install-shellby-mcp

Install Shellby MCP

Install Shellby MCP collaboratively with the human.

Boundaries

• Inspect current machine and repository state before changing anything. Resume partial installs instead of blindly repeating setup.
• Never ask the user to paste an ngrok authtoken, ChatGPT credential, or other secret into chat. Have them enter secrets directly in their own Terminal or browser.
• Give the human concise instructions whenever macOS, Chrome, ChatGPT, or another GUI requires interaction.
• Do not run npm start, npm run restart, npm run status, npm run logs, npm run stop, or a direct pm2 command before the human establishes the PM2 daemon from Terminal.app. A PM2 command may create the daemon under the wrong macOS permission source.
• Never kill an existing PM2 daemon until you know what it manages and the human explicitly agrees to disrupt those processes. pm2 kill affects the whole user-level PM2 daemon, not only Shellby.
• Treat Computer Use permission status observed from the agent's own host process as non-authoritative for Terminal.app. macOS TCC permissions follow the responsible launching process.

1. Inspect the machine

Confirm:

• macOS on Apple Silicon or Intel;
• Node.js 22.13.0 or newer;
• npm and git are available;
• ngrok is installed;
• this repository is present and writable.

If the repository is not already checked out, clone https://github.com/Serbyte-Development/shellby-mcp.git and enter it.

Install missing prerequisites when safe. Prefer the repository's documented ngrok installation command when Homebrew is available:

brew install --cask ngrok

Do not silently replace the user's Node installation strategy or package manager. If Node is missing or too old and there is no obvious existing version manager, tell the human what is required and let them choose how Node should be installed. Never chat $PATH without explicit approval.

2. Install repository dependencies

From the repository root:

npm ci