Advanced Configuration Tutorial

Advanced Configuration Tutorial

This tutorial covers advanced configuration techniques for MCP Shell, including environment variables, configuration hierarchies, and optimization strategies.

Prerequisites

• Completed Basic Usage Tutorial
• Familiarity with YAML and environment variables
• Understanding of command-line flags

Configuration Hierarchy

MCP Shell uses a hierarchical configuration system (highest to lowest priority):

1. Command-line flags
2. Environment variables
3. Configuration files
4. Default values

Step 1: Environment Variables

Set configuration through environment variables:

# Set log level
export MCP_SHELL_LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Set output format
export MCP_SHELL_OUTPUT_FORMAT=json

# Verify settings
mcp-shell version

All environment variables follow the pattern: MCP_SHELL_<SETTING_NAME>

Step 2: Multiple Configuration Files

Create environment-specific configurations:

# Development configuration
cat > ~/.config/mcp-shell/dev.yaml <<EOF
log_level: debug
output_format: json
EOF

# Production configuration
cat > ~/.config/mcp-shell/prod.yaml <<EOF
log_level: warn
output_format: text
EOF

# Use specific config
mcp-shell --config ~/.config/mcp-shell/dev.yaml version

Step 3: Override Priority

Demonstrate configuration priority:

# Config file sets log_level=info
# Environment variable overrides to debug
export MCP_SHELL_LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Command flag has highest priority
mcp-shell --log-level=error version

Step 4: Configuration Validation

Validate your configuration:

# Check current configuration
mcp-shell config show

# Test configuration file
mcp-shell --config myconfig.yaml config validate

Best Practices

Development vs Production

Development:

log_level: debug
output_format: json

Production:

log_level: warn
output_format: text

Security Considerations

• Never commit sensitive data to configuration files
• Use environment variables for secrets
• Set restrictive permissions: chmod 600 ~/.config/mcp-shell/config.yaml

Performance Optimization

• Use appropriate log levels (info or warn in production)
• Configure output format based on needs
• Consider file size limits for logs

Advanced Patterns

Dynamic Configuration

Load configuration based on environment:

#!/bin/bash
ENV=${APP_ENV:-development}
mcp-shell --config ~/.config/mcp-shell/${ENV}.yaml "$@"

Configuration Templates

Use templates for team standardization:

# template.yaml
log_level: ${LOG_LEVEL:-info}
output_format: ${OUTPUT_FORMAT:-text}

Next Steps

• Review Configuration Documentation
• Explore Development Guide
• Read about Architecture

Troubleshooting

Environment variables not working?

• Check variable names follow MCP_SHELL_* pattern
• Verify variables are exported: export MCP_SHELL_LOG_LEVEL=debug

Config file ignored?

• Ensure proper YAML syntax
• Check file permissions are readable
• Verify file path is correct