Muse

Telem adds web search, page reading and monitors to Muse CLI. The tools come from Telem’s hosted MCP server. A Telem hook sends your options with each search, and records why Muse searched when the model gives reasoning summaries.

Before you begin

Node.js 20 or later, on the PATH of the shell that runs muse. The installer checks for it and offers to install it. The hook runs on it.

Create a Telem API key

1. Open your project
2. API keys
3. Issue API key

tlm_••••••••••••••••Keys start with tlm_.

Open the console

Never paste a key into a chat with Muse. Every path below sets it for you.

Install

Connect Muse to Telem

Installer

1. Run the installer in your terminal and pick Muse CLI. Paste your key when the installer asks. The field is masked, and the key never appears on screen. The installer also asks whether to turn off Muse’s own web search.

   curl -fsSL https://docs.telem.ai/install.sh | sh

2. Start a new Muse session. Muse reads its settings when a session starts.

3. Check the install. telem is in the list of your skills. Then ask Muse to search the web: the search shows in the console.

   muse skills list --source user

Install with no prompts, for example in CI

curl -fsSL https://docs.telem.ai/install.sh | sh -s -- --yes --client muse --key-env TELEM_API_KEY

With --yes, Muse’s own web search stays on. Add --muse-disable-web-search to turn it off too.

By hand

1. Add the server with your key. Put this entry in ~/.config/muse/settings.json ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/muse/settings.json if you set XDG_CONFIG_HOME), with your key in place of tlm_your_key:

   ~/.config/muse/settings.json

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "telem": {
         "transport": "streamable_http",
         "url": "https://mcp.telem.ai/mcp",
         "headers": {
           "Authorization": "Bearer tlm_your_key",
           "User-Agent": "telem-muse"
         },
         "mode": "optional"
       }
     }
   }

2. Start a new Muse session. Muse reads its settings when a session starts.

3. Check the connection. Ask Muse to search the web. The search shows in the console.

This gives Muse the tools, but not the hook: your .telem/telem.json options and the reasoning are not sent. The installer adds the hook.

Ask your agent

1. Start Muse with your key set, and paste this prompt. Muse runs the installer, which reads the key from TELEM_API_KEY, so the key never goes into the chat.

   export TELEM_API_KEY=tlm_your_key
   muse

   Set up Telem web search for this coding agent.
   
   1. Read https://docs.telem.ai/llms.txt to learn what Telem is.
   2. Check that the TELEM_API_KEY environment variable is set. Do not print its
      value. If it is not set, stop and ask me to set it and restart you.
   3. Run the Telem installer for this agent, with no prompts:
      curl -fsSL https://docs.telem.ai/install.sh | sh -s -- --yes --client muse --key-env TELEM_API_KEY
   4. Show me the installer's summary. Then tell me to restart Muse,
      so that the Telem tools load.

2. Start a new Muse session. Muse reads its settings when a session starts.

3. Check the install. telem is in the list of your skills. Then ask Muse to search the web: the search shows in the console.

   muse skills list --source user

If it does not work, see If something goes wrong.

Tools

Search and read

4 tools

• telem_search Searches the web on several providers in one call.
• telem_fetch Reads the full text of up to 5 pages.
• telem_providers Lists the search providers.
• telem_session_history Lists the earlier searches in a session.

Monitors

4 tools

• create_monitor Runs a search on a schedule and keeps only new results.
• list_monitors Lists your monitors.
• get_new_results Gets the new results of a monitor since the last read.
• delete_monitor Deletes a monitor.

Muse runs the search and read tools without asking, also in muse exec. It asks before create_monitor, get_new_results and delete_monitor, because they change your monitors.

Specific to Muse

• Options come from the file, not your shell. Muse does not give your shell’s environment to the hook, so the TELEM_* variables do not apply. Put your options in .telem/telem.json: the project file, then ~/.telem/telem.json. The hook sends them with every search and page read, the fetch keys included. providerOverrides is not sent. The hook reads the project file even in a workspace that Muse does not trust.
• Why Muse searched. The hook sends the reasoning summary that led to each search. Some models give their reasoning only in encrypted form. Then the hook sends the text Muse wrote before the search, if there is any.
• Muse’s own web search. If you say yes, the installer sets { "tools": { "web_search": { "mode": "off" } } } in Muse’s settings. This turns off both Muse’s web_search and its web_fetch.
• The Muse app. The app has no installer. Ask Muse to add Telem as a custom connector, for example: “Set up the Telem MCP server at https://mcp.telem.ai/mcp as a custom connector.” When Muse asks for the API key, give it your key.
• The tool names in Muse are mcp__telem__telem_search, mcp__telem__telem_fetch and so on.

If something goes wrong

• 401 on every call: the server’s Authorization header is missing or has an old key. Run the installer again, or edit the header. Muse reports “authentication failed” for any refused connection. With a valid key, the telem entry needs a User-Agent header, such as "User-Agent": "telem-muse"; the installer writes one.
• Searches show without their session or reasoning: node is not on the PATH of the shell that runs muse. The search still runs, without lineage.
• No Telem tools, or no MCP tools at all: a header that names an unset variable, such as "Bearer ${TELEM_API_KEY}", turns off every MCP server with no error. Write the key itself. A settings file with both an mcpServers and an mcp_servers block also runs with no MCP servers: keep mcpServers.
• Muse stops the whole run when Telem cannot be reached: the telem entry is missing "mode": "optional".

Update and remove

To update, run the installer again. It rewrites the hook and the skill when they changed. You can keep the key you already have.

To remove Telem, take these out of ~/.config/muse/settings.json:

• the telem entry under mcpServers;
• the Telem handler under hooks.PreToolUse (its command runs telem-muse.mjs);
• tools.web_search.mode, if the installer set it and you want Muse’s own web search back.

Then delete the telem and skills/telem folders in ~/.config/muse/, and start a new Muse session. Muse then has no Telem tools or skill, and its own web search is back if you removed the setting.

What the installer changed outside Muse’s settings

File	What it holds	To undo
~/.telem/credentials.json	Your key	Delete it if no other Telem integration uses it.
~/.telem/telem.json	Your Telem options	Delete it if no other Telem integration uses it.

Learn more

Configuration

Set the tier, the providers and auto-routing in one file, for Muse and your other agents.

Parameters

Every option, the values it takes, and which setting wins.

Search parameters

What each search option does, from tiers to date windows.

Fetch parameters

Choose the fetch provider and tier, or read pages live.