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Onboarding for agents

Bitrise is mobile-focused CI/CD and app distribution for iOS and Android, including Flutter and React Native. If you work through an AI agent such as Claude Code, Cursor, or VS Code with GitHub Copilot, it can create your Bitrise account and authenticate you to the platform without leaving the chat, using the Bitrise MCP server. You hand it an email address, read back a one-time code, and you're connected.

When to use thisClick to copy link​

You want to use Bitrise for CI/CD, app distribution, or getting a local build onto devices, and one of the following is true:

  • You don't have a Bitrise account yet, so your agent creates one in the session.
  • You already have an account, so your agent only authenticates the MCP connection through OAuth or a personal access token.

If you'd rather not use an agent, you can also sign up for Bitrise in the browser.

Creating an account through the MCPClick to copy link​

The flow has five steps: get an MCP-capable client, connect the server, register your email, verify the code, then re-authenticate with the token you receive. You supply the email and the verification code, and your agent does the rest.

Step 1: Get an AI client that supports MCPClick to copy link​

You need an AI client that supports MCP and an email address to register. Each step below gives the configuration for the most common clients: Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and Claude Desktop. Bitrise MCP also supports Windsurf, the Google Gemini CLI, AWS Kiro, and other Copilot IDEs. See each install guide for client-specific details.

Step 2: Connect the MCP serverClick to copy link​

Point your client at the remote server with no token — the account-creation tools (register and verify_registration) don't need one. After editing the config, reconnect the client so the change takes effect (see Reconnecting the MCP client). For the full setup, follow the install guide linked in each tab.

claude mcp add --transport http bitrise https://mcp.bitrise.io

Full setup: Claude Applications.

Expect two reconnects

You reconnect the client twice: once now while unauthenticated, and once again in Step 5 after you have the token.

Step 3: Register your emailClick to copy link​

Give your agent the email address to register. It calls register, and Bitrise emails you a one-time verification code (OTP) and returns a pending_signup_id. The code lives only in your inbox, so your agent can't guess it.

Step 4: Verify the codeClick to copy link​

Read the code back to your agent. It calls verify_registration with the pending_signup_id and your code. On success, Bitrise returns an api_token (a personal access token) and a workspace_slug: a Workspace is created for you automatically. To see how Workspaces organize your apps and team, read the Workspaces overview.

Step 5: Authenticate the connectionClick to copy link​

Your agent adds the token to the entry from Step 2 and reconnects (the second reconnect), then confirms the connection with the me or list_workspaces tools.

claude mcp remove bitrise && claude mcp add --transport http bitrise https://mcp.bitrise.io -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_token>"
Token lifetime

The token from verify_registration is valid for 24 hours, which is enough to finish onboarding. For long-term use, create a durable personal access token at Account settings → Security and swap it into the same Authorization header.

Reconnecting the MCP clientClick to copy link​

Editing the config in Step 2 and Step 5 takes effect only after the client reloads the Bitrise MCP server. How you do that depends on the client:

  • Claude Code (CLI): Run /mcp to view and reconnect the server, or quit and relaunch claude.
  • VS Code (GitHub Copilot): Open the Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P), run MCP: List Servers, select bitrise, and choose Restart, or run Developer: Reload Window.
  • Cursor: Open Settings → MCP (Tools) and toggle the bitrise server off and on, or click its refresh icon. Restarting Cursor also works.
  • Claude Desktop: Quit the app fully (Cmd+Q on macOS, or quit from the system tray on Windows) and reopen it. Closing the window alone doesn't reload it.
  • Other clients (Windsurf, Gemini CLI, AWS Kiro): Restart the client, or its MCP connection if it exposes one.

If something goes wrongClick to copy link​

  • The email is already registered: You already have a Bitrise account, so don't retry registration. Authenticate the existing account with OAuth or a personal access token, then continue with After your account is created.
  • The code is rejected as invalid: It was mistyped or wrong. Re-check the email and try again with the same pending_signup_id.
  • The code expired or you hit too many attempts: The pending signup is no longer usable. Register again to send a fresh code, then verify with the new pending_signup_id.

After your account is createdClick to copy link​

The same MCP connection now drives the rest of Bitrise: creating apps and connecting repositories, configuring bitrise.yml, triggering builds, reading logs, and managing artifacts and distribution. You can also limit which tool groups the server exposes, as described in Tools.

For conventions and a guided walkthrough of connecting your repository and running your first build, install the Bitrise agent skill:

npx skills add bitrise-io/agent-skills

This installs the using-bitrise-ci skill, which loads automatically on Bitrise CI topics. Invoke it explicitly with /using-bitrise-ci, or add --global to install it across all your projects.

New to Bitrise? Start with Getting started and the key Bitrise concepts. To see what else Bitrise can do with AI, see AI features on Bitrise.