server directly via .mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ear3": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@ear3/mcp"] }
  }
}

See Setup & auth for details.

Next: Quickstart: from scratch.

Overview Quickstart: from scratch