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Configuration

SwissArmyHammer offers flexible configuration options through configuration files, environment variables, and command-line arguments. This guide covers all configuration methods and settings.

Configuration File

Location

SwissArmyHammer looks for configuration files in this order:

  1. ./swissarmyhammer.toml (current directory)
  2. ~/.swissarmyhammer/config.toml (user directory)
  3. /etc/swissarmyhammer/config.toml (system-wide)

Format

Configuration uses TOML format:

# ~/.swissarmyhammer/config.toml

# Server configuration
[server]
host = "localhost"
port = 8080
debug = false
timeout = 30000  # milliseconds

# Prompt directories
[prompts]
directories = [
    "~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts",
    "./.swissarmyhammer/prompts",
    "/opt/company/prompts"
]
builtin = true
watch = true

# File watching configuration
[watch]
enabled = true
poll_interval = 1000  # milliseconds
max_depth = 5
ignore_patterns = [
    "*.tmp",
    "*.swp",
    ".git/*",
    "__pycache__/*"
]

# Logging configuration
[log]
level = "info"  # debug, info, warn, error
file = "~/.swissarmyhammer/logs/server.log"
rotate = true
max_size = "10MB"
max_age = 30  # days

# Cache configuration
[cache]
enabled = true
directory = "~/.swissarmyhammer/cache"
ttl = 3600  # seconds
max_size = "100MB"

# Template engine configuration
[template]
strict_variables = false
strict_filters = false
custom_filters_path = "~/.swissarmyhammer/filters"

# Security settings
[security]
allow_file_access = false
allow_network_access = false
sandbox_mode = true
allowed_domains = ["api.company.com", "github.com"]

# MCP specific settings
[mcp]
protocol_version = "1.0"
capabilities = ["prompts", "notifications"]
max_prompt_size = 1048576  # 1MB
compression = true

Environment Variables

All configuration options can be set via environment variables:

Naming Convention

  • Prefix: SWISSARMYHAMMER_
  • Nested values use underscores: SECTION_KEY
  • Arrays use comma separation

Examples

# Server settings
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_SERVER_PORT=9000
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_SERVER_DEBUG=true

# Prompt directories (comma-separated)
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_PROMPTS_DIRECTORIES="/opt/prompts,~/my-prompts"
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_PROMPTS_BUILTIN=false

# Logging
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_LOG_LEVEL=debug
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_LOG_FILE=/var/log/swissarmyhammer.log

# File watching
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_WATCH_ENABLED=true
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_WATCH_POLL_INTERVAL=2000

# Security
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_SECURITY_SANDBOX_MODE=true
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_SECURITY_ALLOWED_DOMAINS="api.example.com,cdn.example.com"

Precedence

Configuration precedence (highest to lowest):

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

Command-Line Options

Global Options

swissarmyhammer [GLOBAL_OPTIONS] <COMMAND> [COMMAND_OPTIONS]

Global Options:
  --config <FILE>     Use specific configuration file
  --verbose          Enable verbose output
  --quiet            Suppress non-error output
  --no-color         Disable colored output
  --json             Output in JSON format
  --help             Show help information
  --version          Show version information

Per-Command Configuration

Override configuration for specific commands:

# Override server settings
swissarmyhammer serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9000 --debug

# Override prompt directories
swissarmyhammer serve --prompts /custom/prompts --no-builtin

# Override logging
swissarmyhammer serve --log-level debug --log-file server.log

Configuration Sections

Server Configuration

Controls the MCP server behavior:

[server]
# Network binding
host = "localhost"      # IP address or hostname
port = 8080            # Port number (0 for auto-assign)

# Performance
workers = 4            # Number of worker threads
max_connections = 100  # Maximum concurrent connections
timeout = 30000        # Request timeout in milliseconds

# Debugging
debug = false          # Enable debug mode
trace = false          # Enable trace logging
metrics = true         # Enable metrics collection

Prompt Configuration

Manages prompt loading and directories:

[prompts]
# Directories to load prompts from
directories = [
    "~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts",    # User prompts
    "./.swissarmyhammer/prompts",                      # Project prompts
    "/opt/shared/prompts"             # Shared prompts
]

# Loading behavior
builtin = true          # Include built-in prompts
watch = true            # Enable file watching
recursive = true        # Scan directories recursively
follow_symlinks = false # Follow symbolic links

# Filtering
include_patterns = ["*.md", "*.markdown"]
exclude_patterns = ["*.draft.md", "test-*"]

# Validation
strict_validation = true     # Fail on invalid prompts
required_fields = ["name", "description"]
max_file_size = "1MB"       # Maximum prompt file size

File Watching

Configure file system monitoring:

[watch]
enabled = true              # Enable/disable watching
strategy = "efficient"      # efficient, aggressive, polling

# Polling strategy settings
poll_interval = 1000        # Milliseconds between polls
poll_timeout = 100          # Polling timeout

