Question 1

What is CLAUDELCARS?

Accepted Answer

CLAUDELCARS is an open source developer tool that scans your ~/.claude/ directory and renders your entire Claude Code setup as an interactive Star Trek LCARS-style terminal in your browser. It visualizes your skills, MCP servers, hooks, agents, and memory files — all in one place, with one command.

Question 2

How do I install and run CLAUDELCARS?

Accepted Answer

Run `npx claude-hud-lcars` in your terminal. No installation required — npx downloads and runs it automatically. For the full experience with AI ship's computer chat and voice interface, run `npx claude-hud-lcars --serve` with your ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable set.

Question 3

What is Claude Code?

Accepted Answer

Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI for AI-assisted software development. It supports a rich plugin ecosystem including custom skills, MCP servers, hooks, and agents — all stored in configuration files under your ~/.claude/ directory. CLAUDELCARS makes that invisible setup visible.

Question 4

What are MCP servers?

Accepted Answer

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers extend Claude Code with external capabilities — connecting it to databases, APIs, file systems, web browsers, and more. CLAUDELCARS shows all your configured MCP servers and performs a health check on boot, triggering a Red Alert if any are offline.

Question 5

Does CLAUDELCARS work on Windows, Mac, and Linux?

Accepted Answer

Yes. CLAUDELCARS is a Node.js tool that works on any platform where Node.js runs. The dashboard generates a self-contained HTML file that opens in any modern browser — no server required for the base dashboard.

Question 6

Is CLAUDELCARS free?

Accepted Answer

Completely free and open source under the MIT license. The AI ship's computer chat feature requires your own Anthropic API key, which you supply — CLAUDELCARS never stores or proxies your keys.

Question 7

What is LCARS?

Accepted Answer

LCARS stands for Library Computer Access and Retrieval System — the iconic touchscreen interface used aboard Starfleet vessels in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Designed by Michael Okuda, it became one of the most recognizable UI designs in science fiction. CLAUDELCARS recreates this aesthetic as a fully functional developer dashboard.

Question 8

What ship themes are available in CLAUDELCARS?

Accepted Answer

Four themes: Enterprise-D (classic TNG orange and blue), Defiant (darker red and grey), Voyager (blue-shifted), and Discovery (silver and blue modern Starfleet). All switchable instantly from the CONFIG panel, persisted in localStorage.