Claude Code Skill
nobox ships a Claude Code Skill that tells Claude Code (and any other client that consumes skill files) what nobox is, when to use it, what the tools mean, and how to behave around polling and destructive operations.
Install
nobox install-skill
That copies the bundled SKILL.md to ~/.claude/skills/nobox/SKILL.md.
For a project-scoped install (only active in one repo):
nobox install-skill --project /path/to/your/project
Drops it into /path/to/your/project/.claude/skills/nobox/SKILL.md.
After install, restart any Claude Code session and the skill becomes
discoverable. You can also invoke it explicitly with /nobox.
What the skill tells Claude
The skill description triggers auto-invocation when the user asks for async / leave-a-note / email-style follow-up patterns ("ping me when done", "leave me a message", "check my inbox", "email me a summary"...).
The body covers:
- When to reach for nobox vs. normal interactive chat.
- The tool table with one-line guidance per tool.
- Mental model:
direction="in"vs"out", POP3-style retention, that doctor sentinels are auto-filtered, PGP transparency, the best-effort quoted-text trim. - Typical workflow:
list_inboxes→read_inbox(previews) →read_messagefor actionable items →send_messagewithin_reply_to. - Polling pattern: if the runtime supports recurring tasks
(
/schedule,/loop, cron, etc.), Claude should propose a 10-minute recurring check and only set it up after the user agrees - never silently. - Safety:
create_inboxanddelete_inboxare destructive; never call them without explicit user instruction.
Updating
The skill ships with the package, so to refresh after a nobox upgrade:
nobox install-skill
(It overwrites the installed file.)
Uninstalling
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/nobox
MCP + skill together
The recommended setup is to wire both:
# MCP gives Claude the actual tools
claude mcp add --transport stdio nobox -- nobox mcp
# Skill gives Claude the methodology
nobox install-skill
The MCP server provides connectivity (the actual read_inbox /
send_message calls); the skill provides the operating manual for using
them. They're complementary, not redundant.