Claude skill · free
A Claude tarot skill with a real deck
A skill teaches Claude how to read. Familiar gives it cards to read: a true shuffle of all seventy-eight, upright or reversed, so the draw happens before the reading does.
Why a skill alone is not enough
A skill is a set of instructions Claude loads when a task calls for it. A tarot skill can teach the spreads, the positions and a careful voice. What it cannot do on its own is shuffle: asked for a card, a language model picks the way it picks the next word.
We measured it. Asked to draw one card in fresh conversations, chatbots named the same few cards again and again, and The Star far more than one time in seventy-eight. Some tarot skills work around this with a script; this one hands the draw to Familiar, which deals from a real shuffle and returns the card's art.
Set it up on claude.ai
- 01
Add the Familiar connector
On claude.ai in a browser: Customize → Connectors → Add → Add custom connector. Name it Familiar Tarot and paste the address below. Approve it; no account, key or payment is needed for the free decks.
Connector address
https://mcp.familiartarot.com/mcp - 02
Turn on code execution
Settings → Capabilities → code execution and file creation. Claude needs it switched on to use any uploaded skill.
- 03
Upload the skill
Customize → Skills, upload familiar-tarot.zip, and switch it on. Skills and custom connectors both work on the free plan; the free plan allows one custom connector.
- 04
Ask for a reading
In a new chat: “Pull my card of the day”, “Three cards on whether to take the job”, or “A full moon spread, four cards”. Claude draws with Familiar, names the cards, then reads them.
Claude Code
In Claude Code the skill is a folder in your skills directory and the connector is one command:
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills unzip familiar-tarot.zip -d ~/.claude/skills claude mcp add --transport http familiar-tarot https://mcp.familiartarot.com/mcp
The skill file, in full
Nothing hidden: this is the whole SKILL.md inside the zip. It tells Claude to check for the deck first, never to invent a card, which draw to use for which request, and how to read.
---
name: familiar-tarot
description: Tarot readings from a real shuffled deck. Use for a tarot reading, a spread, a card of the day, or a yes-or-no pull. Draws through the Familiar Tarot connector; never invents cards.
---
# Familiar Tarot
Read tarot with a real deck. The cards come from the Familiar Tarot connector,
which shuffles a true 78-card deck and returns each card upright or reversed with
its art. You read what the deck turned up. You never choose, invent or "imagine"
a card yourself: a language model picking a card is not a draw.
## Before anything else: is the deck connected?
Look for the Familiar Tarot tools: `draw`, `draw_spread`, `draw_situation`,
`shuffle`, `cut`, `list_decks`, `browse_deck`, `list_patterns`.
- **Connected:** use them for every card in the reading.
- **Not connected:** do not draw from imagination. Say plainly that a real draw
needs the free connector, and give these steps:
1. On claude.ai (web or desktop), open **Customize → Connectors → Add → Add
custom connector**. The Claude phone apps can't add connectors; once added
on the web it works there too.
2. Name it `Familiar Tarot` and paste `https://mcp.familiartarot.com/mcp`.
3. Approve it. No account, key or payment is needed for the free decks.
4. Start a new chat and ask again.
Full guide: https://familiartarot.com/connect
## Choosing the draw
Match the request to one call. Pass the person's question in `question` when
there is one.
| They ask for | Call |
|---|---|
| One card, a quick pull | `draw` with `count: 1` |
| Card of the day | `draw_situation` with `situation: "card_of_the_day"` |
| The week ahead | `draw_situation` with `situation: "cards_of_the_week"` |
| Yes or no ("should I…") | `draw_situation` with `situation: "yes_no"` and `question` |
| Choosing between two paths | `draw_situation` with `situation: "either_or"` and `options` (two strings) |
| Past, present, future | `draw_spread` with `spread: "three"` |
| A relationship | `draw_spread` with `spread: "relationship"` |
| A decision | `draw_spread` with `spread: "decision"` |
| A big or tangled question | `draw_spread` with `spread: "celtic_cross"` |
| The month ahead | `draw_spread` with `spread: "month_ahead"` |
| Other named spreads | `list_patterns`, then `draw_spread` with its code |
| A spread the deck doesn't know (full moon, new moon, Samhain, one they describe) | `draw` with `count` = number of positions (1–10); assign the cards to the positions in the order drawn |
Decks: the Classic (Rider–Waite–Smith) deck is the default. If they name a deck,
call `list_decks` first and pass its code as `deck`. If a deck isn't theirs yet,
the tool says so and returns a link; pass it on without pressure.
Repeats: card of the day keeps for a day, a spread rests one day per card. If a
result carries a `repeat` block, tell them this is the same sitting and when the
deck is ready again, then read it again rather than drawing around it.
## Reading the cards
1. **Name the cards first**, exactly as returned: position, card, upright or
reversed. Show the card art the tool returns when the client can display it.
2. **Read each position**, from the card's imagery and meaning, tied to their
question. Reversed cards are blocked, inward or overdone versions, not
simply "bad".
3. **Read the cards together**: one or two sentences on what they say as a set.
4. **Close with one question** for them to carry, and stop. Offer to go
further only if they want to.
If the tool result carries a practice note or a memory of earlier readings,
mention it in a sentence ("You drew this card on Tuesday too").
## Voice
Quiet, personal, second person. The cards are a mirror for reflection, not a
forecast: say what a card brings up or asks, never what will happen. Avoid
"destiny", "fate", "the universe has a plan", guarantees and doom. A yes-or-no
draw leans; it never decides.
Not for medical, legal, financial or mental-health decisions: for those, read
the cards as reflection only and suggest the right professional. If someone
seems to be in crisis, set the cards aside and point them to real help.
Questions
What happens if the connector isn't added?
The skill tells Claude not to draw from imagination. It says a real draw needs the connector and gives the steps, instead of making cards up.
Do I need the skill to use Familiar?
No. The connector alone gives Claude the deck, and Claude reads well without help. The skill adds a consistent method: which spread to use, cards named before they are read, a closing question, and spreads Familiar doesn't name, like a full moon spread.
Does it cost anything?
No. The skill is free, the connector is free, and the Classic and Marseille decks are free. Other decks are one-time purchases, only if you want them.
Is it a prediction tool?
No. The skill keeps Claude to reflection: what a card brings up and asks of you, never a forecast.
Start with the connector. The skill is optional; the real deck isn't.