Can Claude or Codex change anything through Pairbar's tools?

The tools that read change nothing. The action tools let a chat ask for something (a second opinion, a helper chat, a workflow run), and it runs only if your Agent actions settings allow it or you approve it in Pairbar; an agent can never approve anything itself. Every call is logged in Agent activity.

Can a chat read my other conversations?

No. It sees other chats' metadata (title, status, branch, PR), only in its own project unless you allow others, and never their messages or transcripts.

Does installing it for Claude change my Claude settings?

Not with the default install: it's a single link in ~/.claude/skills, and no claude command runs. The Advanced install uses Claude's plugin manager, which records it in settings.json; Pairbar backs the file up and checks nothing else changed.

Is this an MCP server?

Yes. pairbar mcp is a local MCP server speaking to Claude or Codex over standard input and output. It speaks the MCP versions both apps use.

Let Claude and Codex Query Pairbar via MCP

Before you start

Pairbar installed and running.
Claude Code (the desktop app's Code tab or the claude command line) and/or Codex (the app or the codex command line).
For Claude: a folder Claude trusts (an untrusted folder loads no plugins).

A Claude or Codex chat calls Pairbar's tools over MCP or the pairbar command, and every call lands in Agent activity.

Steps

Install the tools for each app
Settings → Integrations → Pairbar tools for Claude and Codex → Install… on the Claude row, the Codex row, or both. The confirmation shows the exact commands. Each app is installed on its own.
Start a new chat
The apps load plugins when a chat starts. In the new chat you have the tools (in Claude they show as mcp__plugin_pairbar_pairbar__<tool>, and in /mcp as plugin:pairbar:pairbar), the guide skill (/pairbar:guide in Claude, $pairbar:guide in Codex), and in Claude's Bash tool the pairbar command.
Allow the tools in Claude (optional)
Claude asks once per tool before it runs, like any MCP tool. To stop the questions, add mcp__plugin_pairbar_pairbar__* to Claude's allowed tools: Settings → Integrations → How it works has the rule with Copy. Pairbar doesn't change Claude's permissions itself. Codex doesn't ask: the plugin approves Pairbar's tools. Allowing a tool in the app only lets the chat ask: whether an action runs is still up to your Agent actions settings and your approval in Pairbar.
Ask a question
Try "what are my other chats in this repo doing?" in Claude or "which skills do I have here?" in Codex. The chat calls status first, then the tool that fits, and each result has a next line telling it what to do with the answer.
Check Agent activity
Settings → Integrations → Agent activity lists every call, newest first: the tool, what it asked, which chat called and how it went. The row in Settings says Installed · last call 12 s ago once a chat has called.

The tools that read

Tool	Command	What it returns
`status`	`pairbar status`	who you are to Pairbar, whether it's locked, how much of each plan is left, and the tools you have. The first call.
`get_context`	`pairbar context`	your project, folder and branch, your task with its PR and checks, the task's other chats, the skills that fit here, the project's agents and workflows
`list_chats`	`pairbar chats`	chats, newest first, filtered by `scope`, `app`, `project`, `branch`, `status`, `query`, `limit`
`get_chat`	`pairbar chat <id>`	one chat's status, the tool it's running, whether and why it waits for you, its task, PR and running subagents
`list_tasks`	`pairbar tasks`	tasks (chats grouped by branch or worktree) with stage, PR, checks and chats
`list_skills`	`pairbar skills`	the skills an app loads in a folder, how to invoke each, and which fit best
`get_skill`	`pairbar skill <name>`	a skill's instructions (up to 20,000 characters), its files and folder
`list_agents`	`pairbar agents`	your Claude Code agents, this project's first
`list_workflows`	`pairbar workflows`	your workflows: schedule, on or off, folder, the most their steps may do, whether agents may run them, last run
`get_limits`	`pairbar limits`	each app's limit windows: used, left and when they reset
`wait`, `get_result`	`pairbar wait`, `pairbar result`	the chat's own tickets and their results

The tools that ask Pairbar to act

second_opinion, request_review, start_chat, handoff, send_to_chat, stop, notify_user, run_workflow, propose_workflow and schedule_checkin are agent actions. Each gets a ticket, and runs only when its kind is set to Allow, you allowed that chat for an hour, the workflow is marked Agents may run this, or you approve it in Pairbar. Budgets, depth limits, no escalation beyond the chat's own access and Pause agent actions apply to all of them: see Guardrails and budgets and Approve agent actions.

Errors come with a code the chat can act on: not_allowed, not_found, invalid_arguments, rate_limited (with how long to wait), locked or pairbar_not_running, and for actions paused_by_user, turned_off, limited, too_deep or no_escalation.

