# Install cross-review

> Install cross-review with npx, check the runner and the MCP registrations, update it, and move from the codex-review pack.

cross-review installs skills for Claude Code and Codex, and registers its MCP server with both. The Codex CLI is the reviewer, so it must be installed too. One command does the whole install.

## Requirements

- **Node.js 22 or later** and npm.
- **Claude Code** CLI, **Codex** CLI, or both. The skills work in whichever client you use.
- **`codex` in your `PATH`**, logged in with an OpenAI account or an API key. Codex is the default reviewer. Install it with `npm install -g @openai/codex` if it is missing.

> **Caution:**
>
> The installer continues when `codex` is missing, but reviews fail until it is installed and logged in. The [FAQ](https://cross-review.tlelabs.com/docs/start/faq/) lists the errors you will see.

## Install

```sh
npx @tlelabs/cross-review
```

To install the default branch of the GitHub repository instead of the npm release:

```sh
npx github:lploc94/cross-review
```

## What the installer does

1. Checks that Node.js is version 22 or later.
2. Copies the shared runtime (the runner, the MCP server and the dashboard) into `~/.claude/skills/cross-review/` and installs its dependencies from the lock file.
3. Fills in each skill’s template with the shared review protocol and the absolute path of the runner.
4. Runs the runner’s `version` command to confirm it works.
5. Replaces the skill folders in `~/.claude/skills/` and `~/.agents/skills/` in one step, and puts the previous files back if anything fails. It also removes the old `codex-review` pack; see [Move from codex-review](#move-from-codex-review).
6. Registers the `cross-review` MCP server with Claude Code (user scope) and with Codex. The Codex entry gets a 300-second tool timeout.
7. Writes the `cross-review` command to `~/.local/bin/cross-review` on macOS and Linux.

The installer prints the skills, the MCP registrations and the command it wrote. Re-running it is safe: the MCP registration is replaced, not duplicated.

## Verify the install

Check the runner version. It prints `15`:

```sh
cross-review version
```

If the shell cannot find `cross-review`, the folder `~/.local/bin` is probably not on your `PATH`. You can always run the runner by its full path:

```sh
node ~/.claude/skills/cross-review/scripts/review-runner.js version
```

Check the MCP registrations:

```sh
claude mcp get cross-review
codex mcp get cross-review
```

When a registration is missing, see [MCP server is not registered](https://cross-review.tlelabs.com/docs/guides/troubleshooting/#mcp-server-is-not-registered). Then run a review as shown in the [Quickstart](https://cross-review.tlelabs.com/docs/start/quickstart/).

## Update

```sh
npx @tlelabs/cross-review@latest
```

The installer replaces the runtime and the skills. Let a review that is still running finish first, since it runs on that runtime.

## Automatic reviews

```sh
npx @tlelabs/cross-review --auto
```

`--auto` adds a block to `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`. The block tells Claude Code to run `review-plan` after it writes a plan and `review-impl` after it finishes an implementation, without asking first. Every install refreshes a block that is already there. The block is described in [Automatic reviews](https://cross-review.tlelabs.com/docs/guides/automatic-reviews/).

## Windows

- The installer does not write `~/.local/bin/cross-review`. Start the dashboard with `npx @tlelabs/cross-review dashboard` instead of `cross-review dashboard`.
- Skills, MCP registrations and the runner are installed the same way as on macOS and Linux.
- For the other runner commands, run `node` on `~/.claude/skills/cross-review/scripts/review-runner.js` with the command as its argument.

## Move from codex-review

The earlier pack was called `codex-review`, with skills named `codex-plan-review`, `codex-impl-review`, `codex-think-about`, `codex-commit-review` and `codex-pr-review`. The installer removes:

- the old `codex-*` skill folders and the `codex-review` runtime, when they belong to that pack;
- the `codex-review` MCP registration, when it points at that pack’s runtime;
- copies of this pack’s skills in `$CODEX_HOME/skills`, Codex’s older skills folder.

Skills the installer did not put there are left alone. The `review-commit` skill was removed in version 15; `review-impl` now covers its job, reviewing unpushed or recent commits.

> **Note:**
>
> Sessions started under the old names cannot be resumed. Finish any review that is still running before you update.

## Next

- [Quickstart](https://cross-review.tlelabs.com/docs/start/quickstart/): run a first review.
- [Core concepts](https://cross-review.tlelabs.com/docs/start/concepts/): the terms the skills use.