techmanual.ai — Claude Code Plugin

Search and retrieve structured technical documentation for T&M, industrial, and power electronics equipment — directly inside Claude Code.

Install

Step 1 — Get a free API key at techmanual.ai/setup (no account required).

Step 2 — Set your API key in the terminal where you'll launch Claude Code:

# macOS / Linux
export TMAI_API_KEY=your_key_here

# Windows (PowerShell)
$env:TMAI_API_KEY="your_key_here"

Step 3 — Launch Claude Code from the terminal

claude

Use the claude CLI, not the VS Code sidebar extension — the plugin system requires the terminal client.

Step 4 — Install the plugin

Run each command inside your Claude Code session, in order:

/plugin marketplace add techmanual-ai/claude-plugin

/plugin install techmanual@techmanual-ai

/reload-plugins

Done. The search, list_manuals, and get_page tools are now available. Claude will offer to save your API key permanently on first use — no shell profile editing required.

What it does

Once installed, Claude will proactively pull relevant documentation when you are:

• Writing SCPI / instrument control code
• Working with a specific piece of equipment (mention the model number)
• Troubleshooting error codes or unexpected instrument behavior
• Setting up measurements, calibration, or hardware integrations

Tools provided

Tool	Description
search	Semantic + full-text search across all manuals
list_manuals	Browse available manuals; filter by manufacturer, model, or equipment type
get_page	Retrieve specific pages from a document by ID and page number

Manual install (stdio MCP)

If you prefer the stdio transport or are using another MCP client (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf):

pip install techmanual-client

Then add to your MCP config:

{
  "techmanual": {
    "command": "techmanual-mcp",
    "env": { "TMAI_API_KEY": "your-key-here" }
  }
}

See techmanual.ai/setup for full setup instructions.

License

MIT