From 49ff3678a3afb0230890268cec140e6a8afb374e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?=E2=80=9CBeeRad=E2=80=9D?= <bradwmorriswork@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 15:41:29 +1100
Subject: [PATCH] docs: clarify Node 20+ requirement, MCP setup, restart
 instructions

---
 README.md                      | 20 ++++++++++++++++++--
 scripts/dev/bootstrap-local.sh |  6 +++---
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e7d43c9..d7152ae 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Your data stays on your machine. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you configure a
 
 ## Requirements
 
-- **Node.js 18+** — [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org/)
+- **Node.js 20.18.1+** — [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org/)
 - **macOS** — Works out of the box
 - **Linux/Windows** — Requires building sqlite-vec manually (see below)
 
@@ -95,7 +95,23 @@ Add to your `~/.claude.json`:
 }
 ```
 
-Restart Claude Code. Your agent can now use these tools:
+Restart Claude Code fully (**Cmd+Q on Mac**, not just closing the window).
+
+**Verify it worked:** Ask Claude "Do you have rah_ tools available?" — you should see tools like `rah_add_node`, `rah_search_nodes`, etc.
+
+**For contributors** testing local changes, use the local path instead:
+```json
+{
+  "mcpServers": {
+    "ra-h": {
+      "command": "node",
+      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/ra-h_os/apps/mcp-server/stdio-server.js"]
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Available tools:
 
 | Tool | What it does |
 |------|--------------|
diff --git a/scripts/dev/bootstrap-local.sh b/scripts/dev/bootstrap-local.sh
index 4a5ea81..b9cfea9 100755
--- a/scripts/dev/bootstrap-local.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev/bootstrap-local.sh
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ log() {
   echo "[bootstrap-local] $1"
 }
 
-# Check Node.js version (require 18+)
+# Check Node.js version (require 20+)
 NODE_VERSION=$(node -v 2>/dev/null | cut -d'v' -f2 | cut -d'.' -f1 || echo "0")
-if [ "$NODE_VERSION" -lt 18 ]; then
-  echo "Error: Node.js 18+ required (found v$NODE_VERSION or not installed)" >&2
+if [ "$NODE_VERSION" -lt 20 ]; then
+  echo "Error: Node.js 20+ required (found v$NODE_VERSION or not installed)" >&2
   echo "Install from: https://nodejs.org" >&2
   exit 1
 fi