Claude Code Quick Start

July 6, 2026 · View on GitHub

Get set up in 3 minutes and let Claude Code help you build real-time data assets.

Prefer automated install? Send AGENTS.md to your agent and it handles everything.

Step 1 -- Get an API Key

Go to the GoalfyData to create an API Key (in the format gfk_xxx).

The plaintext key is only shown once at creation time. Save it in a secure location.

Step 2 -- Install uds-cli

uds-cli is used for data plane operations (executing SQL, importing data, viewing table schemas).

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.goalfydata.ai/dataset-uds/install.sh | sh
# if "command not found": use "$HOME/.goalfy/bin/uds-cli" instead of uds-cli
uds-cli login --api-key gfk_your_api_key --api-url https://api.goalfydata.ai

Step 3 -- Install the Plugin

Installing from the marketplace automatically handles the plugin structure, MCP configuration, and Skill loading -- no need to manually copy files.

claude plugin marketplace add GoalfyAI/goalfydata
claude plugin install goalfydata@goalfydata

Alternative: Git clone + local marketplace

Clone the repository and add it as a local marketplace — this goes through the plugin mechanism, so both MCP and Skill load correctly:

git clone https://github.com/GoalfyAI/goalfydata.git
claude plugin marketplace add ./goalfydata
claude plugin install goalfydata@goalfydata

Do NOT copy files into ~/.claude/skills/ manually. The .mcp.json inside a skills directory is never read by Claude Code, so the MCP connection would silently fail.

Step 4 -- Configure API Key

Add your API Key in the env section of ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "env": {
    "GOALFY_UDS_API_KEY": "gfk_your_api_key"
  }
}

This step is required -- otherwise the MCP connection will fail. When launching Claude Code from a desktop app or IDE, shell environment variables are not read. The API Key must be configured via settings.json.

Step 5 -- Restart Claude Code

Fully quit and reopen Claude Code to activate the plugin and MCP.

Step 6 -- Verify

Type /mcp in Claude Code and confirm that goalfydata-mcp shows as connected with 20 tools.

If it shows as failed:

  • Confirm that GOALFY_UDS_API_KEY is configured in ~/.claude/settings.json
  • Confirm the API Key has a valid gfk_ prefix
  • Fully quit and restart Claude Code

Getting Started

Once verification passes, simply tell Claude Code what you want to do:

Create a Dataset from a File

Create a dataset from this Excel file

Pull Data from an API with Scheduled Sync

Create an e-commerce dataset with 3 tables:
- products: pull from https://dummyjson.com/products
- users: pull from https://dummyjson.com/users
- orders: pull from https://dummyjson.com/carts
Set up automatic sync every day at 2 AM.

Query and Analyze Existing Datasets

List my datasets

Analyze the orders table trends, with monthly sales statistics

Develop a Data App

Based on this e-commerce dataset, build a dashboard app and deploy it to the public internet

Share a Dataset

Share this dataset with xxx@example.com

FAQ

MCP Shows Error / Not Connected

  1. Check whether GOALFY_UDS_API_KEY exists in ~/.claude/settings.json
  2. Confirm the API Key is valid (verify at https://goalfydata.ai/settings)
  3. Fully quit and restart Claude Code

uds-cli Command Not Found

Reopen your terminal to refresh the PATH, or invoke the binary by absolute path "$HOME/.goalfy/bin/uds-cli" (agent non-interactive shells do not load rc files; the absolute path always works). If login reports unknown flag: --api-key, run uds-cli self-update first.

Operations still fail after changing the API Key

A stale key remains in the environment (config file or terminal export), which takes precedence over the saved login. Complete all steps in "Rotating the API Key" and fully restart.

Plugin Installation Fails with "source type not supported"

Run claude plugin marketplace update goalfydata to update the cache and try again.

Update

Plugin Update

Marketplace installation: Marketplace plugins auto-update on startup. Manual update:

claude plugin update goalfydata@goalfydata

Local marketplace installation: Pull the latest changes and refresh the marketplace:

cd goalfydata && git pull
claude plugin marketplace update goalfydata

After updating, run /reload-plugins or restart Claude Code.

uds-cli Update

uds-cli self-update

Both already on the latest version and update succeeded: <old> → <new> are normal; if it reports the API URL is not configured, run uds-cli self-update --api-url https://api.goalfydata.ai instead.

Rotating the API Key

When the old key is deleted or needs rotation, complete all steps in order (logging in alone is not enough: environment variables take precedence over the saved login configuration, so a stale value keeps being used by both uds-cli and MCP).

The easiest way: copy the setup text from the official integration page ( https://goalfydata.ai/integrations/claude-code ) and send it to your agent again and it handles everything. Manual steps:

  1. Delete the old key and create/copy a new one in the GoalfyData
  2. Log in again: uds-cli login --api-key gfk_your_new_key --api-url https://api.goalfydata.ai
  3. Update the value of GOALFY_UDS_API_KEY in ~/.claude/settings.json to the new key
  4. Quit Claude Code completely and reopen it

Why the restart is required: the configuration saved by login takes effect immediately, but the environment variables injected from the config file and the MCP connection only switch to the new key after a full restart. Afterwards, run uds-cli whoami to confirm the displayed key prefix is the new one.

Next Steps