name: add-provider
description: |
Add an AI provider to ClaudeBar as a JSON definition run by the one generic
Provider and DataSource. Use this skill when:
(1) Adding a new AI assistant provider (like Antigravity, Cursor, etc.)
(2) A provider needs a setting, an added account, or an old saved key kept working
(3) A provider's CLI, API or file format changed and its definition must follow
(4) User asks "how do I add a new provider" or "create a provider for X"
Add a Provider to ClaudeBar
A provider is data: one file, Modules/Providers/Resources/Providers/<id>.json.
The app finds it — ProviderCatalog.detect() reads every definition in the
bundle (and in ~/.claudebar/providers, ~/.claudebar/extensions) and makes
each on one shared Engine (TARGET_ARCHITECTURE §10).
There is no registration step and no Swift line that names it.
It says where the key is, how to fetch, and how to read the answer. One
Provider class and one DataSource type run every definition. You write
no Swift for a vendor: no XxxProvider, no XxxUsageProbe, no
XxxCredentialLoader.
Read first: TARGET_ARCHITECTURE.md
(how a definition runs), MODULAR_DESIGN.md
(which module a file goes in), and CANONICAL_MODEL.md
(the words). Every built-in provider is a definition, so there is a worked
example for most shapes: an API key with a region (minimax.json), a CLI's login
file renewed by OAuth (grok.json) or by the CLI itself (gemini.json), a TUI
(kimi.json), a browser session over several requests (alibaba.json), an app's
local server (antigravity.json), cloud metrics priced into money (bedrock.json).
Their tests are in Modules/Providers/Tests/.
The docs are the source of truth (AGENTS.md).
A provider that fits the definition language needs no design change. One that needs the
language to grow — a new case and worker, a new capability (CANONICAL §2.1), a new setting
kind — is a design change: write it into TARGET_ARCHITECTURE / CANONICAL_MODEL first and ask
the user to confirm before writing code.
The pieces
| Piece | Where | You touch it when |
|---|
<id>.json | Modules/Providers/Resources/Providers/ | always |
<id>-*.js mapping script | beside the JSON | only when no mapping rule can read the format (a TUI screen) |
| golden tests | Modules/Providers/Tests/<Name>DefinitionTests.swift | always |
| a generic rule or worker | Modules/DataSources/ (+ DataSourcesTests) | when the definition language can't say what the provider needs |
| look (name, symbol, colour, icon) | profile.look in <id>.json; the icon image in the asset catalog | always |
| research | docs/providers/<id>/README.md (users), design.md (contributors) | always |
The rules (MODULAR_DESIGN §3–4):
- No vendor's name in a module's Swift. A worker is named for its protocol, format or place (
JSONRPCFetcher, OAuth2Refresher), never a vendor.
- No
Probe names. The words are DataSource, Fetch, Mapping, Usage, Quota, Plan and Cost.
Modules/* never import Domain. The usage model is Quotas; providers, settings and accounts are Providers.
The definition: three closed sums per data source
{
"profile": { // WHO IT IS
"id": "acme", // stable forever: settings and the menu bar key on it
"name": "Acme",
"links": { "dashboard": "https://…", "status": "https://…" },
"look": { "symbol": "bolt.fill", "icon": "AcmeIcon", // SF Symbol, asset name
"color": { "light": [0.2, 0.5, 0.9], "dark": [0.3, 0.6, 1.0] },
"gradientEnd": { "light": [0.1, 0.3, 0.7], "dark": [0.2, 0.4, 0.8] } }
},
"cli": "acme", // optional
"enabledByDefault": true,
"order": 280, // its default place in the lineup; none → after the rest, by name
"guestPasses": {}, // optional: a capability the engine runs (Claude's)
"defaultDataSource": "api",
"dataSources": [
{
"kind": "api", // what Settings' Data source picker saves as <id>.probeMode
"label": "API", "summary": "Calls Acme API directly",
"credential": { … }, // CredentialLookup — where the key is
"fetch": { … }, // Fetch — how to ask
"mapping": { … }, // Mapping — how to read the answer
"fallback": "cli" // optional: try this kind when this one fails
}
]
}
| Sum | Cases |
|---|
credential | environment ("loginShell": true also asks the person's login shell) · browserStorage (a site's local storage, one browser profile) · setting (a key pasted into ClaudeBar, in the Keychain) · jsonFile (paths $.a.b, or a list — the first that answers; ~ and ${VAR:-default}; record, defaults) · keychain (account, encoding: "goKeyringBase64") · browserCookies (format: "value"|"header") · sqlite · firstOf — any of them refined with match (a value must fit a pattern, or no key), with (values added) and cookies (named cookies read out of a Cookie header); plus "refresh": { "oauth2": … } or "refresh": { "cli": … } (the CLI renews its own file) |
