Venom MCP plugin

Venom AI by Venom Labs makes the coding agents your team already uses multiplayer. One MCP server connects Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and other MCP clients, so your team's agents share tasks, decisions, skills and tools. There is no new harness to adopt.

Website · How it works · Quickstart · MCP setup · Pricing

Venom is where your team's AI agents share their work: projects, tasks, decisions and skills, so any agent or teammate can pick up where another left off. Agents reach it through the host-managed MCP connection at https://mcp.venomlabs.dev.

The plugin contains connection settings, a venom skill, and host adapters. In Claude and Codex, the skill and the Venom server's own instructions and tool responses guide the agent. Other hosts use the short VENOM.md guidance as a rules file. Connections remain authenticated and organization-scoped; the host manages OAuth and tool approval. Installing this plugin does not disable those controls.

What this plugin does

Venom connects Claude to your team's Venom workspace through one remote MCP server, https://mcp.venomlabs.dev, which you sign in to with your Venom account. The plugin ships a venom skill that tells Claude when to read and update Venom projects and tasks. It registers no hooks and runs no code on your machine. Claude sends data to Venom only through the Venom tools it calls, and only to your organization's workspace.

Claude (chat, Cowork and Claude Code)

Add Venom from the plugin directory on claude.ai, or in Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add venomlabs-dev/plugin
/plugin install venom@venom

Authorize Venom when prompted. In chat and Cowork, connect Venom on the plugin's Connectors tab. The venom skill loads when a request concerns work, the server's instructions reach Claude Code and Cowork at session start, and each Venom tool response reminds Claude to keep the task current.

Codex

codex plugin marketplace add venomlabs-dev/plugin
codex plugin add venom@venom

Start a new task and authorize Venom. The plugin ships the same venom skill as Claude and registers no hooks, because OpenAI's plugin directory does not accept plugins with lifecycle hooks. The server's instructions and a reminder on each Venom tool response keep the task current.

Venom Full (for developers)

venom-full adds hooks to venom. Anthropic's and OpenAI's plugin directories don't accept hooks from us, so it isn't listed there; install it from this marketplace instead. It needs venom, ships only hooks, and uses the venom plugin's connection, so there's one sign-in and one set of Venom tools. Its files live in venomlabs-dev/venom-full; the marketplace fetches them for you.

Claude Code installs venom with it:

/plugin marketplace add venomlabs-dev/plugin
/plugin install venom-full@venom

Codex needs both plugins and lifecycle hooks turned on:

codex plugin marketplace add venomlabs-dev/plugin
codex plugin add venom@venom
codex plugin add venom-full@venom

Then trust the Venom hooks once in /hooks.

The hooks are mcp_tool hooks that call the Venom server's get_guidance tool after compaction, before compaction (Claude Code), when a subagent starts, on each prompt, and after git commit, git push, gh pr create and gh pr merge. No local program runs. While the hooks are active, the server stops adding reminder lines to Venom tool responses.

Gemini CLI

Install the extension folder from a clone of this repository:

git clone https://github.com/venomlabs-dev/plugin venom-plugin
gemini extensions install ./venom-plugin/platforms/gemini

Restart Gemini and authorize Venom. The extension loads its VENOM.md as a context file in every session. To update, pull this repository and run gemini extensions update venom. Do not install the repository root as a Gemini extension.

Other hosts

Merge MCP entries into existing configuration; never overwrite other servers. Add the small instruction file alongside existing rules.

Host	MCP configuration	Instruction installation
Cursor	Merge mcp.json into `.cursor/mcp.json` or `~/.cursor/mcp.json`	Copy venom.md into the project's `.cursor/rules/` and rename it `venom.mdc`
Kiro IDE / CLI	Merge mcp.json into `.kiro/settings/mcp.json`	Copy venom.md into `.kiro/steering/`; custom agents must include this resource
OpenCode	Merge opencode.json into project `opencode.json`	Copy root VENOM.md into the project root; preserve it in `instructions` alongside existing entries
GitHub Copilot CLI	Merge mcp-config.json into `~/.copilot/mcp-config.json`	Append copilot-instructions.md to `.github/copilot-instructions.md` or `~/.copilot/copilot-instructions.md`
VS Code Copilot Agent	Merge mcp.json into `.vscode/mcp.json`	Append the same Copilot instructions to `.github/copilot-instructions.md`
Cline	Merge mcp.json through Cline's MCP settings UI	Copy venom.md into `.clinerules/` and enable the rule
Windsurf / Devin Desktop legacy Cascade	Merge mcp_config.json into `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`	Copy venom.md into `.windsurf/rules/`
Devin CLI / Desktop Local	Merge mcp_config.json into `.devin/mcp_config.json`	Append root VENOM.md to the project's `AGENTS.md`

Authorize each connection in its host. Use current supported host releases. The coverage notes describe sources, lifecycle limits, and verification. These are local/IDE adapters; unattended cloud agents need a separately supported authentication path.

Troubleshooting

If your agent says Venom isn't connected, or never uses Venom, sign in again: run /mcp and authenticate venom in Claude Code, run codex mcp login venom for Codex, or reconnect Venom on the plugin's Connectors tab in Claude chat and Cowork. A sign-in lasts while you use it; after 30 days without use you sign in again.

Upgrading to 0.8.1

The Codex manifest now carries the review test cases and release notes for OpenAI's plugin directory. Nothing changes for users.

Upgrading to 0.8.0

The marketplace now also lists venom-full, hooks for developers: see Venom Full. The venom plugin is unchanged.

Upgrading to 0.7.1

The venom skill now tells the agent what to do when Venom isn't connected: say so in one line, with the sign-in step for your app, instead of working without Venom unnoticed.

Upgrading to 0.7.0

The Codex plugin no longer ships hooks, so it can be listed in OpenAI's plugin directory. Codex now loads the venom skill and gets reminders on Venom tool responses, as Claude does. You can remove the old Venom hooks from /hooks.

The venom skill now loads before the first reply in any conversation about your team's work, including research and questions, not only when building. Without hooks, the skill is what starts Venom in chat and Cowork, where the model doesn't see the server's instructions.

Upgrading to 0.6.0

The Claude plugin no longer ships hooks. Anthropic's plugin directory accepts hooks only from Verified organizations, so Claude gets Venom guidance from the venom skill, the server's instructions, and Venom tool responses instead. Codex keeps its hooks, now in .codex-plugin/hooks.json; trust them again via /hooks. Gemini installs from platforms/gemini and no longer runs a SessionStart hook. Refresh manually copied rules files from this release.

Development

The repository holds only Markdown and JSON, as the directory requires for organizations that aren't Verified. Edit VENOM.md, then update the copies under platforms/ to match. The checks for this repository live in the Venom monorepo.

venom

Documentation