Configuration

Overview

mcp-setu reads configuration from mcp.json by default. You can specify a different path with --config <path>.

mcp-setu --config ~/.config/my-mcp.json chat

Configuration File Format

The config has two main sections:

{
  "ollama": {
    "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434",
    "model": "llama3.2:3b",
    "systemPrompt": "You are an AI assistant with access to tools via the Model Context Protocol. Use available tools to help the user accomplish their tasks. Be helpful, concise, and direct.",
    "temperature": 0.7,
    "contextLength": 4096
  },
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "."]
    }
  }
}

Ollama Section

Field	Type	Default	Description
baseUrl	string	http://localhost:11434	Ollama API endpoint
model	string	llama3.2:3b	Model to use (must support tool calling)
systemPrompt	string	"You are an AI assistant with access to tools via the Model Context Protocol..."	System prompt sent with every message
temperature	number	0.7	Sampling temperature (0–1)
contextLength	number	4096	Max context window in tokens

MCP Servers Section

Map of server name → configuration. Each server config depends on its transport type.

Transport Types

1. Stdio (Default)

Local subprocess-based servers. Used by most Node.js MCP servers.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "."],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Field	Type	Description
command	string	Executable to run (must be in PATH)
args	array	Arguments to pass
env	object	Optional environment variables

Common servers:

• Filesystem — File operations

  {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "."]}

• SQLite — Database queries

  {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sqlite", "./db.sqlite"]}

• Memory — Persistent context storage

  {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]}

2. HTTP Streamable (Modern)

Remote servers using HTTP POST with streaming.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-api": {
      "type": "http-streamable",
      "url": "http://your-mcp-server.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Must be "http-streamable"
url	string	Server URL
auth	object	Optional authentication (see below)

3. HTTP/SSE (Legacy)

Server-Sent Events (deprecated but still supported).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legacy": {
      "type": "http-sse",
      "url": "http://legacy-mcp-server.com/events"
    }
  }
}

Supported Models

Model	Example	Notes
Llama 3.2	llama3.2:3b	⭐ Recommended—fast, reliable tool calling
Gemma 3	gemma3:2b	Efficient, strong tool use
Qwen	qwen2.5:7b	Excellent tool calling, great for coding
Llama 3.3	llama3.3:70b	Meta's largest, strongest reasoning
Mistral	mistral-nemo:12b	Balanced speed and accuracy
Command R	command-r:35b	Strong multi-tool chaining
Phi 4	phi4:14b	Compact and capable
DeepSeek R1	deepseek-r1:7b	Strong reasoning + tool use

Check local models:

mcp-setu models

This shows which models are installed and which support tool calling.

Authentication

For HTTP-based servers, you can add authentication:

Bearer Token

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "protected-api": {
      "type": "http-streamable",
      "url": "https://api.example.com/mcp",
      "auth": {
        "type": "bearer-token",
        "token": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Better practice — Use environment variable:

{
  "auth": {
    "type": "bearer-token",
    "tokenEnvVar": "MCP_API_TOKEN"
  }
}

Then set before running:

export MCP_API_TOKEN="your-token"
mcp-setu chat

OAuth 2.1

⚠ Not yet implemented. The oauth2 auth type is planned for a future release. Configuring it currently returns an error: OAuth2 auth type is not yet implemented. Use bearer-token or env auth types instead.

The config schema is reserved for when OAuth 2.1 support ships:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oauth-server": {
      "type": "http-streamable",
      "url": "https://api.example.com/mcp",
      "auth": {
        "type": "oauth2",
        "authorizationServerUrl": "https://auth.example.com",
        "clientId": "your-client-id",
        "clientSecret": "your-client-secret",
        "scopes": ["mcp:read", "mcp:write"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Until OAuth2 is implemented, use bearer-token with a pre-obtained token or the env type to read a token from an environment variable.

Claude Desktop Compatibility

Your Claude Desktop mcp.json works with mcp-setu immediately:

macOS:

mcp-setu --config ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json chat

Windows (PowerShell):

mcp-setu --config $env:APPDATA\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json chat

Linux:

mcp-setu --config ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json chat

The only difference is the ollama block, which is mcp-setu-specific.

Example: Complete Config

{
  "ollama": {
    "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434",
    "model": "qwen2.5:7b",
    "systemPrompt": "You are an expert Python developer. Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code. Help with debugging, optimization, and best practices. Use available tools to analyze files and test solutions.",
    "temperature": 0.5,
    "contextLength": 8192
  },
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/home/user/projects"]
    },
    "sqlite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sqlite", "./app.db"]
    },
    "remote-api": {
      "type": "http-streamable",
      "url": "https://my-mcp-server.com/mcp",
      "auth": {
        "type": "bearer-token",
        "tokenEnvVar": "MCP_API_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Validation

Check your config before starting:

mcp-setu validate

This verifies:

• Config file syntax
• Ollama connectivity
• Model supports tool calling
• All MCP servers can start
• Each server provides tools

Next Steps

• Examples — Real-world usage patterns
• Troubleshooting — Solve issues
• CLI Reference — Command documentation