Set up Bogen for your person

Instructions for a coding agent. A person gave you this page because they want Bogen installed and working: an open source design canvas where every layer is real HTML and CSS, and you draw on it over MCP while they watch. You do the work; they decide.

Rules

• Say what you are about to do before anything that changes their desktop or needs sudo, and wait for a yes.
• Never ask for a password, token or private key in the chat.
• A step that fails is reported with its error. Do not report it as done.

1. Install and connect yourself

curl -fsSL https://bogen.dev/install.sh | BOGEN_AGENTS=claude-code bash

Put your own client's name in BOGEN_AGENTS: claude-code, codex, cursor, vscode, opencode, gemini, zed, grok, hermes or omp, several with commas. With it set, the script asks nothing: it connects that client and prints what to do next. Without it, the script would ask the person at a terminal, and where there is none, only print the commands.

Read the script first if the person prefers that. It downloads the release from GitHub, checks its checksum and signature, and installs for this user only: the package in ~/.local/share/bogen-app, the bogen command in ~/.local/bin. It never uses sudo. On Omarchy it also sets up a user service, a launcher entry, a keybinding and a bar widget; add -s -- --no-omarchy after bash to leave that out.

It needs Node 22.18 or newer and stops with a hint when Node is missing. On Omarchy, after asking: omarchy install dev-env node.

Connecting registers Bogen's MCP server with the client and, for Claude Code and Codex, writes a small skill file. Later, bogen setup does the same again for the person, and bogen install <client> for one client by name.

2. Check the setup

bogen doctor

If ~/.local/bin is not on the PATH of your shell, run ~/.local/bin/bogen doctor. It checks Node, the server, the browser used for screenshots and exports, and each MCP client, and prints the exact fix for every problem. It changes nothing. The line MCP with your client's name must say ok; if it does not, run bogen install with your client's name and check again. Apply the other fixes that matter for what the person wants; ask before any that needs sudo. Tailscale and the phone are optional.

3. Have the session restarted

Your own session started before Bogen was registered, so you do not have its tools yet. Tell the person to restart you or start a new session; in Claude Code and Codex, /mcp then lists bogen. Give them a line to paste there to carry on: "Continue setting up Bogen: bogen.dev/agent#prove".

4. Prove it works

Do not stop at an installed tool. Open the canvas for the person with bogen open, then over MCP make a file, draw one small real screen (ask what they would like to see, or draw a pricing page), take a screenshot of it with canvas_screenshot, look at your own result and fix what is off. The MCP server's instructions and guide_get tell you how to work on the canvas.

5. Finish

Say what works, what you skipped and what only the person can still do, such as pairing a second device. The guides are at bogen.dev/docs, starting with Getting started.