fetch | http ({{token}}, {{x#host}}, {{x#jwt.claim}}, {{system.timeZone}}) or "http": { "steps": [ … ] } (keep, optional, unless, attempts, dropEmpty) · jsonRpc · cli — a terminal, for a TUI (input, inputDelay, autoResponses, readyWhen, screen: "rendered") · command — pipes, exit code reported · file · directory · sqlite (rows of an app's own database, read-only) · localServer (an app's server on 127.0.0.1, found through its process) · cloudWatch (cloud metrics through a port, priced from a PriceCatalog) |
mapping | json (below) · text (error phrases, then label + regex for % left/used) · script (a .js file in JavaScriptCore, no I/O; host humanDate(), jsonDecimal(), decimalCents(), decimalAdd(), decimalMultiply(); context.values from "values"; returns quotas (with group), notes, plan, cost (with lines), account, or error) |
Per data source, also: errors (http.<status>, http.default,
cli.missing, cli.nonzero, cli.failed → a reason; a 429 is always a rate
limit), fallbackOn (hand-off by failure tag), fallback, cache.ttl (also
the background-refresh floor), context (JSON files the mapping may read),
recover.patchJSONFile, requiresFiles, identity,
verifyBeforeBackground. Per provider: links.dashboardByPlan and accounts
(added logins, see codex.json).
Settings and added accounts
"settings": [
{ "id": "apiKey", "label": "API Key", "kind": "secret", "scope": "account", "for": ["api"] },
{ "id": "region", "label": "Region", "scope": "account", "default": "china",
"kind": { "choice": [ { "id": "china", "label": "China", "host": "api.acme.cn" },
{ "id": "intl", "label": "International", "host": "api.acme.com" } ] } },
{ "id": "home", "label": "Signed-in Folder", "scope": "account", "for": ["cli"], "kind": { "path": { "mustExist": true } } },
{ "id": "authEnvVar", "label": "Environment variable", "default": "ACME_API_KEY" }
]
- A kind owns its rule:
secret (to the Keychain, fills nothing), choice (its options carry values), path (mustExist), text (pattern).
{{setting.region.host}} fills any string of the definition; a blank setting leaves its template unfilled (a script's values drop it).
scope: "account" is what Add Account asks for; "for": [kind] asks only while that data source is active, and a login without such a value runs only the sources that don't need it.
accounts.patch.<kind> changes a data source for added logins ("firstOf": null drops the default lookups; {{account.home}} fills from the login's values).
The JSON mapping
"json": {
"plan": { "path": "$credential.plan", "plans": { "max": "claudeMax" } }, // or "badges"
"email": ["$.account.email", "$credential.email"],
"quotas": [
{ "kind": "session", "at": "$.five_hour", "usedPercent": "utilization",
"resetsAt": { "iso8601": "resets_at" } }, // or epochSeconds / secondsFromNow
{ "kind": "model", "each": "$.limits", "where": { "path": "kind", "equals": "weekly" },
"name": { "firstOf": ["model.name"], "firstWord": true, "lowercase": true },
"usedPercent": "percent", "unique": true, "overLimit": true, "countdown": "hours",
"window": [{ "seconds": "window_seconds" }, { "days": 7 }] }, // the response's word, else the provider's
{ "kind": "time", "name": "Credits", // money, not a percentage:
"left": { "money": "$.data.remaining", "of": "$.data.limit", "currency": "USD" } } // no "of" = a balance
],
"cost": [ // the first shape that answers
{ "kind": "extraUsage", "when": { "path": "$.spend.enabled", "equals": true },
"used": { "amount": "$.spend.used.amount_minor", "decimals": "$.spend.used.exponent" },
"limit": { "amount": "$.spend.limit.amount_minor", "decimals": "$.spend.limit.exponent" } }
],
"whenEmpty": { "if": { "path": "$.plan", "equals": "free" }, "quotas": [ … ], "otherwise": "No data yet" },
"notAnObject": "Failed to parse usage response"
}
Paths: $.a.b from the root, a.b from the current object, $header.x, $key
(the map key inside each), $credential.x (a non-secret credential value),
$context.file.field (a field of a context file the data source reads, such as
the email a tool keeps in its own account file).
A list of values means the first that answers; a number is a constant.
TDD workflow (Chicago school)
Name each test should <outcome> [when <situation>], in the person's words, never a method, type or mechanism verb → Naming tests.
