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The metalworks plugin brings the full workflow into Claude Code. Ask /demand-report can I sell a focus supplement to developers? and you get the same grounded report the library produces — every claim linked to a real quote you can open — right in your chat, then keep going (/position-wedge, /build-spec, /distribution-strategy) from there. Under the hood it’s an MCP server: each slash command is a skill that calls one or more of its 35 tools. The commands chain through a stored demand report, exactly like the CLI — see Projects & memory for how that state persists.

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Install

You need uv on your PATH. The plugin runs the metalworks MCP server via uvx, which installs it into an isolated environment on first launch:
A SessionStart hook pre-warms that environment (it runs metalworks version quietly when your session opens), so the first real command doesn’t pay the one-time install delay.

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Keys: what works with none, what needs one

The data tools run with no API key. The research and synthesis tools use whatever provider key is in your environment (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY / OPENAI_API_KEY / GOOGLE_API_KEY — first present wins) — or, with metalworks[claude-code] installed and no key set, they run keyless on your Claude Code login (the session you’re already in). The embeddings a few tools need likewise default to a keyless local model. So inside Claude Code, the whole pipeline can run with zero keys. The tools fall into four tiers by what they need: zero-key data tools (Reddit + corpus reads, compliance lint, the corpus-derived data report), chat-key synthesis tools (demand research, positioning, distribution assets, discovery), chat + embeddings tools (competitor map, build spec — which now folds in surface + screens), and the gated posting tool (a Reddit reply, behind an env opt-in). The MCP tools reference is the canonical list — every tool, its tier, and its key requirement, in one table.

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The commands

Each command runs one step of the end-to-end workflow. Start with /demand-report; the rest take the report it produces (by report_id) and build on it.

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Research

  • /demand-report <idea> — is there real demand? Runs the full pipeline (research_plan_brief → research_start → poll research_status → research_result) on your provider key — or keyless on your Claude Code login when metalworks[claude-code] is installed and no key is set. Returns a go/no-go plus ranked demand clusters with distinct-author counts and verbatim, permalinked quotes. Research only — never posts.
  • /position-wedge — turns the report into a Dunford wedge (competitive alternative, unique attribute, value, beachhead, category) + a price band. Calls positioning_from_report. Every slot resolves to a real quote; if nothing defensible survives, it says so rather than inventing one.

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Validation loop

Frame an idea, weigh demand against what already exists, get an honest build/don’t-build call. See the validation loop.
  • /ideate <idea> — sharpen a raw idea into a testable hypothesis + a brief to run demand on (idea-first), or surface a report’s under-served forks as grounded sketches to pick from (evidence-first). Calls ideate_from_idea / ideate_from_report.
  • /market-landscape — the full “what exists today”: the competitor map plus an empirical scan of real shipped products, each matched to a demand cluster. Calls landscape_from_report.
  • /go-no-go — the GO / PIVOT / NO-GO verdict, a deterministic gap over demand × landscape, delivered office-hours-style; PIVOT names an under-served fork to aim at, and you make the final call. Calls assess_from_report.
  • /validate <idea> — runs the whole loop interactively, with you deciding at each gate; loops back on PIVOT toward the under-served fork until GO, NO-GO, or exhausted.

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Design

  • /design — a grounded-but-directional design system: an aesthetic direction + a SAFE/RISK choice per dimension (design_from_report), read from a real browser teardown of competitor sites where available. Records its grounding_tier (renderer / web / model_knowledge) so the look is never overstated; writes a DESIGN.md. Authors a system, not pixels.
  • /logo — the mark submodule: diverse, company-grade SVG logo options (logo_generate), one per design angle, drawn under the brand’s design system. Offered, never auto-selected; an unsafe or empty SVG is dropped, never inlined.
  • /design-review — a deterministic audit of a rendered page’s actual computed styles (fonts, heading scale, colors) against design hard-rules + the design system (design_review). The model writes nothing; needs the browser renderer.

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Build

  • /build-spec — a feature spec mapped to real demand (build_spec), the surface to build it on (auto-picked with a one-line rationale, or pinned) and a feature-grounded screen skeleton, then a scaffolded repo: CLAUDE.md with a cite-or-die rule, docs/SPEC.md, a frozen docs/EVIDENCE.md quote table, a PostToolUse lint hook, and .mcp.json wiring back to metalworks. metalworks specs and scaffolds; your agent builds. Ungrounded features are dropped before scaffolding.

