ashlrai/ashlr-plugin

> Install with npm, call the CLI with --json, and register the ashlr-mcp server.
ashlr-plugin is an open source efficiency layer for coding agents. It gives Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and other MCP hosts shorter file, search, edit, and shell results, then records the difference in a local ledger.
Agents spend their context on tool output. Shorter results leave more room for the task. On the 2026-10-17 reference run, reads were about 75% smaller and greps about 27% smaller per call. That is not a whole-session total. The same run's per-repo means were about 60% on vercel/ai, about 63% on pandas, and about 55% on tokio. Reproduce it with bun run scripts/run-benchmark.ts --compare. Methodology.
The local plugin is MIT licensed. No account required. Telemetry is off unless you opt in (ASHLRTELEMETRY=on): opt-in telemetry only. It ships 54 MCP tools and the full slash-command catalog.
Agent index: llms.txt. Runnable reference: llms-full.txt. Rendered docs: llms.txt and llms-full.txt.
## Install
Requires Bun 1.3 or newer. No account required. One command installs the CLI and the MCP server:
bash
npm install -g ashlr-plugin@1.38.0
Confirm the install, list the tools, and read the local ledger. Each command prints JSON on stdout:
bash
ashlr-plugin --ashlr-handshake
ashlr-plugin tools --json
ashlr-plugin stats --json
ashlr-plugin codex-doctor --json
ashlr-plugin codex-install --dry-run --json
ashlr-plugin version prints the version as text. ashlr-plugin mcp starts the stdio router. From a checkout of this repo, the same commands are bun run scripts/cli.ts . The handshake is answered by the ashlr-plugin program, not by cli.ts.
Claude Code plugin (slash commands, redirects, and the status line). This clones the plugin into the Claude marketplace cache. It does not install the global npm bin:
bash
curl -fsSL https://plugin.ashlr.ai/install.sh | bash
Then, inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add ashlrai/ashlr-plugin
/plugin install ashlr@ashlr-marketplace
/reload-plugins
Codex plugin:
bash
codex plugin marketplace add ashlrai/ashlr-plugin
codex plugin add ashlr@ashlr-marketplace
ashlr-plugin codex-doctor --json
Windows (PowerShell):
powershell
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ashlrai/ashlr-plugin/main/docs/install.ps1 | iex
## MCP server
After the npm install, ashlr-mcp is on PATH. Paste one snippet. Do not edit a path.
Claude Code, project file .mcp.json:
json
"mcpServers": {
"ashlr": {
"command": "ashlr-mcp",
"args": [],
"env": {
"ASHLRMCPHOST": "claude-code"
Cursor, project file .cursor/mcp.json:
json
"mcpServers": {
"ashlr": {
"command": "ashlr-mcp",
"args": [],
"env": {
"ASHLRMCPHOST": "cursor"
Codex, add this block to ~/.codex/config.toml. It matches ashlr-plugin codex-install --dry-run --json:
toml
[mcpservers.ashlr]
command = "ashlr-mcp"
args = []
cwd = "."
env = { ASHLRMCPHOST = "codex-cli", ASHLRCODEXHOOKMODE = "nudge" }
Goose and other hosts: ports/README.md and docs/multi-host-mcp.md.
## How it works
1. The host starts ashlr-mcp over stdio.
2. The agent calls ashlrread, ashlrgrep, ashlredit, or ashlrbash instead of the noisy built-in.
3. The tool reads the file on the machine and returns a shorter result.
4. Savings are written to ~/.ashlr/stats.json. Read them with ashlr-plugin stats --json or ashlrsavings.