---
title: "Kilobat in Claude Code: MCP server, skills and hooks | Kilobat"
url: "https://kilobat.app/agents/claude-code.html"
description: "Add Kilobat's Mac network MCP server to Claude Code with claude mcp add, install the agent skills, and connect hooks so Kilobat sees each run."
---

Agent setup

# Set up Kilobat in Claude Code

Give Claude Code your Mac's network as tools: per-app traffic, Wi-Fi, DNS, why a host fails and keep-awake. Its hooks tell Kilobat when a run works, waits for you or is done.

Free CLI and MCP server · macOS 14 or later · Checked: 30 October 2026

## Install the CLI

The Kilobat CLI is free and open source, and it includes the MCP server. Install it with Homebrew:

```
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat
```

Check it with `kilobat --version`. `kilobat doctor` says whether the Kilobat app is running, its network filter is on and Pro is active; the tools work without the app, which adds Wi-Fi names, history and rule enforcement. The CLI needs macOS 14 or later.

## Connect the MCP server

1. Add the server for all your projects. The `--` separates Claude Code's options from the command it runs.

   ```
   claude mcp add --scope user kilobat -- kilobat mcp
   ```
2. Start a new session and run `/mcp`. Kilobat is listed as connected.

Without `--scope user`, the server is added for the current project only, in `~/.claude.json`. With `--scope project` it goes in the project's `.mcp.json`, to share with your team.

## Add the skills

Nine Agent Skills teach the agent to read Kilobat's measurements and to ask before changing settings. Install them for all your projects with [skills.sh](https://skills.sh/seifip/kilobat-skills):

```
npx skills add seifip/kilobat-skills -g -a claude-code
```

This puts them in `~/.claude/skills/`. Leave out `-g` to install them for the current project only, or leave out both flags to pick agents from a list.

The `kilobat` skill is the entry point: it holds the setup and safety rules and sends the agent to the skill that fits, such as `mac-network-troubleshooting` or `mac-agent-runs`. See [all nine skills](https://kilobat.app/docs.html#network-troubleshooting-skill).

## Try these prompts

Ask in plain words. The agent picks the tools; these are the ones each request usually needs.

| Ask | MCP tools |
|---|---|
| The internet feels slow. Find out why and tell me what to fix first. | `diagnose_network`, `get_status` |
| npm install hangs on registry.npmjs.org. Find the layer that fails. | `diagnose_connection` |
| I'm about to pull a 6 GB Docker image. Is now a good time, or am I on a metered network? | `get_conditions` |
| Keep the Mac awake for the next two hours while you run the full test suite, then release it. | `keep_awake`, `release_awake` |
| Did my agent runs today finish, or did one stall or lose the network? | `list_sessions` |
| Something is uploading a lot. Which app is it, and how much has it sent in the last hour? | `get_status`, `get_app_bandwidth` |
| My video calls stutter even though speed tests look fine. Check for latency spikes. | `run_stutter_test`, `get_nearby_radios` |

## What Claude Code can and can't change

Kilobat's MCP server marks every tool as read-only or as a change, and each change tool's description tells the agent to get your confirmation first. The [kilobat skill](https://github.com/seifip/kilobat-skills/tree/main/skills/kilobat) holds the same rule: read freely, ask before changing.

### Runs without asking

- Measure Wi-Fi, router, internet and DNS latency, and per-app traffic: `diagnose_network`, `get_status`, `get_wifi`, `scan_wifi`.
- Find the layer that stops one host, trace a route and compare resolvers: `diagnose_connection`, `trace_route`, `benchmark_dns`.
- Read history, sessions, rules and approvals: `get_usage_report`, `list_sessions`, `list_rules`, `list_approvals`.
- Ping for latency spikes with `run_stutter_test`, which sends pings only.

