> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/datadesigner/llms.txt.
> For full documentation content, see https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/datadesigner/llms-full.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/datadesigner/_mcp/server.

# 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:

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

## CLI Commands

The Data Designer CLI provides commands for MCP configuration:

```bash
# 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:

```bash
data-designer config --help
```

## Configuring MCP Providers

Run the interactive MCP provider configuration command:

```bash
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. **Remote Streamable HTTP**: Connect to a pre-existing MCP server via Streamable HTTP
3. **Local stdio subprocess**: Launch an MCP server as a subprocess

### Remote SSE / Streamable HTTP Configuration

When configuring a remote provider (SSE or Streamable HTTP), you'll be prompted for:

* **Name**: Unique identifier (e.g., `"doc-search"`)
* **Endpoint**: Server endpoint URL (e.g., `"http://localhost:8080/sse"` or `"https://mcp.example.com/mcp"`)
* **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:

```bash
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:

```bash
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

* **[MCP Providers](/concepts/tool-use-and-mcp/mcp-providers)**: Learn about provider configuration options
* **[Tool Configurations](/concepts/tool-use-and-mcp/tool-configs)**: Learn about tool config options
* **[Configure Model Settings with the CLI](/concepts/models/configure-with-the-cli)**: CLI guide for model configuration