XylemNode

Integration guides

work-buddy

A local-first agent runtime for knowledge workers, built on Claude Code and MCP, that gathers scattered journal entries, tasks, projects, calendar events and browser tabs into reusable multi-step workflows. It never talks to a model directly — every request goes out through Claude Code, so pointing Claude Code at XylemNode routes all of its workflows the same way.

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  1. 01

    Have Claude Code ready first

    work-buddy is an extension layer over Claude Code, and Claude Code (CLI or Desktop) is the one hard prerequisite. Obsidian is now only an optional compatibility integration — journal, tasks, projects, contracts, personal knowledge and calendar all have native implementations, so you don't need a vault to use the whole thing.

    # Confirm Claude Code is ready
claude --version
  2. 02

    Point Claude Code at XylemNode

    This step decides which model work-buddy actually uses. Set the endpoint, token and model name in Claude Code's settings.json; it speaks the native Anthropic protocol, so the address carries no /v1. Skip this if you already followed the Claude Code section on this page.

    {
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.xylemnode.com",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-your-key",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "gpt-5.6-sol"
  }
}
  3. 03

    Install work-buddy

    Download the latest installer from GitHub releases and run it. It bundles its own Python (around 1 GB of dependencies), the background services are already running once it finishes, and it adds a Start Menu launcher plus a system-tray icon. Only a Windows installer is available today; macOS and Linux builds are still in preparation, and on those platforms you can install from source with uv as described in the repo's CONTRIBUTING.

    Installer
    github.com/KadenMc/work-buddy/releases/latest
    MCP gateway
    localhost:5126
    Dashboard
    localhost:5127
  4. 04

    Open it in Claude Code and run setup

    Open work-buddy's install folder in Claude Code and it connects to the local MCP gateway automatically. Then run the guided setup and an agent walks you through picking features and wiring up your own tools and preferences.

    /wb-setup guided
  5. 05

    Everyday use

    The common workflows are slash commands inside Claude Code (the full catalog lives in the official handbook); the background services are managed with the wbuddy command, and the tray icon can also start or stop them and open the dashboard.

    # Inside a Claude Code session
/wb-morning        # briefing, priorities and a day plan
/wb-task-triage    # batch-decide on your task inbox

# From any terminal
wbuddy status                    # background service health
wbuddy start | stop | restart    # control the background services
wbuddy launch                    # start if needed, then open the dashboard

Three things to know

1) It extends Claude Code through a local MCP gateway, where the agent discovers and runs capabilities via wb_search, wb_run, wb_advance and wb_status. Switching models or providers later happens on the Claude Code side; work-buddy itself needs no reconfiguration. 2) The project describes itself as running on your existing Claude Code subscription — once ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL points at XylemNode, requests no longer go through that subscription and count against your XylemNode credits instead. If an earlier official login conflicts, run /logout and restart. 3) Its workflows run routine steps as ordinary code and call the model only where judgment is needed, but small background tasks still fire often; to route those the same way, add ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL in the Claude Code config pointing at the same model. Note that it is 0.x beta software, so minor versions may bring breaking changes.

Common questions

How do I change models in work-buddy, and why are the wb_ tools missing in Claude Code?

It has no model settings of its own — every request goes out through Claude Code, so there is exactly one place to change models: Claude Code's settings.json (ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, ANTHROPIC_MODEL). Reopen the Claude Code session afterwards for it to take, and from then on all of its workflows follow the same route to XylemNode. Missing wb_ tools usually means the session opened in the wrong directory: the documented flow is to open work-buddy's install folder in Claude Code, which is what lets it connect to the local MCP gateway automatically. You can check the background services from any terminal with wbuddy status, and wbuddy start if they're down. One more thing not to overlook: only a Windows installer is published today, with macOS and Linux marked as coming soon — on those platforms install from source with uv as described in the repository's CONTRIBUTING guide.