Set Up & Verify

After installing Rook, you check it by pasting a prompt into your assistant. Each prompt below was tested in Claude (Chat, Cowork, and the Code tab) and in the ChatGPT desktop app. Start a new conversation for each one.

1. Check the connection

This only reads from Rhino; it changes nothing.

Rook connection check. Use only the Rook tools (Rhino/Grasshopper MCP), never any screen-control, computer-use or Windows-control tool, and change nothing.
1. Call rhino_ping and report the result.
2. Call rhino_document and report the document name and object count.
3. Call gh_status and report whether Grasshopper is available.
4. List any Rook skills you have (from plugins or skills), by name, or say "none".
Report each step as PASS or FAIL, with the exact error text for any failure.

What a pass looks like: rhino_ping returns pong, the document name and object count match what you see in Rhino, Grasshopper shows as available, and step 4 lists nine skills: capture-convention, chirp, chirp-cascade, clean-layers, design-grasshopper, execute-grasshopper, plan-grasshopper, project-setup, and twisted-column. In Claude they’re shown with a rook: prefix.

If step 3 says Grasshopper isn’t available, Grasshopper simply isn’t open. Open it in Rhino and try again.
If step 4 says “none” in Claude, add the plugin: see Install Rook, Step 3.

2. Check the skills

This confirms a Rook skill actually opens, not just that it’s listed.

Rook skill check. You may read skill files, but don't call any Rook or Rhino tools and change nothing.
Which Rook skill would you use to build a new Grasshopper definition from a clear, specific brief? Open its SKILL.md and tell me: its name, the plugin it comes from, and the first three steps it tells you to follow, quoted exactly.

It should pick execute-grasshopper and quote steps that start by taking a fresh snapshot of the Grasshopper canvas. In Claude Chat, reading skills needs Claude’s code execution to be turned on in its settings.

3. If something fails

Paste this, together with the failing answer. It reads Rook’s own logs and tells you, in plain words, what is wrong and what to do.

Rook troubleshooting. My Rook connection check failed (the result is below). Help me find out why. Change nothing, and don't use any screen-control, computer-use or Windows-control tool.
If you can read files on this computer, read these (skip any that don't exist) and tell me what they show:
- %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\logs\post_install_summary.json: did the installer's final outcome succeed?
- The end of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\logs\post_install.log
- For Claude: the end of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp-server-rook.log and mcp.log (older Claude versions use %APPDATA%\Claude\logs), and whether %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json has a "rook" entry under "mcpServers". If %USERPROFILE%\.claude.json has a "rook" entry but claude_desktop_config.json doesn't, Rook's desktop registration is missing; Claude may have been installed or first opened after Rook. Then tell me to open Claude once, fully quit it (from its icon near the clock), run the Rook installer again with the Claude component selected, then reopen Claude
- For ChatGPT/Codex: whether %USERPROFILE%\.codex\config.toml has a [mcp_servers.rook] section
- Whether %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\discovery contains files, which appear while Rhino is running with Rook loaded
If you can't read files on this computer, tell me which of these files to open in File Explorer and exactly what to look for.
Then give me the most likely cause and the fix, in plain words, without asking me to use a terminal.
My failing result:

Claude Cowork, the Code tab, and ChatGPT can read files on your computer. Claude Chat usually can’t (unless you’ve added a file-access connector). When it can’t, the prompt asks it to tell you what to open in File Explorer instead.

Common causes

What you see	Likely cause	What to do
The assistant has no Rook tools at all	The app wasn’t fully restarted, or Rook’s registration with Claude’s desktop app is missing	Fully quit the app (from the icon near the clock) and reopen it. If Claude still has no Rook, see the next row
Rook works in Claude’s Code tab but not in Chat or Cowork	Rook’s registration with Claude’s desktop app is missing; Claude may have been installed or first opened after Rook	Open Claude once, fully quit it, run the Rook installer again with the Claude component selected, then reopen Claude
`rhino_ping` fails	Rhino isn’t running, or Rook didn’t load in it	Start Rhino 8 from the Start menu. In Rhino, type `ShowRookChat`: if the panel opens, Rook is loaded
Every Rook call hangs	Rhino is showing a dialog box	Switch to Rhino and close the dialog (a file picker, “Save changes?”, or a command prompt)
`gh_status` says not available	Grasshopper isn’t open	Open Grasshopper and try again. This isn’t an install problem
Tools work but step 4 lists no skills	Claude: the plugin isn’t added. ChatGPT: the Codex component wasn’t installed	Claude: add the plugin. ChatGPT: run the Rook installer again with the Codex component ticked
Claude says Failed to add marketplace	A temporary failure	Select Sync again
Changes land in the wrong model	More than one Rhino window is open	Close the extra windows, or tell your assistant which one to use

Still stuck? Open an issue at github.com/bringfire/rook-release/issues and include what the troubleshooting prompt reported.

Choosing approvals

Whether your app asks before the assistant uses a Rook tool depends on the app and its approval setting.

Claude Chat asks the first time each tool is used, with Allow once, Always allow, and Deny. Always allow applies to that one tool.

Choose Always allow only for tools that only read, such as rhino_ping, rhino_document, rhino_objects, gh_status, gh_snapshot, and gh_errors.
Choose Allow once for anything that creates, changes, deletes, or exports, or runs a script, until you’re comfortable with how your assistant works.
Treat rook_tools_call as one of those. It’s Rook’s gateway to its full tool list: one call can run any Rook tool, including ones that change or delete. Always allow on it would allow all of them, so choose Allow once. Assistants that see a shorter tool list use it more often, which is normal.

Claude Cowork doesn’t ask before using Rook’s tools. Claude can change, delete, or export in Rhino without checking with you, so work on a saved copy of your model. Undo in Rhino reverses model changes, but not files that were exported.

The Code tab follows its own permission mode, which you choose in the Code tab.

ChatGPT asks, under How should ChatGPT actions be approved?:

Ask for approval (the default) asks before each tool, like Claude Chat. Start here, with the same rule: only tools that just read, and never rook_tools_call, should get a permanent approval.
Approve for me only asks about actions it detects as potentially unsafe.
Full access never asks. Use it only if you understand what that allows.

What the checks confirm

rhino_ping reaches the Rook plug-in running inside Rhino. When Rhino starts with Rook loaded, the plug-in writes a small discovery file to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\discovery\; that is how your assistant finds it.
rhino_document proves Rook can read your live model.
gh_status checks the Grasshopper side, which Rook reaches through a separate companion plug-in. It can fail on its own even when Rhino passes.
The skills come from the Rook plugin in Claude, and from the installer in ChatGPT. The tools work without them; the skills add the guided workflows. See Skills That Ship.

For a deeper end-to-end test that creates and removes a test object, see Post-Install Agent Setup.

Once everything passes, head to Your First Conversation.