connect your agent
one command per agent. picks then reach the agent session that owns the tab.
on this page
commands#
| agent | command | you get |
|---|---|---|
| claude code | el install --claude | a plugin: picks land in your prompt as [element #7] chips, in the terminal and the claude desktop app's code tab |
| opencode | el install --opencode | plugins: chips in the prompt, screenshots sent as images |
| pi | el install --pi | an extension: chips in the prompt, picks sent with screenshots |
| codex | el install --codex | hooks that attach picks to your next message, chips typed into the prompt in tmux, iTerm2, cmux, WezTerm, herdr, Zellij, screen, kitty, Konsole or Ghostty (macOS) |
| cursor | el install --cursor | the editor: picks added to chat as file chips. the cli: like codex, chips typed into the prompt in those terminals; elsewhere hooks attach picks to your next message, and the status line lists them |
| muse code | el install --muse | like codex: hooks, chips typed in tmux, iTerm2, cmux, WezTerm, herdr, Zellij, screen, kitty, Konsole or Ghostty (macOS) |
| anything with a shell | nothing to install | el get, el snapshot, el open <url> |
el install --all-agents sets up every agent it finds. more per agent: claude code, opencode, pi, codex, cursor, muse.
chips or hooks#
the best experience needs an agent that lets extensions edit its prompt: claude code, opencode and pi. there each pick appears as a chip as you click, and backspace removes it whole.
codex, muse code and cursor cli don't allow that, so element types the chip in through your terminal (tmux, iTerm2, cmux, WezTerm, herdr, Zellij, GNU screen, kitty, Konsole or Ghostty on macOS). the chip is plain text you delete a character at a time. in the cursor editor picks are file chips in the chat. everywhere else picks are attached when you send your next message; you just don't see a chip.
any other agent#
if your agent can run shell commands, it can use element. tell it to run el get after you pick something:
$ el get # new picks for this session, else the latest $ el get --json # everything, for scripts
the full list is in the cli reference. agent on another machine, like an ssh dev box? see other machines.
no mcp server, no skill#
element has no mcp server and no skill: agents reach it through hooks and the el cli. each pick names the el commands to run, and el help lists the rest. el install removes the element mcp server and element skill older versions set up, leaving your other servers and skills alone.