BriefGate

BriefGate

Client intake — from your browser, or from your AI coding agent.

Your agent can build the website. BriefGate gets the missing things from the client.

No agent? You don't need one. Everything below can be done by hand at app.briefgate.dev: build the request, send the link, watch answers arrive, download the results as one ZIP — no code, no API key, no MCP client. This package is for the other way of working, where an agent does it for you. See the dashboard quickstart.

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex → BriefGate → Client portal

→ Files · copy · credentials · structured data → Agent continues building

Watch as MP4 (25 s) · Full 47 s walkthrough

Website · MCP reference · llms.txt · Guides and checklists

The problem

Agents are fast. The bottleneck is the human on the other side of the project.

Somewhere in the middle of building, the agent needs something only the client has: a logo, homepage copy, brand colors, opening hours, hosting credentials, an API key, a piece of structured data like a price list. None of that exists in the chat, and none of it can be guessed.

The usual move is to stop and ask the developer to go chase the client by email. Instead, the agent creates a BriefGate intake. BriefGate emails the client, collects what comes back, chases automatically when it doesn't, and returns typed results the agent can use directly. The agent keeps building in the meantime.

Quickstart

Claude Code — hosted, no key to manage:

claude mcp add --transport http briefgate https://mcp.briefgate.dev/mcp

Then run /mcp in Claude Code, pick briefgate, and choose Authenticate.

Claude Code — local package:

claude mcp add briefgate -- npx -y @briefgate/mcp

npx -y @briefgate/mcp login

Prefer to skip sign-in entirely? Get a key at briefgate.dev (free tier, no card) and pass it as BRIEFGATE_API_KEY.

Cursor — add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{

"mcpServers": { "briefgate": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@briefgate/mcp"] } } }

Then run npx -y @briefgate/mcp login, or ask the agent to call the login tool.

Codex:

codex mcp add briefgate --env BRIEFGATE_API_KEY=bg_live_xxxxx -- npx -y @briefgate/mcp

Gemini CLI — installs as an extension from this repo's gemini-extension.json, pointed at the hosted endpoint:

gemini extensions install https://github.com/sekera-radim/briefgate-mcp

It authenticates the same way as the other hosted clients above — via OAuth, on first use. The extension also ships GEMINI.md, a context file that tells the model what BriefGate is and when to reach for it.

By default gemini extensions install fetches the repo's latest GitHub Release rather than the main branch; if that release predates the current gemini-extension.json and the command reports a missing configuration file, install from main directly instead: gemini extensions install --ref main https://github.com/sekera-radim/briefgate-mcp.

Claude Desktop — one-click install as a Desktop Extension (.mcpb), running the local @briefgate/mcp package instead of the hosted endpoint. Build details: see MCPB bundle below.

Cursor — as a plugin from this repo's .cursor-plugin/plugin.json, which bundles the same MCP config together with the collect-from-client skill below.

Any [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io)-compatible tool (OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot / VS Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and other clients on that standard) — install the collect-from-client skill with the skills CLI:

npx skills add https://github.com/sekera-radim/briefgate-mcp/tree/main/skills/collect-from-client

The bare owner/repo shorthand the CLI's own docs show does not work against this layout as of skills@1.5.26 — it either 404s against its registry or, given the plain repo URL, clones the whole repo and reports "No SKILL.md found" because ours lives a directory deeper than the root. The full /tree/main/skills/ URL above is what actually installs it; verified by running it in an empty scratch directory before documenting it. This copies SKILL.md into that tool's local skills directory; the skill still assumes the briefgate MCP server (see the client-specific instructions above) is configured separately.

Full setup details, manual config, and API-key precedence: see Reference below.

For agents reading project instructions (AGENTS.md, Copilot, Cursor rules)

If your agent reads a project instructions file instead of (or in addition to) MCP tool descriptions or Agent Skills, add this block to your AGENTS.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, or .cursor/rules:

## BriefGate

BriefGate (MCP server briefgate, or npx @briefgate/mcp) collects files, text, choices, or credentials from a human who is not in this conversation (a client, colleague, or customer) — it emails them a no-account portal link and chases them automatically until everything is submitted.

Use it when a task is blocked on input only that outside person can supply, especially if they may take days and need reminders. Do not use it when the information is already available, or when the person who should answer is the user you're talking to.