1 · Research and fixtures
Find where the usage really comes from (CLI command, endpoint, local file) and
capture real responses, redacted, including the failure answers: logged
out, rate limited, a free plan, an empty account. Write what you learned in
docs/providers/<id>/design.md.
2 · Golden tests first (red)
Modules/Providers/Tests/<Name>DefinitionTests.swift runs the real definition
through the real Provider over stubbed connections with StubbedProvider
(Tests/Support/Connections.swift). They fail first because <id>.json doesn't exist.
@MainActor
@Suite
struct AcmeDefinitionTests {
@Test
func `should read Acme from its API by default`() throws {
let acme = try ProviderFactory.builtIn("acme")
#expect(acme.dataSources.map(\.kind) == ["api"])
#expect(acme.defaultDataSource == "api")
}
@Test
func `should show the session window when the API answers`() async throws {
let stub = try StubbedProvider(providerId: "acme")
defer { stub.cleanUp() }
stub.environment = ["ACME_API_KEY": "test-key"]
stub.answerHTTP(#"{"session":{"used_percent":30,"reset_at":1735000000}}"#)
let usage = try await stub.make("acme").refreshPlain()
#expect(usage.quota(for: .session)?.percentRemaining == 70)
#expect(usage.quota(for: .session)?.resetsAt == Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 1735000000))
}
@Test
func `should say the key is missing when the API has no key`() async throws {
let stub = try StubbedProvider(providerId: "acme")
defer { stub.cleanUp() }
let acme = try stub.make("acme")
await #expect(throws: UsageError.authenticationRequired) { try await acme.refresh(acme.defaultAccount) }
#expect(acme.defaultAccount.lastFailedStep == .lookup)
}
}
Assert on state: the usage, lastError, lastFailedStep, answeredBy, and
files written back. Don't verify() calls. Cover every fixture from step 1.
3 · Write the definition (green)
Add <id>.json until the golden tests pass. ProviderFactory.builtIn validates it:
kinds are unique, and the default and every fallback name an existing kind.
4 · When the language can't say it
Don't write vendor code. Find the generic shape of the need, for example
"a list filtered by a field" or "money in minor units", and add it to
DataSources test-first in Modules/DataSources/Tests/. Then use it from the
JSON. ENGINE_DESIGN §1
lists the pieces each provider needed. Add your row there.
Only a format no rule can read, like a terminal UI screen, gets a mapping
script, <id>-<what>.js. Test it through Swift with real captured screens
(see ClaudeUsageScreenTests).
5 · Give it a look and a place
There is nothing to register: the file being in Resources/Providers/ makes it
a provider. "order" places it in the default lineup (the built-ins use 10, 20,
… 270); leave it out to come after the rest, by name. The person's own order
still wins. DetectionTests lists the built-ins in order — add your id there.
Every provider gets the same Engine: settings, the vault, the login shell (for
a lookup with "loginShell": true), the cloud ports (for a cloudWatch fetch),
the guest-passes runner (for "guestPasses": {}). Ask for one in the JSON;
never pass one in Swift.
Its name, symbol and colours are profile.look in the JSON — no switch id
table to edit. Add the icon image to the asset catalog under look.icon
(references/provider-icon-guide.md).
Settings need no new protocol: the data source choice is
dataSourceKind(forProvider:), and an on/off setting a definition names (for
example fallback.enabledBySetting) is isOn(_:forProvider:).
6 · Docs and release note
docs/providers/<id>/README.md (what users see, setup, errors) and design.md (sources, fields, gotchas).
- A row in the Providers table of the root
README.md — name, what it tracks, a link to its docs/providers/<id>/README.md — placed by its "order", so the table follows the default lineup.
- A tile in the landing page's providers grid (
website/public/index.html, <div class="pv" data-id="<id>" …>), in lineup order, and every count on the page raised by one — npm test in website/ reads the definitions and fails until both match.
- One line under
## [Unreleased] in CHANGELOG.md.
python3 scripts/gen-docs.py && python3 scripts/check-docs.py --strict.
Keeping what people saved
Every built-in provider is already a definition; when you change one, keep
every saved value working. The data source choice is <id>.probeMode, and a
setting foo is read from <id>.foo. A value kept somewhere else gets a row,
never a branch:
- a setting under another key →
JSONSettingsRepository.legacySettingKeys
- a setting in UserDefaults →
JSONSettingsRepository.legacyDefaultsKeys (a saved number or list reads as text)
- a secret in UserDefaults or an older Keychain item →
ProviderVault.legacyKeys
Each moves to its new place the first time it's saved, and each needs a test.
Checklist