SiftStack setup
Get someone from "installed" to "working" without making them buy anything they do not need.
1. See where they stand
Run the doctor first (python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/doctor.py" --json). Never start by listing keys.
2. Ask what they do, then pick keys for that
Ask what they want to get done this week. Map the answer to skills, and only then to keys. About half the library needs nothing at all, so many people are already done.
Every key is optional and every skill degrades instead of failing. Say the cost and the free route for each key before they decide:
- The cost and fallback for every package are in
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/data/requires.json. - Where to get each key, in one line each, is in the comments of
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/data/env.skills.example.
3. Create the .env
Skills read environment variables, plus a .env in the folder Claude is working in.
- If there is no
.envin the working folder, copy${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/data/env.skills.exampleto.envthere. - You MUST NOT overwrite an existing
.env, because it may hold keys that exist nowhere else. Append only the missing variable names, empty. - You MUST NOT ask the person to paste a key into the chat, and MUST NOT write a key value yourself, because anything typed here stays in the conversation history. Tell them which line to fill in and let them edit the file in their own editor.
- If the folder is a git repository, check that
.envis ignored before they fill it in. If it is not, add it to.gitignorefirst.
People who use many folders can set the variables at the user level in their OS instead. Both work.
4. Turn on updates (Claude Code, one time)
Third-party marketplaces do not auto-update by default. Have them run /plugin, open Marketplaces, select siftstack, and choose Enable auto-update. Without it they stay on the version they installed until they run /plugin marketplace update siftstack by hand.
In Cowork, the Plugins page has an Update button on the marketplace.
If installing a bundle failed with Unrecognized key: "dependencies", their Claude Code is too old for bundles. claude update fixes it.
5. Confirm
Run the doctor again and show what moved from blocked to working. Then suggest one concrete first task using a skill that is ready.