# Watch behavior
debounce = 500             # Milliseconds to wait for changes to settle
max_depth = 10             # Maximum directory depth
batch_events = true        # Batch multiple changes

# Ignore patterns
ignore_patterns = [
    "*.tmp",
    "*.swp",
    "*.bak",
    ".git/**",
    ".svn/**",
    "__pycache__/**",
    "node_modules/**"
]

# Performance
max_watches = 10000        # Maximum number of watches
event_buffer_size = 1000   # Event queue size

Logging

Configure logging behavior:

[log]
# Log level: trace, debug, info, warn, error
level = "info"

# Console output
console = true
console_format = "pretty"  # pretty, json, compact
console_colors = true

# File logging
file = "~/.swissarmyhammer/logs/server.log"
file_format = "json"
rotate = true
max_size = "10MB"
max_files = 5
max_age = 30  # days

# Log filtering
include_modules = ["server", "prompts"]
exclude_modules = ["watcher"]

# Performance
buffer_size = 8192
async = true

Cache Configuration

Control caching behavior:

[cache]
enabled = true
directory = "~/.swissarmyhammer/cache"

# Cache strategy
strategy = "lru"           # lru, lfu, ttl
max_entries = 1000
max_size = "100MB"

# Time-based settings
ttl = 3600                # Default TTL in seconds
refresh_ahead = 300       # Refresh cache 5 minutes before expiry

# Cache categories
[cache.prompts]
enabled = true
ttl = 7200

[cache.templates]
enabled = true
ttl = 3600

[cache.search]
enabled = false           # Disable search result caching

Template Engine

Configure Liquid template processing:

[template]
# Parsing
strict_variables = false   # Error on undefined variables
strict_filters = false     # Error on undefined filters
error_mode = "warn"        # warn, error, ignore

# Custom extensions
custom_filters_path = "~/.swissarmyhammer/filters"
custom_tags_path = "~/.swissarmyhammer/tags"

# Security
allow_includes = true
include_paths = ["~/.swissarmyhammer/includes"]
max_render_depth = 10
max_iterations = 1000

# Performance
cache_templates = true
compile_cache = "~/.swissarmyhammer/template_cache"

Security Settings

Control security features:

[security]
# Sandboxing
sandbox_mode = true        # Enable security sandbox
allow_file_access = false  # Allow template file access
allow_network_access = false # Allow network requests
allow_system_access = false # Allow system commands

# Network security
allowed_domains = [
    "api.company.com",
    "cdn.company.com",
    "github.com"
]
blocked_domains = [
    "malicious.site"
]

# File security
allowed_paths = [
    "~/Documents/projects",
    "/opt/shared/data"
]
blocked_paths = [
    "/etc",
    "/sys",
    "~/.ssh"
]

# Content security
max_input_size = "10MB"
max_output_size = "50MB"
sanitize_html = true

Configuration Profiles

Using Profiles

Define multiple configuration profiles:

# Default configuration
[default]
server.host = "localhost"
server.port = 8080
log.level = "info"

# Development profile
[profiles.development]
server.debug = true
log.level = "debug"
cache.enabled = false
template.strict_variables = true

# Production profile
[profiles.production]
server.host = "0.0.0.0"
server.workers = 8
log.level = "warn"
security.sandbox_mode = true

# Testing profile
[profiles.test]
server.port = 0  # Auto-assign
log.file = "/tmp/test.log"
prompts.directories = ["./test/fixtures"]

Activating Profiles

# Via environment variable
export SWISSARMYHAMMER_PROFILE=production
swissarmyhammer serve

# Via command line
swissarmyhammer --profile development serve

# Multiple profiles (later overrides earlier)
swissarmyhammer --profile production --profile custom serve

Advanced Configuration

Dynamic Configuration

Load configuration from external sources:

[config]
# Load additional config from URL
remote_config = "https://config.company.com/swissarmyhammer"
remote_check_interval = 300  # seconds

# Load from environment-specific file
env_config = "/etc/swissarmyhammer/config.${ENV}.toml"

# Merge strategy
merge_strategy = "deep"  # deep, shallow, replace

Hooks Configuration

Configure lifecycle hooks:

[hooks]
# Startup hooks
pre_start = [
    "~/scripts/pre-start.sh",
    "/opt/swissarmyhammer/hooks/validate.py"
]
post_start = [
    "~/scripts/notify-start.sh"
]

# Shutdown hooks
pre_stop = [
    "~/scripts/save-state.sh"
]
post_stop = [
    "~/scripts/cleanup.sh"
]

# Prompt hooks
pre_load = "~/scripts/validate-prompt.sh"
post_load = "~/scripts/index-prompt.sh"

# Error hooks
on_error = "~/scripts/error-handler.sh"

# Hook configuration
[hooks.config]
timeout = 30           # seconds
fail_on_error = false  # Continue if hook fails
environment = {
    CUSTOM_VAR = "value"
}

Performance Tuning

Optimize for different scenarios:

