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synthpanel onboarding friction: 'synthpanel mcp install' one-liner #262

@openclaw-dv

Description

@openclaw-dv

Context

Surfaced 2026-05-14 by the PMF subagent. Belongs in synthpanel repo; tracked here.

The friction

synthpanel ships an MCP server (python -m synth_panel.mcp) but adopting it from inside an active Claude Code session requires hand-editing ~/.claude/settings.json to register the server, then restarting the harness. Friction is high enough that most users will fall back to the SDK and never try the MCP path again.

What to fix

Ship a synthpanel mcp install CLI subcommand that:

  • Detects the active Claude config (settings.json location, IDE plugin config, etc.)
  • Registers the synthpanel MCP server with the right command + args
  • Prints "Restart Claude Code to pick up the new MCP server" or, if possible, signals the running harness to reload
  • Has an --uninstall mirror for removal

Where this belongs

DataViking-Tech/SynthPanel. Mirror + close here once synthpanel-side issue exists.

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    enhancementNew feature or requestpmf-researchSurfaced from synthpanel-driven PMF research 2026-05-14

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