Install the plugin in Claude Code, confirm its server is connected, and ask your first questions. It takes about ten minutes and needs no account, API key, or sign-in. Using Claude on the web or the desktop app? See other ways to connect.
https://public.cicada.guide over HTTPS.At the Claude Code prompt, run these two commands one at a time. Claude Code runs a command only when it starts the message, so pasting both at once runs just the first.
/plugin marketplace add cicada-guide/plugin
It prints Successfully added marketplace. Then install:
/plugin install cicada-guide@cicada-guide
The install command opens the plugin's details and asks where to install it. Choose Install for you to use it in every project. The install summary ends with Plugin is now active. If the plugin is left pending instead, run /reload-plugins.
At the Claude Code prompt, run /mcp and find guide-public, listed under the cicada-guide plugin. It should show as connected. Then run /help. The list should include the plugin's three slash commands:
/cicada-guide:research-legislation/cicada-guide:voting-record/cicada-guide:contact-legislatorThe always-on get-legislation skill has no command of its own. It loads by itself whenever you ask about state legislation.
If guide-public is missing or disconnected, check that the server itself is up. Run this in a terminal, not at the Claude Code prompt:
curl https://public.cicada.guide/health
It should print {"status":"ok"}. If it does and the server still doesn't connect, see Troubleshooting.
Ask in plain language, naming the state and the session:
What does Alabama HB 591 from the 2026 Regular Session do?
Claude may ask for approval before each tool runs. The tools only read legislative data, so you can allow them for the session.
A good answer names the bill by number, state, and session; gives its title and its status as recorded; says what the bill does based on the text or synopsis it read; and links the source document. If Claude asks which bill or session you mean, answer it: the same bill number can match bills in more than one state.
In Claude Code's terminal, the written answer is followed by a short text version of the bill. The answer is built from the data tools and stands on its own.
Hosts that render MCP Apps show a bill card instead, with tabs for Overview, Sponsors, Documents, and Votes. See Commands and agents for the cards.
How do I contact Alabama Representative Rex Reynolds?
Claude finds the legislator by name, confirms which person you mean, and ends with their contact card: the photo, the seat, every contact option on record, a district map when an outline exists, and recent votes. Contact details are not on record for most officials; when they're missing, the answer says so instead of guessing.
Don't know your legislator's name? Look it up on your state legislature's website first. The plugin can't find a legislator from an address or district.
/cicada-guide:voting-record Rex Reynolds Alabama
The answer leads with the identification (full name, party, jurisdiction, and seat as recorded) so you can confirm it's the right person, then lists recorded votes newest first with the date, the bill, the legislator's recorded position, and that roll call's tallies. It states the window the votes cover.
