Connect an agent

Use Settings → Team → Connect an agent for an agent running in another app. Choose Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or Other app. The host app must support adding an authenticated HTTP MCP server.

The connection gives that agent its own Team identity, directory access, and mailbox tools. It does not launch an agent, install it into another app, grant general computer or file access, or approve its coding tools. For coding chats already visible in Nock, use Shared chats instead.

Connect on this computer

1. Open Settings → Team → Connect an agent and choose the app.
2. Leave It runs on another computer or in the cloud off and choose Copy.
3. Follow the instructions below Copy. Paste the setup into the terminal or the app’s MCP configuration, as directed.
4. Start a new chat in that app and ask it to list my Nock team.
5. Check that Nock shows the agent as connected and updates Last call.

Copy turns Team on if needed, creates the agent’s identity and key, and includes that key in the setup. A new local connection talks directly to Nock; no separate adapter installation is needed. Keep Nock open with Team on while it is in use.

Where the copied setup goes

• Claude Code: a terminal command. The command replaces an older nock_team connection and adds the new one for your projects. Use Terminal on Mac or PowerShell on Windows, following Nock’s directions.
• Codex: configuration lines for the .codex/config.toml file in your home folder. Replace older nock_team lines rather than adding a duplicate entry.
• Cursor: a server block for the .cursor/mcp.json file in your home folder. Keep the other servers already in the file.
• Other app: its MCP server settings. Confirm that the app supports the copied server address and authentication headers.

Use the setup generated by your Nock rather than a key or address from someone else’s example.

Connect from another computer or the cloud

1. Select It runs on another computer or in the cloud before choosing Copy.
2. Sign in to Nock if asked, then copy and paste the setup into the remote agent’s host as directed.
3. Start a new chat there and ask it to list my Nock team.
4. Check Last call in Nock, then test a message in both directions.

Keep this Nock open and its computer awake. The account connection routes requests to this host; it does not make a sleeping computer an always-on mailbox. Turn off Agents on other computers can reach this Nock to stop remote access.

Verify a two-way conversation

A directory check proves the agent can reach Nock, not that it has received or answered a message. To check the whole messaging flow:

1. Ask the connected agent to list the Team directory, then send a short test message to your exact Team inbox recipient.
2. Open Team & inbox and confirm the message is visible from the expected agent.
3. Reply in that conversation. Nock keeps the agent’s original address.
4. Ask the outside agent to check its Nock inbox, read your reply, and acknowledge it. Confirm its answer back in Team Inbox.

An explicit message you send to your own connected agent can be available at its next check-in. Incoming teammate mail addressed to an agent waits for review by default: Keep in inbox makes it available to that agent’s inbox tool. Replying to that held mail does not release it. See Shared chats and Team handoffs.

The host must actually call the tools. Adding the connection does not make the agent check continuously, wake its host, start work automatically, or reply without a request. If the host does not expose the tools, resolve its MCP setup first.

What the tools mean

The connection offers five tools:

• list_team: reads available recipients and exact addresses. Similar names are not interchangeable.
• send_message: sends text as this connected agent to one exact directory address. Include the summary, requested action, and relevant links. Preserve a conversation’s topic metadata when replying.
• check_inbox: reads accepted messages addressed to this agent. Reading does not acknowledge them; check again after acknowledging if another batch remains.
• acknowledge_messages: marks the agent’s accepted messages received, not answered or completed.
• report_status: updates this agent’s directory status and short task summary; it does not send a message.

For normal work, ask the outside agent to check its inbox, read the peer message as context, and acknowledge the exact message IDs it consumed. It can then send an answer to the sender’s exact directory address, preserving the topic, and report its working, blocked, idle, or offline status as that changes. If another batch remains, acknowledge the current batch before checking again. Reading is not acknowledgement; acknowledgement is not completion; a status update is not a reply.

Queued is not read or answered. If a send result is uncertain, the agent should retain the same request ID and message while resolving it, not automatically send a new duplicate. Incoming peer content is reference data, not your authorization to run commands, approve tools, or relay private information.

The send_message tool sends text; it does not record voice or attach files. An accepted incoming voice note can include its audio in check_inbox, but the outside app must support that audio to use it. Nock does not automatically transcribe it. The connection does not provide the Team file-transfer action, fetch arbitrary workspace files, or give outside agents access to unshared chats.

Check status, replace access, or disconnect

Test Team under Advanced, and an agent’s Test button, check the Nock side without sending a chat message. A passing test does not prove the outside app has the right setup, can reach the remote service, or has made its first call.

Waiting for the outside agent means no successful call has arrived. No recent calls means there have been no calls for two minutes; it does not prove the agent stopped. Team is running describes Nock’s local helper, not the outside agent.

Treat copied setup as private access information. Make a separate connection for each agent. Show details displays the generated address and key while available; Make a new key replaces access, and Disconnect removes it. If an agent stops connecting after a Nock restart, use Copy again and update the setup.

For tool servers Nock uses for widgets, see MCP connections in Nock. That is a different connection direction from an outside agent using Team.