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Distribution

Plan where this product gets distributed and draft the channel-native assets — all grounded in the report, all drafting-only. See Distribution and GEO / LLM-citability.
  • /distribution-strategy — route the report’s real named entities + signals into test→focus channel experiments (distribution_strategy); every channel’s routing_signal traces to a real corpus entity. Not a ranked portfolio — a set of experiments to test, then concentrate on the winner.
  • /distribution-requirements — the distribution → build requirements (distribution_requirements): the embedded loops + the conversion surface distribution designs INTO the product, emitted as concrete build requirements. Feed it to /build-spec.
  • /distribution-assets — channel-SHAPED, drafting-only assets per channel (distribution_assets): Product Hunt tagline + maker comment, Show HN title + first comment, an X thread, a LinkedIn carousel. Demand claims are grounded; hooks are free. It never posts.
  • /distribution-data-report — a corpus-derived data report (distribution_data_report): a deterministic ranking of the report’s clusters (complaint index / feature ranking / State of X) carrying REAL counts, real permalinks, and a verbatim quote per row. Zero-key; the numbers are copied, never invented.
  • /distribution-geo — the GEO / LLM-citability stream (distribution_geo): participation targets (real threads from the report’s permalinks), citability probes, and answer-first answer briefs. Drafting only.
  • /distribution-engage — the participation/execution arm (distribution_engage): draft a disclosed, founder-voiced reply for one GEO participation target, run the compliance gate, hand it to you to post. Posting is human-gated.
  • /distribution-plan — sequence the channels into a campaign (distribution_plan): pushes (spike channels at deterministic playbook timings) + streams (compounding channels run continuously), pre-launch warming → push week → 30-day post step. Planning only.
  • /distribution-measure — close the loop (distribution_measure): the per-channel success metric + the instrumentation to wire BEFORE the push, read deterministically by surface type, then re-rank the next push on real results. Planning only.

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Grow

  • /find-threads <product> — live Reddit threads worth a genuine reply (reddit_search_posts), ranked by honest fit. Discovery only — it doesn’t draft or post.
  • /draft-reply <thread> — reads the thread and rules (reddit_get_post_comments, reddit_subreddit_rules), drafts a reply in your voice (generate_reply), and runs it through the compliance gate (compliance_lint) until it passes. It stops there. Posting happens only on your explicit instruction, and only if the gate is satisfied.
  • /subreddit-intel <r/name> — a practical brief on a community (rules that bite, tone, what gets removed) before you participate (reddit_subreddit_info). Reconnaissance only.
  • /discovery <queries> — the batch of find-threads + draft-reply: searches Reddit across several queries, drafts one reply per worthwhile thread, and gates each through the compliance check (discovery_run). Drafts only — it never posts.

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The posting gate

Nothing in the plugin posts to Reddit on its own. The one tool that can, reddit_post_comment, is the security boundary, and it is triple-gated:
  1. Operator opt-in. It refuses unless METALWORKS_ALLOW_POSTING=1 is set in the server’s environment. Disabled by default.
  2. A confirm token. The reply text must carry a token issued by the deterministic compliance check (compliance_lint / generate_reply) over that exact text — edit the draft after it passed, and the token no longer matches.
  3. A re-check. It re-runs the compliance gate at post time and refuses if it fails.
It also needs REDDIT_CLIENT_ID / REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET and a connected account. Every attempt is logged.

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What the compliance gate checks

The gate (compliance_lint) is deterministic, offline, and zero-key. It flags AI-tells (“great question”, “hope this helps”, em-dashes), over-promotion (your product named repeatedly), length out of bounds, and naked CTAs (“sign up”, “check out”) — returning a pass/fail verdict with a confidence score. Drafts that read like marketing get tightened, not shipped.

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Personas, honestly

Reply drafting can take a persona — a voice defined by real writing samples and an authentic background. Fabricated personas, invented backstories, and coordinated inauthentic behavior are prohibited by the usage policy; the default persona is empty, so fabrication is never accidental.

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Same engine, your choice of surface

The plugin, the Python SDK, the CLI, and the MCP server all run the same engine and produce the same results — pick whichever fits how you work. Driving metalworks from your own agent instead of the plugin? See using with AI agents.