Set up Passalong in Claude Code

Claude Code gets the most complete Passalong setup of any client: the MCP server, a skill that writes what a session learned into your project's documents, two hooks that keep a session from forgetting the work it holds, and a status line. The server runs on your machine, so it knows which repo you are in.

Install

npm i -g passalong
passalong setup
passalong login

passalong setup does four things:

• Registers the MCP server with Claude Code, the same as running claude mcp add passalong -- passalong mcp.
• Installs the capture skill, so "pass this along" at the end of a session hands in what the session finished and writes what it learned into the project's documents: the page that covers it, and a line on the project's Log.
• Adds two hooks. When a session starts, it is told what this worktree is holding. When it tries to end while still holding work nobody has handed in, it is stopped once and told what to call.
• Adds a status line showing what you hold and what needs you, if you do not already have one. An existing status line is never replaced.

passalong login opens a page in your browser to approve; no password is typed in the terminal. Work and documents live on the server, so the tools need you signed in before they can read or write anything.

Check it worked

claude mcp list

passalong should be in the list. Then start a session and ask:

What is on my Passalong board?

What to try first

• Capture what a session learned. At the end of a session: "pass this along". The skill hands in what you finished and updates the project's documents.
• Write work down. "Write this down as Passalong work: make sign-out work from the settings page, and say what done looks like."
• Do the work. "Take the next Passalong work and do it." The agent claims it, reports as it goes, and hands it in with evidence.
• Write down what it found. "Write down the bugs you noticed but did not fix, one each."

With Passalong connected, the agent can run the whole loop itself: write down the bugs it finds, take work that is waiting, report progress, hand it in with evidence, and write what it learned into the project's documents. Finishing is final; if something is not right, anyone on the team can reopen it with the reason.

Working a queue unattended

passalong work runs Claude Code headless on each piece of ready work for the repo, one after another. A headless agent can only use the tools you allow up front, so point it at a script that allows them:

#!/bin/sh
exec claude -p "$@" --permission-mode acceptEdits \
  --allowedTools "mcp__passalong__*,Bash(npm test:*)"

passalong work --agent ./agent.sh

Work that needs a command you did not allow ends up blocked, and the agent says so on the board.

Screenshots

Give the agent the image's file path. It adds the picture with add_file to the work or the hand-in it belongs to.

If something is off

• passalong is not in claude mcp list. Register it by hand: claude mcp add passalong -- passalong mcp.
• The tools say you are not signed in. Run passalong login, then start a new session.
• A session keeps saying it holds work. That is the Stop hook. Hand the work in, pass it back, or post progress if you are stopping mid-way.

Setting up a different client? See Codex, ChatGPT or Claude, or connect your tools for all of them.