Start Web UI
SkillAI & modelsThis skill starts the Claude Paper web viewer using the production Nuxt.js server.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
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