Flow: define_intake (with items) -> tell the user it was sent -> get_intake_status later ("not ready" is normal, not an error) -> get_intake_results once completed. request_revision for a bad item. Secret items are revealed in plaintext exactly once.

Example: building a client's website

An agent is building a website for a restaurant. It has the layout and the booking flow, but it still needs the logo, a hero photo, the opening hours, a short description of the restaurant, the social media links, and admin access to the client's WordPress install. It calls define_intake:

{

"project_name": "Website for Trattoria Bella", "client": { "email": "owner@trattoriabella.example", "name": "Marco", "language": "en" }, "items": [ { "key": "logo", "type": "image", "label": "Restaurant logo", "constraints": { "formats": ["svg", "png"], "min_width": 512 } }, { "key": "hero_image", "type": "image", "label": "Hero photo for the homepage" }, { "key": "opening_hours", "type": "structured", "label": "Opening hours", "schema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "mon_fri": { "type": "string" }, "sat": { "type": "string" }, "sun": { "type": "string" } } } }, { "key": "about_copy", "type": "longtext", "label": "Short description of the restaurant" }, { "key": "social_links", "type": "structured", "label": "Social media links" }, { "key": "wp_admin", "type": "secret", "label": "WordPress admin credentials" } ] }

From there, BriefGate (1) creates a branded portal, (2) emails the client, (3) validates each asset as it comes in, (4) chases the client automatically until everything is submitted, and (5) notifies the agent when it's done.

The agent keeps building the layout, the booking flow, and everything else that doesn't depend on this — then calls get_intake_results(intake_id) and gets back typed data and signed URLs for the files, plus a one-time reveal of the WordPress credentials. It stores the secret and continues.

Why not a form?

BriefGate is not trying to replace every form builder. It is designed for the point where an AI agent needs information from a human.

Free tier, no card required. BriefGate is a hosted service — this repository is the open-source MCP client, MIT licensed. Sign up at briefgate.dev.

Reference

Everything below is unchanged technical detail: manual setup, environment variables, HTTP/OAuth mode, the full tool reference, webhooks, pricing, and legal.

Claude Code: manual setup and API keys

Paste an API key (for CI, scripts, or if you'd rather manage the key yourself). Get one at briefgate.dev (free tier available, no card required):

claude mcp add briefgate \

-e BRIEFGATE_API_KEY=bg_live_... \ -- npx -y @briefgate/mcp

Or add manually to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{

"mcpServers": { "briefgate": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@briefgate/mcp"], "env": { "BRIEFGATE_API_KEY": "bg_live_..." } } } }

BRIEFGATE_API_KEY (or --api-key on the command line), if set, always takes precedence over a key login stored locally — running login while one is configured just says so instead of doing anything.

Verify it loaded — run /mcp in Claude Code and look for briefgate with 15 tools.

The same local-package and API-key setup works for any MCP client that runs the package locally (Cursor, Codex, others) — register it with no key at all and run login, or paste BRIEFGATE_API_KEY into that client's own MCP config the same way.

Sign in without an API key

Two ways to get a key onto this machine without pasting one — both run the same device-authorization flow (RFC 8628) against the same credential file, so pick whichever fits how you're using the package.

From a terminal — the `login` / `logout` subcommands:

npx -y @briefgate/mcp login     # prints a code + URL, waits for approval, saves the key

npx -y @briefgate/mcp logout # removes the local key, best-effort revokes it remotely

login blocks until you approve it (or it times out at 10 minutes), then prints Signed in as and exits 0 — or prints why it didn't work (denied, expired, an error) and exits 1. logout always removes the local copy; it also sends DELETE /v1/keys/current using that same key to revoke it server-side, and if that call fails (no network, API unreachable) it says so and points at the BriefGate dashboard instead of leaving you unsure whether the key is still live.

From an agent — the `login` / `logout` tools (see Tools):

Same flow, for a client that can't block a terminal on your click. login is two-phase because a tool call can't sit open for minutes:

1. The first call starts the flow and returns immediately with the code and URL. A browser is opened automatically where possible.
2. Call login again — any time, or once you've approved it — to check progress. While it's still waiting, it says so; once approved, tha