The pairbar command

The same tools work from a shell, for you and for chats that run commands. Options are the tools' arguments as flags, plus --all for --scope all and --json for JSON output. pairbar --help lists the commands.

pairbar status
pairbar chats --status needs_you
pairbar tasks --section review --json
pairbar skill pairbar:guide

Inside a Claude chat with the plugin, pairbar is on the Bash tool's path. Elsewhere it's ~/.pairbar/bin/pairbar or /Applications/Pairbar.app/Contents/Helpers/pairbar. It exits with 0 on success, 1 for a tool's error, 64 for a wrong option and 69 when Pairbar isn't running. pairbar mcp is the MCP server itself, which the plugin starts over standard input and output.

What Install writes

One folder of Pairbar's own, ~/.pairbar/plugins: a small plugin marketplace with one plugin, pairbar, for both apps (manifests, the MCP entries, a short bin/pairbar script and the guide skill). ~/.pairbar/install-manifest.json records every file with its hash, and the commands run with their inverses.
Claude (default): one link, ~/.claude/skills/pairbar → the plugin folder. Claude loads it by itself as pairbar@skills-dir. No claude command runs and no Claude settings file changes: ~/.claude/settings.json and ~/.claude.json stay byte for byte.
Claude, Advanced ("Install that way…" under How it works): claude plugin marketplace add ~/.pairbar/plugins, then claude plugin install pairbar@pairbar --scope user --json, after a backup of settings.json.
Codex: codex plugin marketplace add ~/.pairbar/plugins, then codex plugin add pairbar@pairbar --json, after a private backup of ~/.codex/config.toml. Pairbar never edits Codex's config itself.

Who's calling, and what it can see

Pairbar works out which chat is calling and never takes the chat's word for it. A Claude chat is verified from its own claude process and Claude's record of it. A Codex chat is host-asserted from the thread id Codex adds, checked against that chat's folder and recent activity. Anything else (a terminal, a script) is identified by its folder only.

A caller sees its own project's chats and tasks, as metadata: title, app, status, folder, branch, PR and checks, the tool running, subagent count.
Other projects only with Agents can see chats in other projects on (off to start with); otherwise the tools answer "not allowed".
What a chat is asking you only with Include what the chat is asking on in Settings → Notifications.
Never a chat's messages, a transcript, a handoff file, your licence, your settings or any config file's contents.
Secrets that look like keys or tokens are masked as [redacted], and your home folder shows as ~.

Rate limits: a chat may make 60 calls a minute in bursts of up to 20; a caller Pairbar can't tie to a chat, 30; everyone together, 600. Actions have a limit of their own: 10 a minute per caller. Beyond that the call answers rate_limited.

Agent activity

Filter the list by All, Claude, Codex or Other, or to Problems only. Export… saves it as JSON Lines; Clear… empties it after you confirm. It's kept in ~/.config/pairbar/activity.jsonl, readable only by you: calls older than 90 days go, at most 5,000 are kept, and it never holds a result's contents or a chat's messages.

Uninstall

Uninstall on the app's row removes Claude's link, or runs the inverse commands (claude plugin uninstall pairbar@pairbar and claude plugin marketplace remove pairbar for Advanced; codex plugin remove pairbar@pairbar and codex plugin marketplace remove pairbar for Codex), after a backup. Then it removes the files it wrote that you haven't changed. The folder, link and manifest stay while the other app, or live status for Codex, still uses them.

Troubleshooting

The chat doesn't see the tools: Start a new chat: plugins load when a chat starts. In Claude, /mcp should show plugin:pairbar:pairbar connected; a folder Claude doesn't trust loads no plugins. In Codex, pairbar:guide should be in the skills list and the plugin in codex plugin list.
The chat says Pairbar isn't running: Open Pairbar, or turn Start Pairbar when an agent needs it back on in Settings → Integrations: with it on, a call opens Pairbar in the background and waits up to 5 seconds.
A tool answers "not allowed": The chat asked about another project. Turn on Agents can see chats in other projects in Settings → Integrations if you want that (still metadata only).
Every tool answers `locked`: The trial or subscription ended; only status answers while Pairbar is locked. See licence.
Settings shows Needs repair or Turned off: Needs repair: the plugin or link is missing or points at a moved Pairbar; press Repair. Turned off: you turned the plugin off in the app's own plugin list; turn it back on there.

Frequently asked questions

Can Claude or Codex change anything through Pairbar's tools?: The tools that read change nothing. The action tools let a chat ask for something (a second opinion, a helper chat, a workflow run), and it runs only if your Agent actions settings allow it or you approve it in Pairbar; an agent can never approve anything itself. Every call is logged in Agent activity.
Can a chat read my other conversations?: No. It sees other chats' metadata (title, status, branch, PR), only in its own project unless you allow others, and never their messages or transcripts.
Does installing it for Claude change my Claude settings?: Not with the default install: it's a single link in ~/.claude/skills, and no claude command runs. The Advanced install uses Claude's plugin manager, which records it in settings.json; Pairbar backs the file up and checks nothing else changed.
Is this an MCP server?: Yes. pairbar mcp is a local MCP server speaking to Claude or Codex over standard input and output. It speaks the MCP versions both apps use.

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