Buildsworn Quickstart: from nothing to your first map and your first gate

For people who have never used Claude Code, a terminal or an MCP server. No theory, one action per step, and what you should see. The long reference is GETTING-STARTED.md; you do not need it today.

What you are building: a setup where you talk to Claude in plain English, Claude builds and edits things inside the Unreal Editor through Epic's own connector, and Buildsworn makes Claude prove the result (compile, tests, logs, screenshot) before it says "done".

Time: about 30 minutes, most of it downloads.

Step 0. Words you will meet (read once)

Step 1. Install Claude Code (5 minutes)

1. Go to https://claude.com/claude-code and follow the Windows install instructions.
2. Open a terminal (Win, type PowerShell, Enter) and type: claude --version You should see a version number. If you see "not recognized", close the terminal, open a new one and try again (the install added it to PATH, but old windows do not know yet).
3. Type claude and Enter. First run asks you to log in with your Anthropic account in the browser. Do it, then type /exit.

Step 2. Unreal Engine 5.8 with Epic's Model Context Protocol plugin (5 minutes)

Buildsworn works with UE 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8, but the "Claude builds my map" part uses Epic's official connector, which exists from 5.8. If you are on 5.6/5.7, skip to Step 3; Buildsworn has its own smaller editor bridge for those versions.

1. Epic Games Launcher, Unreal Engine, Library: install 5.8 if you have not.
2. Open your project (or create one: Games, Third Person, C++, name it BrainTest).
3. Menu Edit, Plugins. Search Model Context Protocol. Tick Enabled. Restart the editor when asked.
4. After the restart, open the output log (Window, Output Log) and type in the console line at the bottom: ModelContextProtocol.StartServer You should see a line that the server listens on 127.0.0.1:8000. (Buildsworn's /start will later tell you if it is not running.)

Also needed once: Visual Studio 2022 with the "Game development with C++" workload, exactly as for any C++ project. If your project already compiles from the editor, you have it.

Step 3. Install Buildsworn (5 minutes)

1. Open the e-mail with your key (free Solo registration or Studio purchase). Click Download the installer (buildsworn-setup.exe, about 40 MB).
2. Run it. Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" (we are a small studio and the installer is not yet code-signed). Click More info, then Run anyway. You can check the file on virustotal.com first; it has zero detections.
3. Wizard pages, what to type:
4. Engine root: leave the default if the engine is in C:\Program Files\Epic Games. Workspace: leave the default.
5. Project folders: where your .uproject files live. Default Documents\Unreal Projects is right for most people.
6. License key: paste the key from the e-mail. No key yet? Leave it empty: you get a 7-day trial on this machine. PixelLab and Gemini keys: leave empty for now.
7. Claude Code plugin: leave it ticked. Telemetry: your choice, off by default.
8. Finish. A black window flashes for a few seconds: that is the configuration step. It registers Buildsworn (and, on 5.8, Epic's unreal-mcp) in Claude Code and starts indexing your engine's API in the background (about 3 minutes, you can continue).

Step 4. Check that Claude sees everything (2 minutes)

1. Open a terminal in your project folder: in Explorer, open the folder with the .uproject, click the address bar, type powershell, Enter.
2. Type claude and Enter.
3. Type /mcp and Enter. You should see buildsworn connected and, on 5.8, unreal-mcp connected (the editor must be open).
4. Type /start and Enter. You should see a short report: license OK (or TRIAL with days left), API index ready or still building, your project found, editor bridge status, and the project briefing (real output from the demo project):

Something red? The report says what to do. Most common: the editor is closed (unreal-mcp cannot connect) or the license key has a typo.

Step 5. Your first map, built by Claude (10 minutes)

With the editor open and the terminal in the project folder, type to Claude in plain English, for example:

Using unreal-mcp, create a new level called TestArena. Add a 40x40 m floor, four walls, a player start in the middle, a directional light and a sky. Then save the level.

Watch the editor: actors appear as Claude calls Epic's tools. When Claude says it is done, do not take its word for it:

/gate

You should see a table: compile PASS, verify_funcs PASS, tests PASS (or SKIPPED if the project has none), log PASS. If any line is FAIL, the reason is under the table. Tell Claude: "fix the FAIL and run /gate again".

This is what it looks like on the demo project that ships with Buildsworn, which has one function declared without a body on purpose:

After "fix the FAIL and run /gate again":

Ask for a picture of the result:

Take a screenshot of the TestArena viewport with ue_screenshot and describe what you see.

That screenshot is your proof, not the sentence "the level is ready".

Step 6. Working like this every day

Real examples of building a game this way (actors, multiplayer pickups, HUD, data tables, tests, Steam): the Cookbook.

• Start every session with /start (state, license, what changed).
• Editor work (levels, Blueprints, widgets, materials): ask Claude, it uses unreal-mcp.
• C++ work: Claude edits files; every edit gets an automatic .bak copy next to it (Buildsworn hook).
• Before you believe "done": /gate. Before you ship: /release.
• Claude wants to delete something or kill a process: it must ask you first (Buildsworn hook). Say no when in doubt.
• End of the day: /session-end writes a short state note so tomorrow's /start knows where you left off.

When it does not work

Support: support@adrenalinegames.pl or the contact form, reply within two working days. Discord: discord.gg/QK8J5GrhmR