Norm plugin

The Norm plugin (norm@bland) is the recommended setup for building Bland Agents from your coding agent. It connects to your account through the Bland MCP server and supplies the skills and commands to build, migrate, validate, and test agents. One plugin, three layers:

The hosted MCP server at api.bland.ai/v1/mcp reads and writes against your account: agents, versions, simulations, call logs, analytics, and docs search.
Skills teach the agent how to work with Bland Agents authoring, runtime behavior, evaluations, call analysis, tools, knowledge, environments, channels, and launch workflows.
The /norm:* commands guide new builds and migrations using raw JSON agent snapshots. Deterministic builders and audits preserve source content, and a convergence loop checks the saved version against simulations.

norm@bland is the plugin for Bland Agents. The separate bland@bland plugin covers v1 pathways, personas, and the file-based pathway workspace. Install both only if you work on both platforms. The /bland:* workspace commands are not part of Norm.

Using VS Code, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, or a client the plugin does not support? Connect the server directly from the MCP clients page.

Prerequisites

A Bland API key from app.bland.ai/settings/api-keys, for the organization that owns your agents or migration source. Never paste it into the chat; configure it in your host as described below.
Node.js 18 or newer for the local builder, audits, and hooks.

Install

Claude Code
Claude Desktop
Cursor
Codex

Inside a Claude Code session:

/plugin marketplace add CINTELLILABS/bland-plugins
/plugin install norm@bland

Enter your API key in the install prompt. If it does not prompt, or you skipped it, configure the key outside the conversation:

/plugin configure norm@bland

The host stores the key in your OS keychain. Restart the session, then type /norm to check that the build, migrate, validate, analytics, and simulate commands are available. Ask Norm to list your agents to verify the MCP connection and organization before making changes.

Install norm@bland as for Claude Code. If the Desktop plugin browser does not prompt for the key, configure it in a session:

/plugin configure norm@bland

Restart the app afterwards so the MCP connection picks it up.

Norm’s Cursor manifest is in the Norm package directory, but currently references a missing mcp.json. Do not assume the package configures the hosted connection. Until that packaging is fixed, use the direct Cursor MCP setup for server access. The root Bland plugin is the v1 package, not a substitute for Norm’s Bland Agents skills.

Norm includes a Codex manifest in the Norm package directory. The repository’s root Codex marketplace currently lists the v1 bland plugin, not Norm; do not select that entry for Bland Agents work.If your host cannot install the Norm package, clone CINTELLILABS/bland-plugins, tell your agent to follow v2/commands and v2/skills, and connect through the direct Codex MCP setup. This is the fallback used by Bland’s migration setup prompt for other coding agents.Set BLAND_API_KEY in the environment that launches Codex. Enter it in your own terminal without echoing it or leaving it in shell history:

printf 'Bland API key: '
read -rs BLAND_API_KEY
printf '\n'
export BLAND_API_KEY
codex

Codex reads the key from that environment only. For Codex Desktop, the key must be in the app’s environment when it starts.

Never paste your API key into the chat. Use the install prompt, the host’s plugin settings, or your own terminal. To set, fix, or rotate the key on Claude Code, run /plugin configure norm@bland.

On Codex, ask for the same work in plain language; it loads Norm’s skills rather than Claude Code slash commands. The Stop-hook convergence gate runs only in Claude Code, after loop initialization. It checks the local audit and recorded save/simulation results, but can release on iteration limits, repeated failures, or a timeout. Those releases are incomplete, not passing verification. On other hosts, follow the audit, save, and simulation checks explicitly.

Already using the Bland plugin?

Install norm@bland alongside it and configure Norm’s API key for the correct organization. Use /norm:* for Bland Agents and /bland:* only for v1 pathway work. Do not uninstall Norm or replace it with bland@bland for Bland Agents work.

The flow, start to production

Build it. /norm:build Build a Bland Agent for booking that collects name, callback number, and a time, then confirms it back. Norm proposes the architecture, authors a JSON snapshot, audits it, and asks before saving an agent version.
Give it tools and knowledge. Ask Norm to connect your booking API and attach the information callers need. Review every integration’s read and write behavior before testing.
Prove it works. /norm:simulate <agent_id> Verify booking, unavailable times, and requests for a human. Ask Norm to pin the saved candidate version explicitly and verify the run’s recorded version. An agent ID alone does not pin a version: unpinned agent simulations use the latest development head. Norm inspects failure traces and repeats the full suite after changes. Untestable lanes are reported as uncovered.
Define what to measure. Ask for evaluation judges and dispositions for booking success, appointment time, and the reason a caller did not book.
Ship safely. Ask Norm to publish the verified version to staging, check the required evaluations and environment values, and promote only after you approve the exact candidate. Saving a version does not authorize changing live traffic.
Watch and iterate. Ask Norm to analyze calls and failures. Use /norm:analytics to build a Sankey or conversation cohort, then validate and simulate any agent changes before promoting them.

