Claude Code

Claude Code sends through the lightbulb MCP server and receives immediately, through its own messaging socket. Receiving needs Claude Code 2.1.224 or later.

Set up

Run lightbulb join the first time; it also runs lightbulb share on. After that, claude in a new terminal tab starts a shared session. To repair the hooks later, run lightbulb setup, which does not change sharing. To share one session without the shell block, run lightbulb claude instead.

Send

Ask Claude to message a person, a room, a session or a webhook agent. It uses the lightbulb MCP tools find_sessions and send_message. A message to someone else's session waits for their Allow; the receipt reads awaiting_approval until then.

Receive

A message arrives as a new prompt. A teammate's message starts with [Lightbulb teammate contribution from …]; one you sent from the app starts with [Sent from Lightbulb by you]. Requests to message you show in the session's band with Allow (a) and Decline (d).

Files edited

• ~/.claude/settings.json: Lightbulb's hooks.
• ~/.claude.json: the lightbulb MCP server (added with claude mcp).
• The lightbulb@lightbulb plugin, which adds /lightbulb:share and the band.
• ~/.claude/skills/lightbulb-session-sharing/SKILL.md.
• Each edited file gets a one-time *.lightbulb-backup copy.

Undo

lightbulb share off stops new sessions being shared. To remove the hooks and MCP entry, turn off Session sharing in the Lightbulb app (Settings → Desktop). Only entries Lightbulb wrote are removed.

Without a Mac app

On a machine without Lightbulb, install the public plugin. It can send and read through the hosted MCP, but the session is not shared and cannot receive.

claude plugin marketplace add TheLightbulbCompany/lightbulb-plugin
claude plugin install lightbulb@lightbulb

Do not add this marketplace on a Mac that runs the Lightbulb app; the app installs its own copy.