From 260222722a80d9bae5b5e433da00e1cd9e9b9483 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Isabelle Ilyia <isabelle@cedar.law>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:12:54 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] docs: recommend a custom connector for Cowork, revert the MCP
 URL hardcode
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Root cause of the Cowork marketplace-sync failure is now confirmed: this
plugin's hooks.json uses the mcp_tool hook type (required to call an MCP
tool directly from a hook, which is how conversation capture works),
and Cowork's server-side marketplace-sync content validator only
accepts command/prompt/agent hook types. Deliberate Anthropic-side
restriction (anthropics/claude-code#35653, closed NOT_PLANNED for the
identical HTTP-hooks case), not something fixable in this repo.
Confirmed live via claude.ai-web.log's real error payload, and by
testing a hooks-free build of this exact repo (synced fine with hooks
removed, failed identically with them present).

Since the plugin's only differentiator over a bare MCP connector is
hook-driven conversation capture, and that can't work in Cowork today,
recommend a custom connector there instead (same tools, no plugin
involved) until Anthropic lifts the restriction.

Also reverts the MCP URL hardcode from an earlier, now-ruled-out fix
attempt (git-subdir source, kept — plain hardcode, undone) — restores
the CEDAR_MCP_URL local-dev override the README's "Local development"
section depends on.
---
 README.md              | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++----------
 cedar-plugin/.mcp.json |  2 +-
 2 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aff9953..8fad54d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,23 +1,34 @@
 # Cedar Claude Plugin
 
-Connects [Cedar](https://cedarcopilot.com) to Claude Code and Claude Cowork: Cedar's
-tools via MCP, and conversation capture (via hooks) so what you do with Cedar through
-Claude shows up in your Cedar chat history.
+Connects [Cedar](https://cedarcopilot.com) to Claude Code: Cedar's tools via MCP, and
+conversation capture (via hooks) so what you do with Cedar through Claude shows up in
+your Cedar chat history.
 
 ## Install
 
-**Claude Cowork**: open the Marketplace section, search for "cedar", click Install. The
-exact flow for adding a marketplace that isn't yet in Anthropic's own directory (as
-opposed to installing from one already listed) hasn't been verified end-to-end here yet
-— confirm the discovery/add step works before assuming parity with the Claude Code path
-below.
-
-**Claude Code**:
+**Claude Code** (full plugin — tools + conversation capture):
 ```
 /plugin marketplace add CedarCopilot/cedar-plugin
 /plugin install cedar@cedar-marketplace
 ```
 
+**Claude Cowork** (tools only, no conversation capture — see below):
+Cowork's plugin-marketplace sync currently rejects this plugin outright. Its
+`hooks/hooks.json` uses the `mcp_tool` hook type (the only mechanism that lets a hook
+call an MCP tool directly — required for conversation capture), but Cowork's
+server-side marketplace-sync validator only accepts `command`/`prompt`/`agent` hook
+types. This is a confirmed, deliberate Anthropic-side restriction, not a bug in this
+repo — see [anthropics/claude-code#35653](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/35653)
+(closed `NOT_PLANNED`) for the identical restriction on HTTP hooks. Verified live via
+`~/Library/Logs/Claude/claude.ai-web.log`'s `MARKETPLACE_ERROR:REMOTE_SYNC_FAILED`
+payload, and by testing a hooks-free build of this exact repo (synced successfully with
+hooks removed, failed identically with them present).
+
+Until Anthropic lifts this restriction, add Cedar as a **custom connector** in Cowork
+instead of installing this plugin: **Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector**,
+URL `https://api.mail.cedarcopilot.com/mcp`. This gets you the same MCP tools with no
+plugin involved — but no conversation capture, since that's entirely hook-driven.
+
 ## Testing (Claude Code — most controllable path, verified working)
 
 After installing (above), this kicks off Cedar's OAuth consent flow the first time it
diff --git a/cedar-plugin/.mcp.json b/cedar-plugin/.mcp.json
index 4c69056..19dcb65 100644
--- a/cedar-plugin/.mcp.json
+++ b/cedar-plugin/.mcp.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "mcpServers": {
     "cedar-mcp": {
       "type": "http",
-      "url": "https://api.mail.cedarcopilot.com/mcp"
+      "url": "${CEDAR_MCP_URL:-https://api.mail.cedarcopilot.com/mcp}"
     }
   }
 }