Install

On this page

Kotharo is one Claude Code plugin, kotharo@kotharo, from its own marketplace. You install it once, in user scope, and it is on in every repo. Then /kotharo:setup connects your tools, one repo at a time.

Requirements

Claude Code 2.1.295 or later. Check with claude --version.
Python 3.11 or later, for the settings scripts. There are no packages to install. Kotharo looks for python3, then py -3, then python. To pick one, set KOTHARO_PYTHON to its path.
On Windows, Git for Windows, so hooks and skills run in Git Bash. Without Git Bash, Claude Code runs them in PowerShell and the Kotharo rules don't load.

If your organization manages Claude Code settings, some of those settings switch parts of Kotharo off. See Troubleshooting and check with your admin first.

Add the marketplace and install

You can install from inside Claude Code or from a terminal. Both do the same thing; use whichever you have open.

In Claude Code

Add the marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add https://plugins.kotharo.com/marketplace.json

Then install the plugin:

/plugin install kotharo@kotharo

In a terminal

Add the marketplace:

claude plugin marketplace add https://plugins.kotharo.com/marketplace.json

Then install the plugin:

claude plugin install kotharo@kotharo

Neither form needs git or a GitHub account. Each release is a zip pinned by its sha256, so Claude Code refuses a download that was changed on the way.

A machine can have only one marketplace named kotharo. If you already have one from somewhere else, remove it first with claude plugin marketplace remove kotharo, then add this one and install again.

Restart Claude Code, or start a new session, so the plugin loads.

Connect your tools

Open Claude Code in one of your repos and run:

/kotharo:setup

Setup finds your connected MCP servers, command line tools and CI files, and asks only about what it can't tell on its own, such as which ticketing tool this repo uses. Then it lists every change it wants to make and asks for one OK. You can drop items from the list. With your OK, it:

connects the MCP servers the adapters for your tools use, and binds each tool to its slot in the repo's CLAUDE.md ### Toolchain section;
installs your team's profile, if your team has one, in this repo only;
turns on auto-update for the Kotharo marketplace;
sets the Jira site, when you use Jira, so ticket keys in the band link to it and show their status;
sets the autonomy level, when none is set yet.

It ends with the steps only you can do, such as signing in to a server with /mcp or installing a command line tool it found missing. It never runs those for you.

Setup is safe to run again. It reports what is already in place and changes nothing without your OK, so run it in each repo you bring Kotharo into, and again any time to check that everything is ready.

Onboard a repo

The team reads the repo's CLAUDE.md for how it builds, tests and deploys. If the repo has none, or a thin one, run:

/kotharo:create-claude-md

It walks through a checklist and asks you for each value instead of guessing. Review the file and commit it.

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