Bold Create CLI: Plugins, Skills, Agents, Tools and Rules

This guide shows you how to use plugins in the Bold Create CLI, the boldcreate command in your terminal. You will learn how to see the plugins you have, and how to use the skills, agents, and tool servers they bring in your sessions.

The CLI has no Customize page of its own. You install plugins on the Customize page of the Bold Create desktop app or Cloud Agent. The CLI picks them up for the same account.

Words you will see

Before you start

1. Install the CLI and sign in once with boldcreate login. See Installation and Signing in.
2. Sign in to the Bold Create desktop app or Cloud Agent with the same account.
3. Make sure you have the latest CLI:

boldcreate update

Install a plugin

The CLI has no command to install or uninstall plugins. Use the app:

1. Open the Bold Create desktop app or Cloud Agent.
2. Go to Customize → Plugins.
3. Click + on a plugin card under Marketplace. Choose Install for: Myself · Team · Organization first if you see it.
4. Start a new CLI session (boldcreate).

When a session starts, the CLI copies your installed plugins to your computer and gives them to the agent. Sessions that were already open keep the plugins they had when they started.

See your plugins

From your terminal, run:

boldcreate plugins

The CLI asks Bold Create for your plugins, updates the copy on your computer, and lists what each plugin brings:

boldcreate-toolkit 0.7.1  18 skills · 5 agents · 4 rules
  Skills (/skill:<name>)
    code-review
    debug
    ...
  Agents (the agent can hand work to them)
    security-reviewer
    spec-reviewer
    ...
  Rules
    no-secrets  always on
    plain-english-docs  applies to **/*.md

gitlab 0.7.1  1 tool server
  Tool servers
    gitlab  needs sign-in in Bold Create

~/.boldcreate/plugins/<id>, up to date
Install and manage plugins in Bold Create: Customize → Plugins. Changes reach new sessions.

Inside a session, type /plugins (or /plugins --details) to see the same list.

What a rule’s label means

Sign in to a tool server (“Connect”)

Some tool servers need your account, for example GitHub or GitLab. You sign in to plugin tool servers in the app, not in the CLI.

boldcreate plugins, boldcreate mcp list, and /mcp show the status of each plugin tool server:

After you connect, start a new session to use the server’s tools.

Use plugins in a session

Use a skill

1. In a session, type /skill:. A list of your skills appears, with plugin skills and your own skills together.
2. Choose one, type what you want after it, and press Enter:

/skill:release-notes for version 2.1

The agent receives the skill’s instructions along with your text.

If the name is wrong, you will see: unknown skill "<name>". Type /skill: to see the skills.

You don’t always have to type the skill. The agent knows your skills and can use one by itself when your request fits.

Let the agent hand work to a plugin agent

Plugin agents are listed under Agents (the agent can hand work to them). While it works, the main agent can give part of a job to one of them, for example asking security-reviewer to check a change. You don’t need to do anything. You can also ask for it in your message:

Ask the security-reviewer agent to review the changes in src/auth.

Run the session as a plugin agent

You can also choose a plugin agent for the whole session:

1. Type /agent (with a space). The list shows agent, plan, ask, and your plugin agents with the plugin they come from.
2. Choose a plugin agent and press Enter, for example:

/agent security-reviewer

3. You will see Agent set to security-reviewer (from the boldcreate-toolkit plugin). The agent applies from your next message.

To go back, type /agent agent. Wait for the current run to finish, or press Esc, before you switch agents.

Use a plugin tool server

When a plugin tool server is ready, the agent can use its tools. Ask for what you want in plain words, for example “List my open GitLab merge requests.”

Type /mcp to see your servers. Plugin servers are listed under From your plugins, with their status and plugin name. Your own servers are listed above them.

Rules

You don’t need to do anything with rules. The agent follows them automatically, based on their label.

Approving tool use

In manual approval mode, the agent asks before it uses a tool. Tools from tool servers are named mcp__<server>__<tool>, for example mcp__gitlab__list_merge_requests.

If you are not sure what a tool will do, deny it and ask the agent to explain first. See Approvals and safety.

Add your own skills, agents, and tool servers

Plugins are not the only way to customize the CLI. You can add your own:

Your own tool servers are saved in ~/.boldcreate/mcp.json (or .boldcreate/mcp.json in a project). The desktop app uses the same files for local tasks.

If a project skill and a plugin skill have the same name, the project skill wins.

Turn plugins off

To start the CLI without your installed plugins:

BOLDCREATE_PLUGINS=0 boldcreate

On Windows PowerShell:

$env:BOLDCREATE_PLUGINS = "0"; boldcreate

boldcreate plugins then shows Installed plugins are off (BOLDCREATE_PLUGINS=0).

Uninstall a plugin

1. In the app, open Customize → Plugins and click the plugin.
2. Click Uninstall and confirm.
3. Start a new CLI session. The plugin is no longer there.

Offline

• The CLI keeps the last copy of your plugins on your computer, in ~/.boldcreate/plugins/. Skills, agents, and rules keep working from that copy.
• If Bold Create can’t be reached, boldcreate plugins shows the last copy and adds (the last copy: Bold Create could not be reached).
• Use boldcreate plugins --offline to list the copy without going online.

Problems and fixes