pincushion1. Start the developer wizard
In the repo, run npx pincushion-mcp setup. It signs in, registers project URLs, and asks the developer to choose an editor explicitly. A report recipient uses npx pincushion-mcp claim <report-token> instead.
From a pin on the page to a change in your repo.
Pincushion lets stakeholders pin feedback on a live page while developers and AI agents pull that context into the repo over MCP. These docs cover setup, how feedback reaches your agent, pricing, and where to go next.
Getting started
Sign up, make a project, drop a pin and invite someone. No install, extension or terminal needed.
- Sign up. Open the app and choose Google or an emailed sign-in link (developers can also use GitHub when it is offered). Signing up and signing in are the same step.
- Create a project. Choose Add project, then Create project. Connect GitHub to import repositories, choose Review a website to paste a live URL, or choose Set up manually to enter a name and URLs.
- Drop a pin. On the review, click anything on the page and write what should change. Pincushion records the element, a screenshot, the viewport and the page URL with your note, so whoever fixes it does not need to ask where you meant.
- Invite people. Open the project settings, choose People, and invite teammates, clients or your developer. See Inviting commenters.
- Optional: connect your coding agent. If an AI tool fixes the code, connect it so it can read the pins. See Claude Code and MCP.
Pages behind a sign-in or running on localhost cannot be captured by the web app. Use the optional Chrome extension for those.
Inviting commenters
Commenters are free and unlimited on every plan. Only developers who edit use a paid seat.
- Open your project, then its settings, then People.
- Choose Add person to invite by email, or Copy invite link to get a link you send yourself. Copying a link sends no email.
- Leave the role on Commenter for clients and stakeholders. They can pin and reply on reviews. Choose Editor only for a developer who needs to manage the project; an editor uses a developer seat.
- The person opens the link, signs in with Google or an emailed link, and lands on the project. Invite links expire, so send a fresh one if it has lapsed.
Don't want anyone to sign up? A shared report link can be viewed with no account. Whether visitors can add pins and replies without signing in depends on the project's comment access, under Sharing. Owners and editors can create share links; commenters cannot.
Using Claude Code and MCP
Connect your coding agent so it reads pins, fixes them in your repo and marks them resolved.
- In your repo run npx pincushion-mcp setup. It signs you in, registers your project URLs and asks you to pick an editor.
- For Claude Code you can also run claude mcp add pincushion -- npx pincushion-mcp --project-dir . --cloud-sync. Other editors and the hosted URL are listed on /mcp. Grok Bot connects to the hosted URL with your key; see the Grok Bot quickstart.
- Restart the editor, then ask the agent to call get_actionable_pins. An empty list still means you are connected; drop a pin and ask again.
- Ask the agent to run implement_approved_pins. It claims each pin with claim_pin, makes the change, and calls fix_and_resolve with the commit, branch and pull request so the pin keeps a trail of what shipped.
The full tool list is on /api.
Free crit FAQ
A crit is an annotated AI review of one public page, with concrete fixes pinned to exact elements.
How do I get one?
Go to /crit, enter a public page URL and your email, and choose Get my free crit. You do not need an account or any install.
How long does it take?
Most crits take two to three minutes. Stay on the page and the annotated report opens when it is ready. We also email you the link.
What can it review?
Public pages that anyone can open. It cannot see pages behind a sign-in or on localhost. For those, pin the page yourself in Pincushion.
Is it really free?
Yes. A crit is free and needs no card. If a request cannot start right now, the page says so and you can try again later.
What do I do with the crit?
Read the annotated report, then hand each fix to your coding agent or save the report to a project to keep working on it. See Claude Code and MCP.
What happens to the page I submit?
Hosted Crit sends selected rendered-page evidence to OpenAI for analysis. Details are in the privacy policy.
My crit failed or never arrived.
Use Check again or Try the same page again on the progress screen, or try a different public page. If it keeps failing, email support@pincushion.io.
Billing and plans FAQ
The pricing page is the source of truth for prices and plan contents.
What do I get for free?
Reviewers and commenters never pay.
What counts as an AI action?
Automation only: handing a pin to an agent, Pincushion AI replies, AI critique pins and post-deploy checks. Manual pins and human replies are never counted.
What happens when I run out of AI actions?
AI actions pause until the next month. Manual pins, comments and the MCP workflow keep working. You can upgrade or buy a one-time action pack from the pricing page.
What happens when my 14-day trial ends?
The account becomes the Free plan. Nothing is deleted. If you are over the Free project limit you choose one active project and the others stay viewable but read-only until you upgrade.
Which plan do I need?
Plans differ by projects, AI actions, developer seats and agency tools. Compare them on the pricing page. Plan changes and extra seats are available there too.
How do I cancel?
Email support@pincushion.io to cancel from your account email; the message is ready to send. Cancelling keeps access to the end of the current billing period. Partial months are not refunded.
Workflow overview
Each step narrows feedback into implementation instead of bouncing through screenshots and chat threads.
2. Restart and check feedback access
Restart the selected editor, then have the agent call get_actionable_pins. A config file alone does not prove that the agent is connected.
3. Review and approve a finding
Review an existing AI or human finding, approve that exact pin, and hand it to the developer or agent.
4. Use the extension when needed
The Chrome extension is optional. Install it when someone needs to place new browser pins; it is not required to connect an agent or read existing feedback.
Install flow
Setup starts in your repo. The Chrome extension is an optional way to collect feedback on any page.
- Run npx pincushion-mcp setup from the repo and explicitly choose your editor.
- Restart the editor and ask the agent to call get_actionable_pins.
- Open /mcp for exact editor commands, including Codex CLI.
- Install the Chrome extension later only if you want to place new browser pins.
- Use /api for slash commands, CLI usage, and the supported tool surface.
- If you need help, use Support or email support@pincushion.io.
Pricing
Stakeholders are always free. Manual pins and human replies never count toward the AI allowance.
| Plan | What it includes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 project, unlimited manual pins and comments, 25 AI actions per month, full MCP workflow, stakeholders always free, 30-second cloud sync polling. | $0 forever |
| Pro | Unlimited projects, Realtime push, instant pin notifications, branch-per-page batching, priority email support. | $19/mo or $15/mo billed annually |
| Team | Everything in Pro, 3 developer seats included, role management, @mentions, extra seats at $12 per seat per month. | $49/mo or $39/mo billed annually |
| Agency | Everything in Team, 5 developer seats included, unlimited client projects, white-label crit reports, private internal threads and labels, evidence export (CSV/PDF), client-review activity, extra seats at $12 per seat per month. | $99/mo or $79/mo billed annually |
Current limitations
What Pincushion does not do yet.
Chrome first
Chrome is the only browser extension available today. Firefox is not supported yet.
Privacy scope
The extension does not track browsing behavior; it sends only a few anonymous lifecycle events (installed, first activation, first pin — random ID, no URLs or page contents, opt-out in options). The marketing site uses Vercel Web Analytics and PostHog for pageviews and CTA events only. Full details in the privacy policy.
Billing policy
Subscriptions can be canceled any time and remain active through the end of the current billing period. There is no money-back guarantee claim on the public site.