Connecting Umtri to Your AI

In the last part we saw that Umtri draws your project as a tree. This time we’ll connect it, so the AI you use can read and draw that tree itself.

It isn’t hard. Here’s the order:

Sign up for Umtri and make a place for your project
Get a pass (token) for your AI
Copy the command shown on screen and paste it
Talk to your AI to check

How do the AI and Umtri connect?

Out of the box, an AI tool can only see the code on your computer. There’s a way to let it use other services too, called MCP. Think of it as installing an app on your phone — you’re adding a capability to your AI. (If you’re curious about MCP itself, Vibe Coding part 6 covers it.)

Once Umtri is connected, you can say things like:

Show me my Umtri grounds

Read the project tree and tell me where the login feature lives

Add the coupon feature I just built to the tree

Sign up at app.umtri.io with your email and a handle (an ID that works like your name — it can’t be changed later). Click the verification link in the email and you’re in.

Once you’re logged in, click New Ground to make a place for your project. In Umtri, the land a single project grows on is called a ground.

The name can be anything you like. (e.g. Coffee App)
The slug is the English name used in the address. (e.g. coffee-app) It can’t be changed later, so keep it short and easy to recognize.

It’s fine if the tree is still empty. The AI will do the planting.

2. Get a pass (token) for your AI

For the AI to enter Umtri on your behalf, it needs a pass. This is called a token.

Click your profile at the bottom of the left sidebar and go to Settings.
Choose API Tokens.
Give the token a name you’ll recognize. (e.g. my laptop claude)
Leave the permission on the default, Write. For the AI to draw the tree and not just read it, it needs Write.
Click Generate token.

The token is shown only once. Treat it like a password: don’t send it to anyone, and don’t put it in files that end up online. If you lose it, remove it from the list (Revoke) and make a new one.

3. Copy the command and paste it

As soon as you get a token, an ADD UMTRI MCP box appears right below. Connection commands for each AI tool — Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and more — are already written, with your new token inside.

Click the button for your tool to copy it, paste it into the terminal (the black window where you run your AI tool), and press Enter. That’s it.

There are two kinds of buttons.

Button	Meaning	Use it when
Global	Umtri is available in every project on this computer	It’s your own computer and you want convenience
Local	Umtri is available only in the project folder where you ran the command	You’d rather manage each project separately

If you’re not sure, pick Local. It’s a little more work, but safer.

If you click Dismiss before copying, the command disappears along with the token. Always copy first.

4. Check that it’s connected

Open your AI tool (if it was already open, close it and open it again) and say:

Show me my Umtri grounds

If the ground you just made shows up, you’re done.

If you use Claude Code, you can also type /mcp in the chat to see whether umtri is connected.

If it doesn’t work

The AI says there’s no Umtri tool — restart your AI tool. If you connected with Local, make sure you opened the AI in the same project folder where you ran the command.
The tools show up but keep failing — the token was most likely entered wrong. The token isn’t checked when you connect, so even a wrong token looks connected. Get a new token and connect again.
Reading works but adding or changing doesn’t — the token may be Read-only. Make a new one with Write.

You can ask the AI about this too:

I don't think Umtri is connected properly. Can you check what's wrong?

What changes once you’re connected

	Before	After
Drawing the tree	One by one in the app	”Add it to the tree”
Explaining the project	From scratch in every new chat	The AI reads the tree and starts from there
Recording bugs	Separate notes	”Register it as a bug”

In the next part we finally plant the tree, starting with transplanting — asking the AI to move a project you’ve already built into Umtri in one go.