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Configuring MCP Using the CLI

The Data Designer CLI provides an interactive interface for creating and managing MCP providers and tool configurations stored in your Data Designer home directory (default: ~/.data-designer/).

Configuration Files

The CLI manages two YAML configuration files for MCP:

  • mcp_providers.yaml: MCP provider configurations
  • tool_configs.yaml: Tool configurations

Custom Directory

You can customize the configuration directory location with the DATA_DESIGNER_HOME environment variable: 

export DATA_DESIGNER_HOME="/path/to/your/custom/directory"

CLI Commands

The Data Designer CLI provides commands for MCP configuration:

# Configure MCP providers
data-designer config mcp

# Configure tool configs
data-designer config tools

# List all configurations (including MCP)
data-designer config list

Getting help

See available commands: 

data-designer config --help

Configuring MCP Providers

Run the interactive MCP provider configuration command:

data-designer config mcp

Provider Type Selection

The wizard first asks you to choose a provider type:

  1. Remote SSE: Connect to a pre-existing MCP server via HTTP Server-Sent Events
  2. Local stdio subprocess: Launch an MCP server as a subprocess

Remote SSE Configuration

When configuring a Remote SSE provider, you'll be prompted for:

  • Name: Unique identifier (e.g., "doc-search")
  • Endpoint: SSE endpoint URL (e.g., "http://localhost:8080/sse")
  • API Key: Optional API key or environment variable name

Local Stdio Configuration

When configuring a Local stdio provider, you'll be prompted for:

  • Name: Unique identifier (e.g., "local-tools")
  • Command: Executable to run (e.g., "python")
  • Arguments: Command-line arguments (e.g., "-m my_mcp_server")
  • Environment Variables: Optional environment variables for the subprocess

Available Operations

  • Add a new provider: Define a new MCP provider
  • Update an existing provider: Modify provider settings
  • Delete a provider: Remove a provider
  • Delete all providers: Remove all MCP providers

Configuring Tool Configs

Run the interactive tool configuration command:

data-designer config tools

Provider Required

You need at least one MCP provider configured before adding tool configs. Run data-designer config mcp first if none exist.

Configuration Options

When creating a tool config, you'll be prompted for:

  • Tool Alias: Unique name for referencing in columns (e.g., "my-tools")
  • Providers: Select one or more MCP providers (checkbox selection)
  • Allowed Tools: Optionally restrict to specific tools (leave empty for all)
  • Max Tool Call Turns: Maximum tool-calling iterations (default: 5)
  • Timeout: Per-call timeout in seconds (default: 60.0)

Available Operations

  • Add a new tool config: Define a new tool configuration
  • Update an existing tool config: Modify settings
  • Delete a tool config: Remove a tool configuration
  • Delete all tool configs: Remove all tool configurations

Listing Configurations

View all current configurations:

data-designer config list

This command displays:

  • Model Providers: All configured model providers
  • Model Configurations: All configured models
  • MCP Providers: All configured MCP providers with their endpoints
  • Tool Configurations: All configured tool configs with their settings

Manual Editing

You can also edit the YAML files directly for advanced configurations. The files are located at:

  • ~/.data-designer/mcp_providers.yaml
  • ~/.data-designer/tool_configs.yaml

After manual edits, the changes take effect the next time you initialize DataDesigner.

See Also