# Agents overview

> How agents connect: the `insta` skill and the MCP server.

InstaCloud is agent-native: the stack is designed so that everything you can do in the console, an agent can do through the `insta` CLI or an MCP tool call. These are the pieces that make it true:

- **[Agent setup](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/agents/setup).** One command, `insta agent setup`, installs the skill and registers the MCP server for the agents on your machine.
- **[The `insta` skill](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/agents/skills).** Teaches terminal agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and others) the workflow: check `insta status`, work on a branch, pull secrets through the seam, deploy.
- **[MCP server](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/agents/mcp-server).** `https://mcp.instacloud.com/mcp` exposes the `insta_*` toolset ([reference](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/reference/mcp-tools)) over streamable HTTP, authenticated with OAuth or an `insta_` API token. Explicit `projectId` and `branch` arguments let an agent operate on any project its token can see, no linked directory required.
- **[One branch per task](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/agents/branch-per-task).** An agent task gets its own branch: its own database with real data, its own storage, its own compute URL. Mistakes stay on the branch and get deleted with it.

Run `insta agent setup` once, and any operation on your projects, from provisioning a database to deploying compute, is one your agents can run. Mix CLI and MCP freely; both hit the same API.