[performance]
# Threading
thread_pool_size = 8
async_workers = 4
io_threads = 2

# Memory
max_memory = "2GB"
gc_interval = 300      # seconds
cache_pressure = 0.8   # Evict cache at 80% memory

# Network
connection_pool_size = 50
keep_alive = true
tcp_nodelay = true
socket_timeout = 30

# File I/O
read_buffer_size = 8192
write_buffer_size = 8192
use_mmap = true        # Memory-mapped files

# Optimizations
lazy_loading = true
parallel_parsing = true
compress_cache = true

Monitoring Configuration

Enable monitoring and metrics:

[monitoring]
enabled = true

# Metrics collection
[monitoring.metrics]
enabled = true
interval = 60          # seconds
retention = 7          # days

# Metrics to collect
collect = [
    "cpu_usage",
    "memory_usage",
    "prompt_count",
    "request_rate",
    "error_rate",
    "cache_hit_rate"
]

# Export metrics
[monitoring.export]
format = "prometheus"  # prometheus, json, statsd
endpoint = "http://metrics.company.com:9090"
labels = {
    service = "swissarmyhammer",
    environment = "production"
}

# Health checks
[monitoring.health]
enabled = true
endpoint = "/health"
checks = [
    "server_status",
    "prompt_loading",
    "file_watcher",
    "cache_status"
]

Configuration Examples

Minimal Configuration

# Minimal working configuration
[server]
host = "localhost"
port = 8080

[prompts]
directories = ["~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts"]

Development Configuration

# Development-optimized configuration
[server]
host = "localhost"
port = 8080
debug = true

[prompts]
directories = [
    "./.swissarmyhammer/prompts",
    "~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts"
]
watch = true

[log]
level = "debug"
console = true

[cache]
enabled = false  # Disable caching for development

[template]
strict_variables = true  # Catch template errors early

Production Configuration

# Production-optimized configuration
[server]
host = "0.0.0.0"
port = 80
workers = 8
timeout = 60000

[prompts]
directories = [
    "/opt/swissarmyhammer/prompts",
    "/var/lib/swissarmyhammer/prompts"
]
builtin = true
watch = false  # Disable for performance

[log]
level = "warn"
file = "/var/log/swissarmyhammer/server.log"
rotate = true
max_size = "100MB"
max_files = 10

[cache]
enabled = true
strategy = "lru"
max_size = "1GB"

[security]
sandbox_mode = true
allow_file_access = false
allow_network_access = false

[monitoring]
enabled = true
metrics.enabled = true
health.enabled = true

High-Performance Configuration

# Optimized for high load
[server]
workers = 16
max_connections = 1000
timeout = 120000

[performance]
thread_pool_size = 32
async_workers = 16
connection_pool_size = 200
lazy_loading = true
parallel_parsing = true

[cache]
enabled = true
strategy = "lfu"
max_size = "4GB"
refresh_ahead = 600

[watch]
enabled = false  # Disable for performance

[log]
level = "error"  # Minimize logging overhead
async = true
buffer_size = 65536

Configuration Validation

Validate Configuration

# Validate configuration file
swissarmyhammer config validate

# Validate specific file
swissarmyhammer config validate --file custom-config.toml

# Show effective configuration
swissarmyhammer config show

# Show configuration with sources
swissarmyhammer config show --sources

Configuration Schema

# Generate configuration schema
swissarmyhammer config schema > config-schema.json

# Validate against schema
swissarmyhammer config validate --schema config-schema.json

Best Practices

1. Use Profiles

Separate configurations for different environments:

[profiles.local]
server.debug = true

[profiles.staging]
server.host = "staging.company.com"

[profiles.production]
server.host = "0.0.0.0"
security.sandbox_mode = true

2. Secure Sensitive Data

Never store secrets in configuration files:

# Bad
api_key = "sk-1234567890abcdef"

# Good - use environment variables
api_key = "${API_KEY}"

3. Document Configuration

Add comments explaining non-obvious settings:

# Increase timeout for slow network environments
timeout = 60000  # 1 minute

# Disable caching during development to see changes immediately
[cache]
enabled = false  # Set to true in production for better performance

4. Version Control

Track configuration changes:

# .gitignore
config.local.toml
config.production.toml

# Track example configuration
config.example.toml

5. Validate Changes

Always validate configuration changes:

# Before deploying
swissarmyhammer config validate --file new-config.toml

# Test with dry run
swissarmyhammer serve --config new-config.toml --dry-run

Troubleshooting

Configuration Not Loading

  1. Check file exists and is readable
  2. Validate TOML syntax
  3. Check environment variable names
  4. Review precedence order

Performance Issues

  1. Disable file watching in production
  2. Tune cache settings
  3. Adjust worker counts
  4. Enable performance monitoring

Security Warnings

  1. Review security settings
  2. Enable sandbox mode
  3. Restrict file and network access
  4. Update allowed domains

Next Steps