Migrate an existing v1 pathway

/norm:migrate Migrate my v1 pathway <PATHWAY_ID> into a new Bland Agent named "Booking".
Show me the proposed architecture, ask before the first version push,
and finish with the full simulation suite and migration report.

Norm uses your v1 export as a read-only source, carries its content into a Bland Agents snapshot, audits parity, and verifies the new agent. Migration does not move phone numbers or change live v1 traffic. See Migrate to agents for the full walkthrough.

Edit an existing Bland Agent

Ask Norm to fetch the agent and make a specific change while preserving stable IDs. It works with raw JSON snapshots rather than the v1 Markdown/YAML pathway workspace. Run /norm:validate on the updated snapshot, save a new version with approval, and use /norm:simulate to verify that exact version before promotion.

Command reference

Command	What it does
`/norm:build <request>`	Design, author, audit, save, and verify a new Bland Agent.
`/norm:migrate <request>`	Migrate a v1 pathway or persona into a Bland Agent: discover, architect, author, audit, save, and simulate.
`/norm:validate <snapshot>`	Audit a JSON snapshot for structure and routing problems, plus source parity when migrating.
`/norm:analytics <request>`	Build or edit an agent’s analytics Sankey, or create a conversation cohort.
`/norm:simulate <agent_id, what to verify>`	Run and grade simulations, inspect failures, and verify a full suite on the exact saved version.

Skills

On hosts that load the Norm package, skills are available when the conversation matches their description. Use the host’s skill-loading behavior; having a manifest in the repository does not by itself verify a working installation.

Skill area	Use when
Authoring, snapshots, and runtime	Design new agents, author snapshots, and understand routing and execution.
Migration	Carry v1 content into Bland Agents without losing prompts, rules, tools, or pinned versions.
Maintenance	Update and debug existing agents with stable IDs and concurrency checks.
Testing and evaluations	Run simulations, inspect traces, create judges, and verify exact versions.
Lifecycle, environments, and launch	Manage versions, environment values, staging checks, promotion, and launch readiness.
Analytics and call analysis	Build analytics views, find conversation cohorts, and investigate calls with evidence.
Tools and knowledge	Create and test tools, manage secrets by reference, and attach knowledge.
Dispositions	Define, test, and publish post-call outputs.
Phone numbers, channels, and calls	Bind numbers, configure channels, and place calls with approval.
Automations and issues	Configure triggers and track failures with evidence.
API workspace	Find product references and work through the current Bland MCP/API schemas.

Safety

Confirm the organization through Norm’s own MCP connection before the first write. Multiple Bland connections in one session can belong to different organizations.
Keep your host’s tool-approval controls enabled and review writes, paid actions, calls, and promotions. These approval steps are host/operator responsibilities, not a guarantee that the server requires a human click. Approval to save a version is not approval to move live traffic.
Simulations can invoke real integrations. Keep write-side actions out of routine tests unless you explicitly authorize them, and report uncovered lanes rather than claiming they passed.
Review the saved staging evaluation policy. When it enables required evaluations, run and pass them for the candidate before promotion. Norm should not use force or weaken the policy to bypass a failure.
Your API key stays in the host’s configuration or environment, not the chat.

Advanced: configure bland_api_url in Claude’s plugin settings to target a staging server. Codex’s packaged manifest uses the production URL. For Cursor’s direct MCP setup, set the server URL in your MCP configuration rather than relying on the incomplete plugin package. A keyless Claude install supports local builders and audits, but API operations still need a configured key or explicit approval to use a project-supplied Bland connection.

Bland MCP Server

The hosted MCP endpoint behind the plugin.

Tool reference

Every tool the server exposes.

Norm

The in-app version of Norm in the Bland dashboard.

Agent builder

Build and edit Bland Agents with Norm.

Docs for agents: llms.txt

Core Bland Features

AI Agents & MCP

Basic Tutorials

Advanced Features

Platform Information

SDKs & Tools

Bland Enterprise

Prerequisites

Install

Already using the Bland plugin?

The flow, start to production

Migrate an existing v1 pathway

Edit an existing Bland Agent

Command reference

Skills

Safety

Bland MCP Server

Tool reference

Norm

Agent builder

​Prerequisites

​Install

​Already using the Bland plugin?

​The flow, start to production

​Migrate an existing v1 pathway

​Edit an existing Bland Agent

​Command reference

​Skills

​Safety

​Related

Bland MCP Server

Tool reference

Norm

Agent builder

Prerequisites

Install

Already using the Bland plugin?

The flow, start to production

Migrate an existing v1 pathway

Edit an existing Bland Agent

Command reference

Skills

Safety

Related