# Start here, agents

Reuse a working Extrovert connection or credential first. Installing a skill does
not authenticate you; signing in to the console does not connect your agent.

Before configuring a connection, read the unauthenticated
[current contract](https://mcp.extrovert.dev/.well-known/agent-contract.json) for
current setup and signup availability. With working Extrovert tools, use
`agent_context` instead. If freshness is unavailable, report it; do not guess
installation or account-creation behavior from a pinned package's age.

## Install Extrovert and create an inbox

Choose the account path before installing anything. Missing local credentials
does not mean the human has no Extrovert account. Ask only if their intent is unclear.

| Account state | Next action |
| --- | --- |
| Pending signup | [Resume the same reservation](#pending-signup-resume-first); do not start OAuth or another signup. |
| New Extrovert account requested | [Create an account](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/create-account/), complete human proof, and retain the resulting identity. |
| Existing account; new inbox requested | Connect below, verify identity, then [create an inbox](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/inbox-in-one-call/) with project reach and `mailbox:create`. Selected-inbox access excludes new inboxes. |
| Working connection; existing inbox is enough | Reuse it and perform the requested task. No installation is needed. |

## Choose your application

| Application | Installation and connection |
| --- | --- |
| Claude Code | [Plugin with skills and hosted MCP](https://docs.extrovert.dev/mcp/client-configuration/#claude-code); no local Node.js required. |
| Codex | [Hosted OAuth or plugin with local MCP](https://docs.extrovert.dev/mcp/client-configuration/#codex); only the local package needs Node.js. |
| Hermes | [MCP setup and core skills](https://docs.extrovert.dev/mcp/client-configuration/#hermes) in the intended Hermes profile. |
| Claude web, Desktop chat, Cowork, iOS or Android | [Custom remote connector](https://docs.extrovert.dev/mcp/email-assistant/#claude-web-desktop-cowork-and-mobile); not Claude Code terminal commands. |
| No MCP host or Node.js | [Plain HTTPS](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/https/) with private credential handling; no compiler or SDK. |

Hosted OAuth connects an existing account. It does not exchange a local signup
credential. For new accounts, finish the [signup route](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/create-account/)
first. Choose one connection, not duplicate plugin and manual MCP registrations.

## Verify access before doing work

Call `whoami`, then list the accessible inboxes in the actual connection. Confirm
the intended account, agent, project, and permissions. Empty, denied, expired,
and unavailable are different outcomes. Do not create another account to repair
a failed connection. Creating an inbox does not authorize sending an email.

## Load only the instructions for your task

Reuse skills included in a plugin. Otherwise install only the
[core skills](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/install/#install-the-email-skills) needed by the task.
Installing skills does not authenticate MCP or grant broader permissions.

- Before drafting: read the applicable writing rules.
- When queued: share the review link and [watch for feedback](https://docs.extrovert.dev/mcp/waiting/).
- On feedback: revise the same draft, acknowledge handled events, and continue watching.
- Before reporting sent: inspect the original submission's sending outcome.

Read [your first email](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/zero-to-first-email/) or the
[Review Loop contract](https://docs.extrovert.dev/review-loop/agent-contract/) only when sending is requested.

## Pending signup: resume first

Read [account setup](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/authentication/#free-self-signup) and resume the
same reserved account, credential and profile before choosing another connection.
Pending signup is not a working connection. The packaged CLI's `whoami` cannot
inspect its saved pending reservation: it reports that verification is needed.
Resume `verify` first; do not make an identity check or MCP installation a
prerequisite for giving the human their verification instructions.
Follow the returned activation method, never invent a code, and do not switch a
pending profile to OAuth. For a **legacy OTP**, the person runs the same profile's
CLI `verify` in their own private, unrecorded terminal. Its code prompt is visible,
not hidden. Do not start an agent-run prompt and ask them to type into it; that
does not establish a private input channel. The human-run command completes
verification and saves the replacement credential; do not pass their code to a
later `verify_signup` call. If they cannot use that terminal, preserve the
reservation and report the unsupported step. Never use `correct_activation_email`
or invent an incoming-email activation revision to change a legacy OTP reservation.

For missing legacy codes, address corrections, or stale
MCP access after CLI verification, read the
[recovery procedure](https://docs.extrovert.dev/quickstart/authentication/#resume-pending-signup).