Start Web UI

SkillAI & models

This skill starts the Claude Paper web viewer using the production Nuxt.js server.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Start Web UI skill

About this capability

Start the Claude Paper web viewer to browse and study papers

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by alaliqing/claude-paper in plugin/skills/webui/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

This skill starts the Claude Paper web viewer using the production Nuxt.js server.

Step 1: Check and Install Dependencies (First Run Only)

Check if web dependencies are installed (with corruption check):

cd "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/src/web"

if [ ! -d "node_modules" ]; then
  echo "First run - installing web dependencies..."
  npm ci
  echo "Web dependencies installed!"
elif [ ! -f "node_modules/.package-lock.json" ] || [ ! -d "node_modules/nuxt" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: node_modules is corrupted, performing clean install..."
  rm -rf node_modules
  npm ci
  echo "Web dependencies installed!"
else
  echo "Dependencies already installed"
fi

Step 2: Build Production Server (auto-rebuilds on plugin update)

Build if needed or if plugin version changed:

cd ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/src/web

PLUGIN_VERSION=$(node -e "console.log(require('${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json').version)")
BUILD_VERSION=""
if [ -f ".output/.build-version" ]; then
  BUILD_VERSION=$(cat ".output/.build-version")
fi

if [ ! -f ".output/server/index.mjs" ] || [ "$PLUGIN_VERSION" != "$BUILD_VERSION" ]; then
  echo "Building production server (v${PLUGIN_VERSION})..."
  npm run build
  echo "$PLUGIN_VERSION" > .output/.build-version
  echo "Build complete!"
else
  echo "Production build is up to date (v${BUILD_VERSION})"
fi

Step 3: Check Port Availability

Ensure port 5815 is available (with version check restart):

# Get version info for comparison
PLUGIN_VERSION=$(node -e "console.log(require('${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json').version)")
BUILD_VERSION=""
if [ -f ".output/.build-version" ]; then
  BUILD_VERSION=$(cat ".output/.build-version")
fi

if lsof -i :5815 > /dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "INFO: Port 5815 is already in use"
  PID_FILE="/tmp/claude-paper-webui.pid"
  if [ -f "$PID_FILE" ] && kill -0 $(cat "$PID_FILE") 2>/dev/null; then
    # Check version match - restart if plugin was updated
    if [ "$PLUGIN_VERSION" = "$BUILD_VERSION" ]; then
      echo "Claude Paper web UI is already running (version ${PLUGIN_VERSION})"
      echo "Access it at: http://localhost:5815"
      exit 0
    else
      echo "Version mismatch: running ${BUILD_VERSION}, need ${PLUGIN_VERSION}"
      echo "Stopping old server..."
      kill $(cat "$PID_FILE") 2>/dev/null
      sleep 2
      rm -f "$PID_FILE"
      echo "Old server stopped, will restart with new version"
    fi
  else
    echo "ERROR: Port 5815 is occupied by another process"
    exit 1
  fi
fi

Step 4: Start Production Server

Start the server in background:

HOST=127.0.0.1 PORT=5815 node .output/server/index.mjs &
SERVER_PID=$!

# Save PID for later cleanup
echo $SERVER_PID > /tmp/claude-paper-webui.pid
echo "Server PID: $SERVER_PID"

Step 5: Verify Server Health

Wait for server to be ready:

timeout=10
while [ $timeout -gt 0 ]; do
  if curl -s http://localhost:5815/api/papers > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "Server is ready!"
    break
  fi
  sleep 1
  timeout=$((timeout - 1))
done

if [ $timeout -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "ERROR: Server failed to start properly"
  kill $SERVER_PID 2>/dev/null
  rm -f /tmp/claude-paper-webui.pid
  exit 1
fi

Step 6: Inform User

Tell the user the web viewer is available and provide cleanup instructions:

Claude Paper web UI is now running!

Access it at: http://localhost:5815

To stop the server, run:
  kill $(cat /tmp/claude-paper-webui.pid)

Signals

GitHub stars
336
Forks
27
Last commit
Aug 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
webui
Source
github.com/alaliqing/claude-paper