### Asks you first

- A speed test, which uses up to 80 MB (`run_speedtest`; on a metered network, 10 MB or less), and a five-second LAN test (`run_lan_test`).
- Looking up your public IP with Cloudflare (`get_exit_path` with `public_ip`).
- Profiles, app rules, blocked hosts, the new-app mode, budgets, quotas, a network's data cost and pausing updaters (`set_profile`, `set_app_rule`, `block_destination`, `set_new_app_mode`, `set_budget`, `set_app_quota`, `set_network_cost`, `set_updater_pause`).
- DNS, which macOS also guards with an administrator password prompt (`set_dns`).
- Keeping the Mac running with the lid closed, every time (`keep_awake` with `lid_closed`). A plain `keep_awake` changes no settings and ends when it expires.

### Can't do

- Let a waiting app connect on its own: `decide_approval` can block at once, but allowing opens Kilobat's approval window for you to confirm.
- Change AirDrop visibility: `set_airdrop_visibility` opens System Settings for you.
- Change sleep settings, another app's settings, or anything outside Kilobat. It never reads prompts or replies.
- Enforce rules without the Kilobat app and its network filter (Pro). Without them, rules are saved, not applied, and the agent should say so.

Claude Code asks before it calls an MCP tool unless a permission rule allows it. To skip the prompt for reads only, allow tools by name, such as `mcp__kilobat__diagnose_network`, and leave Kilobat's change tools to ask.

If the agent can also run shell commands, the `kilobat` CLI can do what the MCP tools do. The skills tell it which commands to run freely and which to ask about.

## Track agent runs

Add these to `~/.claude/settings.json`, merged with any hooks you already have. Each hook gets JSON on stdin with the session id and folder, which `--stdin-json` reads. A permission or input prompt means waiting; Stop means done once background tasks finish; a rate limit means waiting until it resets.

```
{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "kilobat agent-event --agent claude --stdin-json" }] }],
    "UserPromptSubmit": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "kilobat agent-event --agent claude --stdin-json" }] }],
    "Notification": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "kilobat agent-event --agent claude --stdin-json" }] }],
    "Stop": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "kilobat agent-event --agent claude --stdin-json" }] }],
    "StopFailure": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "kilobat agent-event --agent claude --stdin-json" }] }],
    "SessionEnd": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "kilobat agent-event --agent claude --stdin-json" }] }]
  }
}
```

## Sources

- [Claude Code docs: Connect Claude Code to tools via MCP](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp)
- [Claude Code docs: Hooks reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks)
- [Kilobat docs: AI agents and MCP](https://kilobat.app/docs.html#agents)
- [skills.sh: supported agents and their skill folders](https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/main/docs/agents.md)

Checked on 30 October 2026. Agents change their settings often; if a step no longer matches, tell us at the support address.

## Other agents

- [Codex CLI](https://kilobat.app/agents/codex.html): Codex can check the network before a big download, find why its own request hangs and keep the Mac awake for a long task.
- [Cursor](https://kilobat.app/agents/cursor.html): Let Cursor's agent see why a package download hangs, which app is using the connection and whether the network is metered before a big pull.
- [Gemini CLI](https://kilobat.app/agents/gemini-cli.html): Gemini CLI can diagnose the Mac's network, scan Wi-Fi and keep the Mac awake while it works.
- [Claude Desktop](https://kilobat.app/agents/claude-desktop.html): Ask Claude why the Wi-Fi is slow, what used your hotspot data or whether your VPN carries everything, and it reads the answer from your Mac.
- [Windsurf](https://kilobat.app/agents/windsurf.html): Cascade can find why a dependency won't download, check DNS and trace a route from your Mac, with Kilobat's MCP server.
- [Cline](https://kilobat.app/agents/cline.html): Cline can check the Mac's network and keep it awake while it works.
- [Zed](https://kilobat.app/agents/zed.html): Zed's agent can measure the Mac's network, trace a route and compare DNS resolvers through Kilobat's MCP server.
- [Any MCP client](https://kilobat.app/agents/mcp-client.html): Kilobat's MCP server is a local stdio command, kilobat mcp.