Install & Connect
Install the Alpha Ladder Agent Skill in Claude.ai (recommended) or another agent, and connect it to your Alpha Ladder account via the MCP server.
The skill is distributed from github.com/metacomp-ai/metacomp-skill. Every setup has the same two parts:
- Load the skill into your agent (the playbook that tells Claude how to work).
- Connect the Alpha Ladder MCP server with your API key (the tools that actually do the work).
The skill alone does nothing without the MCP connection — and the MCP alone works but without the guided workflows. You need both. See How it works.
Prerequisites
- A Alpha Ladder account and an API key (
sk-…) — create it from the API Keys section of the Alpha Ladder dashboard. See Authentication. - The skill package — download the latest skill ZIP from the repository's Releases and unzip it. Use the production package for
https://www.alphaladder.hk.
Claude.ai (recommended)
Claude.ai is the best place to use the skill — it has first-class Skills support and the cleanest experience.
Check that skills are enabled — Skills require Code execution and file creation to be enabled first.
- Free / Pro / Max: open Settings → Capabilities and make sure "Code execution and file creation" is on.
- Team / Enterprise users: this capability is typically managed by your organization. If skills are unavailable, ask your organization owner to confirm "Code execution and file creation" is enabled in Organization settings → Capabilities.
- Team / Enterprise owners provisioning skills org-wide: enable both "Code execution and file creation" and "Skills" in Organization settings → Skills.
Download the skill package — download the latest Alpha Ladder skill ZIP from the repository's Releases. Use the production package that matches https://www.alphaladder.hk, then keep the ZIP ready for upload.
Upload the skill — open Customize → Skills, click "+" → "+ Create skill" → "Upload a skill", and choose the skill ZIP. The ZIP must contain the skill folder at its root (not nested in a subfolder). Make sure the skill's toggle is on.
Connect the Alpha Ladder MCP server — open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, enter the MCP URL https://www.alphaladder.hk/mcp, and authorize with your sk-… API key. Custom connectors require Claude Pro, Team, or Enterprise. Full walkthrough: Claude.ai client setup.
Ask — start a chat and ask naturally; the skill triggers on intent (see examples below).
Claude Code
Claude Code loads skills from directories. The Alpha Ladder skill is distributed as a single ZIP package; when you unzip it, you get one skill folder with a SKILL.md entry point plus supporting files such as subSkills/ and references.
Place the skill folder — download the Alpha Ladder skill ZIP from Releases, then unzip it so the resulting skill folder sits one level under a Claude skills directory:
- Personal (all projects):
~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/... - Project (this repo only):
.claude/skills/<skill-name>/...
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
unzip metacomp-skill.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/
# result:
# ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
# ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/subSkills/...
# ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/references/...Keep the unzipped skill folder intact so Claude Code can load both SKILL.md and its supporting files. Edits to an existing skills directory are picked up within the session; creating ~/.claude/skills/ for the first time needs a Claude Code restart.
Connect the Alpha Ladder MCP server:
claude mcp add --transport http metacomp \
https://www.alphaladder.hk/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"Use it — Claude loads the skill automatically when your request matches, or invoke it directly with /<skill-name>.
VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf & Cline
These editor-based clients support MCP but do not natively load Anthropic Agent Skills. Use them in two steps:
Add the Alpha Ladder MCP server — URL https://www.alphaladder.hk/mcp, authorized with your sk-… key. See VS Code or Cursor / Windsurf / Cline setup.
Add the playbook as rules — paste the contents of the skill's SKILL.md into the client's rules, custom instructions, agent customization, or system prompt, so the agent follows the same guided workflows.
You get the same Alpha Ladder tools either way; pasting the skill instructions reproduces the guided, confirm-before-acting behavior.
Other agents & the API
Agent Skills follow the open Agent Skills standard, so any agent that adopts it can load the SKILL.md package the same way. To build your own agent programmatically, use the skill with the Claude API / Agent SDK — see the Claude API skills guide. In all cases the skill still needs the Alpha Ladder MCP server (https://www.alphaladder.hk/mcp) connected with your API key.
Example prompts
Once the skill is loaded and the MCP server is connected, ask naturally:
Show my account balance and recent withdrawals.
I want to exchange 10,000 USD to SGD.
Deposit 5,000 USD to my account.
Subscribe 5,000 USD to a 30-day fixed income product.
Claude routes each request to the matching capability, walks the flow, and confirms with you before anything moves money.