Claude Starter (Claude Skill) — Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

40+ pre-installed skills across engineering, design, product
Meta-commands for skill orchestration
TOON token-saving output format
Skill-of-skills patterns
One command to bootstrap a fresh repo

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

claude-starter-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-starter-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-starter"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-starter-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-starter"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-starter-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-starter"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-starter-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-starter"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "claude-starter-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-starter"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "claude-starter-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter",
          "~/.claude/skills/claude-starter"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add claude-starter-skill -- git clone https://github.com/raintree-technology/claude-starter ~/.claude/skills/claude-starter

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use Claude Starter

Start a new repo with a sane Claude Code config from day one

👤 Engineers starting a greenfield project ⏱ ~15 min intermediate

When to use: Day 1 of a new project, before Claude habits set in.

Prerequisites

Server/skill installed and authenticated — See repo README

Flow

Bootstrap

Run npx create-claude-starter@latest in /repos/.✓ Copied

→ Repo with .claude/, skills/, agents/ scaffolded
Use

Open Claude Code in the new repo. Try /plan or /audit.✓ Copied

→ Meta-commands work out of the box

Outcome: A repo where Claude Code is configured well from minute one.

Pitfalls

40 skills is a lot. Prune what you don't use — 40 skills is a lot. Prune what you don't use — every loaded skill is context.

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: See provider docs for rate limits
Tokens per call: Varies by tool
Monetary: See repo README for pricing details
Tip: Cache tool results and avoid repeated identical calls.

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: Use environment variables; never commit secrets

Data egress: Tool calls go to the provider's API as documented

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

create-claude-starter not found

Use the @latest tag explicitly: npx create-claude-starter@latest.

Verify: npm view create-claude-starter

TOON format unrecognized

TOON is a custom output format; the starter installs a parser. Re-run setup if not present.

Verify: ls .claude/ | grep toon

Alternatives

Claude Starter vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
anthropics/claude-code	You want a minimal start	Bare; you build everything yourself

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills