Install the Ask The W Coding Plugin

The setup steps above are generated from the same source as /plugin. The rest of this guide covers what the plugin stores locally, how captures behave, and how to operate or troubleshoot the workspace connection.

The plugin is how coding agents participate in the Ask The W judgement layer. It lets an agent preserve compact signals and decisions so product judgement survives beyond the current chat or coding session.

Product reference

Find it in Ask The W at /connectors, in the Add a source section under Made by Ask The W. After installation and workspace connection, the card shows connected state and exposes the plugin management action.

What gets installed

• Codex plugin runtime and manifest managed by Codex
• ~/.askthew/cloud-token.json - device token and install id, mode 0600
• ~/.askthew/consent.json - local receipt that compact session signals are authorized for the connected workspace, mode 0600
• ~/.askthew/install.json - host and version diagnostics
• ~/.askthew/outbox.sqlite - durable pending captures, not the source of truth for synced data; bundled plugin runtimes may use ~/.askthew/outbox.json instead

Tool surface

• capture_session_signal
• list_signals
• create_decision
• list_decisions
• list_outcomes
• recap
• coach
• next_moves
• askthew_start_signup and askthew_complete_signup when no token exists
• askthew_start_workspace_bind and askthew_check_workspace_bind for workspace connection

The plugin install or workspace confirmation authorizes compact session signals for that workspace, so Codex does not need to ask for a separate approval sentence in every thread. Captures include scopeKey, sessionId, sequence, and an optional ULID idempotencyKey for ordered, deduplicated retries. The MCP plugin generates a safe idempotency key when one is omitted or malformed.

Signal payloads should stay small: summary, relative files touched, verification status, product judgement context, and useful non-sensitive metadata. The MCP package redacts known credential patterns, sensitive metadata keys, local workspace/home paths, and sensitive file references before queueing or sending. Agents must not send transcripts, secrets, credentials, private tokens, inline environment values, or large copied content.

Codex marketplace installs resolve the current repo scope at tool-call time, so the same installed plugin can work across workspaces without baking a repo path into .mcp.json. History reads, outcome reads, recaps, coaching, next moves, and askthew-mcp export default to the current project scope so one repo does not pollute another. Use all-scopes options only when you intentionally want the whole install context.

Limits

Workspace-connected installs use your Ask The W plan and service-level abuse-protection limits. When a limit response includes message and retry_at, agents should stop retrying until reset.

Workspace binding

Codex normally guides workspace connection through MCP tools after install:

• askthew_start_signup sends the email verification code.
• askthew_complete_signup stores the local identity after you provide the code.
• askthew_start_workspace_bind returns the browser confirmation URL and displayed code.
• askthew_check_workspace_bind reports when the workspace connection is complete.

Support may ask you to use the CLI bind command as a paid-plugin recovery path:

askthew-mcp bind

The CLI opens the same browser confirmation flow, keeps the local install identity stable, then flushes pending captures after the workspace connection is confirmed.

Reference

These commands are for diagnostics, cleanup, and support-assisted migration after the marketplace install. If askthew-mcp is not already on your PATH, run them as npx -y --package @askthew/mcp-plugin askthew-mcp <command>.

Check that the CLI, API, identity, and outbox are healthy:

askthew-mcp doctor

Show the local install identity without printing the token:

askthew-mcp identity status

Print a JSON handshake payload for an agent or integration:

askthew-mcp initialize-handshake --json

Flush pending local captures:

askthew-mcp refresh

Rotate the current token:

askthew-mcp token rotate

Revoke only the current token:

askthew-mcp token revoke

Export the current project scope:

askthew-mcp export

Export every project scope for this install:

askthew-mcp export --all-scopes

Delete the install-scoped identity and data:

askthew-mcp delete-me --confirm

Remove the MCP config and marked project instructions block:

askthew-mcp uninstall --host codex

For workspace-connected installs, delete-me removes install-scoped data and revokes tokens. Workspace rows remain under workspace authority. uninstall does not delete local identity files or cloud data; use delete-me --confirm first when you want the cloud install removed too.