Backlink skill for Claude Code

Install the LinkBunny skill in Claude Code

Start in your site's repository with Claude Code installed and authenticated. Review the canonical skill first. Paste the setup prompt into Claude Code to have it prepare installation and guide you through the account steps, asking before each action. Copying the prompt is free; marketplace participation needs the plan above.

Manual install in a bash or zsh terminal

This is the same guarded install command as the agent setup guide. It downloads instructions, requires curl with --remove-on-error support, and refuses to overwrite an existing skill. It makes no account or marketplace request.

skill_dir="$HOME/.claude/skills/linkbunny"
skill_file="$skill_dir/SKILL.md"
mkdir -p "$skill_dir" &&
if [ -e "$skill_file" ]; then
  printf 'Refusing to overwrite %s
' "$skill_file" >&2; exit 1
else
  curl -fsSL --remove-on-error "https://getlinkbunny.com/skill.md" -o "$skill_file"
fi

The default personal location is ~/.claude/skills/linkbunny/SKILL.md, available across projects. For just this repository, save the reviewed file at .claude/skills/linkbunny/SKILL.md instead. Keep the API token out of either file. Restart Claude Code and invoke /linkbunny to load the instructions.

Ask Claude to read the full skill and propose the first profile before registering it.

/linkbunny Read the full LinkBunny skill. Inspect this site's repository and propose a target URL, inventory prefix, anchor and category. Show me the profile before registration. Ask before account, subscription, token or marketplace actions. Keep secrets out of chat and store the returned profile ID privately.

Claude Code skill locations and invocation · checked 13 Oct 2026: Anthropic skills documentation

Subscribe, then store the token privately

Sign in to Account, subscribe, then create the API token. Account, payment and token changes require your approval. Store LINKBUNNY_API_TOKEN in an approved secret store or a private, Git-ignored environment file. Keep tokens out of chat, source, URLs, logs, analytics and screenshots. Claude Code authentication is separate from LinkBunny authentication.

Register the local marketplace MCP in Claude Code

Choose MCP if you want profile creation, profile updates, check-in, reporting and rejection exposed as tools. Install Node.js 22 or later with npm/npx on the host running Claude Code. Ask Claude to prepare the exact configuration, scope, pinned executable, secret-file path and trust/restart steps, then approve that bundle before it writes it.

Prepare project-scoped registration for the local stdio server @linkbunny/mcp@0.1.1 in this coding agent. Follow https://getlinkbunny.com/docs/agents#mcp for the correct client configuration, secret loading, trust, restart, and safe verification. Never reveal or copy the LinkBunny API token into chat, command arguments, logs, screenshots, or tracked configuration. Before changing persistent MCP configuration, show me the exact client, scope, config diff, pinned command, secret-loading path, and restart/trust steps, then ask for approval. After setup, read linkbunny://guidance/skill before using any LinkBunny tool. Do not call a LinkBunny tool merely to test setup.

After approval, run this from the intended repository. Replace the example absolute path with your private token file on the MCP host. Project scope writes .mcp.json; inspect the existing file and same-name entries first to preserve unrelated configuration.

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope project linkbunny -- \
  npx -y @linkbunny/mcp@0.1.1 --token-file /absolute/project/.env.linkbunny

The pinned @linkbunny/mcp@0.1.1 runs locally over stdio. Its --token-file loader reads only LINKBUNNY_API_TOKEN without executing the file as a shell script. The path goes in configuration; the token value stays in the private file. A token file alone does not register a server.

claude mcp get linkbunny

Keep diagnostic output private. Complete Claude Code's native workspace/server trust prompts, restart, and begin a fresh session in the repository. Use /mcp to check the server. Local and user scope entries use ~/.claude.json by default; a same-name entry in another scope can change which command runs.

Ask Claude to initialize LinkBunny, list its tools and resources, and read linkbunny://guidance/skill without calling any workflow tool. Expect the five tools above and the bundled skill snapshot. These checks make no LinkBunny API request. They do not prove token admission or subscription status. Never invoke a workflow tool to test setup. check_in can reserve an assignment.

Keep Claude Code's permission controls enabled. Tool permissions and the skill's approval rules both apply; an allowed tool is not automatic consent to publish. See the full MCP configuration and safe checks.

Claude Code MCP registration and permissions · checked 13 Oct 2026: Anthropic MCP documentation · Claude Code permissions

Review a contextual nofollow placement in your repository

1. Have Claude inspect the site and propose its HTTPS target URL, inventory prefix, natural anchor and category. Target and inventory must share a registrable domain. Approve registration, save the returned profile ID privately, then wait for the one-time manual profile review. Installing the skill does not enroll a site.
2. Once approved, authorize one check-in. It may reserve a request, return the existing pending request or return no assignment. Stop when there is no request or review is pending; don't poll automatically.
3. Claude reads content inside the returned inventory boundary and proposes an existing page, natural anchor and surrounding text. Review the diff and approve publication through your normal site workflow.
4. After publication, inspect the live page, destination, anchor and rel="nofollow". Then approve reporting the placement. LinkBunny records the self-reported result; it is not independent verification. If no suitable context exists, leave the page unchanged and approve rejection instead.

Use the LinkBunny guidance. Check in once for this site's saved profile. If a request is available, inspect the eligible content and show me the page, proposed nofollow link and surrounding text. Stop before publishing. Ask separately before reporting or rejecting. If no request is available or review is pending, stop and tell me.

A placement in an existing deployment guide

Suppose your site has a deployment guide and the request is for a monitoring tool. Claude can inspect the guide's monitoring section and propose a mention if the tool helps readers there. Review that edit. If the guide has no suitable discussion, ask Claude to explain the mismatch and request rejection; don't add filler paragraphs or a site-wide footer link to force a placement.

For an inventory at https://example.com/articles/, /articles-old/ and another subdomain are outside the boundary. Your site gives a link to a participating site; a later inbound link may come from a different site. The marketplace is not a guaranteed A↔B swap.

Use the placement verification guide for one published link, or the nofollow link checker to inspect every external link on a public page.

When Claude Code cannot use LinkBunny

/linkbunny is missing or loads old instructions

Check the active personal/project skill directory, exact SKILL.md filename and frontmatter name. Restart in the intended repository. If both scopes have the same name, a personal skill takes precedence over a project skill. Compare the loaded file with the canonical skill before replacing a reviewed copy. Updating MCP does not refresh an installed skill.

The MCP server is missing, pending approval or disconnected

Run claude mcp get linkbunny from the repository and inspect its scope, pin and secret-file path privately. Use /mcp to check native approval. Check Node.js 22+, npm access and the file on the host running MCP. Allow time for the first package download. Running npx alone is not registration.

The token is missing, rejected or the subscription is required

Check token presence without printing it. An invalid explicit token file does not fall back to an inherited token. After an approved rotation, restart the MCP process. Check subscription status in Account; a connected MCP server does not establish entitlement.

The profile is awaiting review or no assignment is available

Tell the owner and stop. The advisory retry interval is not approval for another check-in. A later approved check-in returns the same pending assignment if one exists; repeated requests do not provide a new publisher selection.

Using another coding agent? See the Codex setup guide. Both clients use the same LinkBunny workflow.