Installation

Multiple ways to install Ask LLM, depending on whether you want the unified orchestrator or specific providers.

Prerequisites

• Node.js v20.0.0 or higher (LTS 20 or 22)
• An MCP client — Claude Code, Codex CLI, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Warp, Copilot, or any of the 40+ compatible clients
• At least one provider CLI installed and authenticated:
  • npm install -g @openai/codex (then follow CLI auth) for Codex
  • npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code (then authenticate) for Claude
  • Antigravity CLI (agy) installed and logged in once for Antigravity
  • Ollama running locally with a model pulled (ollama pull qwen3.6:27b)
  • npm install -g @google/gemini-cli && gemini login for Gemini (enterprise-gated from 2026-06-18)

Packages

Package	Purpose	Tools exposed
@ask-llm/mcp	Unified orchestrator (recommended) — auto-detects all installed providers	ask-llm, multi-llm, get-usage-stats, diagnose, ping
@ask-llm/codex-mcp	Codex-only	ask-codex, get-usage-stats, ping
@ask-llm/claude-mcp	Claude-only — designed for Codex and other non-Claude hosts; read-only file tools	ask-claude, get-usage-stats, ping
@ask-llm/antigravity-mcp	Antigravity-only (experimental) — subscription-backed via agy	ask-antigravity, get-usage-stats, ping
@ask-llm/ollama-mcp	Ollama-only (local)	ask-ollama, get-usage-stats, ping
@ask-llm/gemini-mcp	Gemini-only — full feature set including @ file syntax, sandbox, edit mode. Enterprise-gated from 2026-06-18	ask-gemini, ask-gemini-edit, fetch-chunk, get-usage-stats, ping

The unified orchestrator uses a single ask-llm tool with a provider parameter for token efficiency (ADR-029) — you pick the provider per call. Per-provider packages expose the richer per-provider tool surface (ask-gemini-edit for structured edits, fetch-chunk for large response pagination, etc.).

Migrating from the legacy names

The six public MCP packages moved to the @ask-llm npm organization. Their old package names are deprecated and point to these replacements:

Deprecated package	Replacement
ask-gemini-mcp	@ask-llm/gemini-mcp
ask-codex-mcp	@ask-llm/codex-mcp
@anton-lykhoyda/ask-claude-mcp	@ask-llm/claude-mcp
ask-ollama-mcp	@ask-llm/ollama-mcp
ask-antigravity-mcp	@ask-llm/antigravity-mcp
ask-llm-mcp	@ask-llm/mcp

Existing installations are not forcibly removed, but npm warns when a deprecated name is installed. Replace only the package name in npx/npm install commands and MCP configuration. The executable names remain unchanged, so globally installed commands and scripts do not need to be renamed.

Method 1: NPX (recommended)

No install needed — npx downloads on first invocation and caches:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ask-llm": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ask-llm/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

For per-provider packages, swap @ask-llm/mcp for the package you want.

Method 2: Global install via Claude Code

claude mcp add --scope user ask-llm -- npx -y @ask-llm/mcp

# Or per-provider
claude mcp add --scope user gemini -- npx -y @ask-llm/gemini-mcp
claude mcp add --scope user codex  -- npx -y @ask-llm/codex-mcp
claude mcp add --scope user ollama -- npx -y @ask-llm/ollama-mcp
claude mcp add --scope user antigravity -- npx -y @ask-llm/antigravity-mcp

--scope user registers globally for all projects. Drop the flag for per-project scope.

The unified server suppresses its Claude provider when the MCP host is already Claude Code because Claude Code does not permit nested Claude sessions.

Method 3: Codex CLI → Claude

For the reverse collaboration path—Codex asking Claude for a second opinion:

codex mcp add claude -- npx -y @ask-llm/claude-mcp

Claude runs in safe mode with only Read, Glob, and Grep; Codex remains responsible for edits.

Method 4: Plain npm global

npm install -g @ask-llm/mcp
# Installs the ask-llm-mcp executable on your global PATH

Then point your MCP config at the installed executable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ask-llm": { "command": "ask-llm-mcp" }
  }
}

The npm packages moved into the @ask-llm organization, but their executable names remain unchanged for existing global-install and MCP configurations:

Package	Executable
@ask-llm/mcp	ask-llm-mcp
@ask-llm/gemini-mcp	ask-gemini-mcp
@ask-llm/codex-mcp	ask-codex-mcp
@ask-llm/claude-mcp	ask-claude-mcp
@ask-llm/ollama-mcp	ask-ollama-mcp
@ask-llm/antigravity-mcp	ask-antigravity-mcp

Method 5: Claude Code Plugin (richer experience)

If you're a Claude Code user, the plugin adds slash commands (/multi-review, /brainstorm, /compare, /gemini-review, /codex-review, /ollama-review, /antigravity-review), reviewer subagents with confidence-based filtering, and an opt-in continuous codex-pair review hook:

/plugin marketplace add Lykhoyda/ask-llm
/plugin install ask-llm@ask-llm-plugins

See Plugin Overview for details.

Verify

# From terminal — works even if MCP isn't configured yet
npx @ask-llm/mcp doctor

The doctor reports Node version, resolved PATH, every provider CLI's presence + version, and active env vars — your first stop when something doesn't work.

Next, head to First Steps to confirm the connection and send your first prompt, or How to Ask for usage patterns.