Configuration#

Learn how to configure SousChef for your environment and customise its behaviour.

Configuration Files#

SousChef provides pre-configured setup files for different environments and MCP clients in the config/ directory:

File	Purpose
`claude-desktop.json`	Production setup for Claude Desktop
`claude-desktop-dev.json`	Development setup pointing to local repository
`vscode-copilot.json`	VS Code with GitHub Copilot MCP extension
`vscode-copilot-dev.json`	VS Code development setup

MCP Server Configuration#

The basic MCP server configuration structure:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options#

Command#

The command field specifies how to launch the MCP server:

PyPI InstallationPoetry DevelopmentPython Module

{
  "command": "souschef"
}

{
  "command": "poetry",
  "args": ["run", "souschef"]
}

{
  "command": "python3",
  "args": ["-m", "souschef.server"]
}

Environment Variables#

Configure behaviour through environment variables:

{
  "env": {
    "LOG_LEVEL": "INFO",
    "SOUSCHEF_CONFIG_PATH": "/path/to/config"
  }
}

Available environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
`LOG_LEVEL`	`INFO`	Logging verbosity: `DEBUG`, `INFO`, `WARNING`, `ERROR`
`SOUSCHEF_CONFIG_PATH`	-	Custom configuration file path
`CHEF_REPO_PATH`	-	Default Chef repository path
`CHEF_SERVER_URL`	-	Chef Server URL for dynamic inventory queries (e.g., `https://chef.example.com`)
`CHEF_ORG`	`default`	Chef organisation name
`CHEF_CLIENT_NAME`	-	Chef client or user name for Chef Server authentication
`CHEF_CLIENT_KEY_PATH`	-	Path to the Chef client key file (PEM format)
`CHEF_CLIENT_KEY`	-	Inline Chef client key content (avoid when possible)

Model Provider Configuration#

SousChef works with any MCP-compatible model provider. Configure your MCP client to use your preferred model.

Claude (Anthropic)#

Claude Desktop configuration is built-in. Simply add the souschef server configuration to claude_desktop_config.json.

OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-3.5)#

Use an MCP client that supports OpenAI models:

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "openai",
    "apiKey": "${OPENAI_API_KEY}",
    "model": "gpt-4"
  },
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef"
    }
  }
}

Local Models (Ollama)#

For local model inference:

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "ollama",
    "endpoint": "http://localhost:11434",
    "model": "llama2"
  },
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef"
    }
  }
}

Red Hat AI#

Configure for Red Hat AI models:

{
  "modelProvider": {
    "type": "redhat-ai",
    "endpoint": "https://ai.redhat.com/api",
    "apiKey": "${REDHAT_AI_API_KEY}"
  },
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef"
    }
  }
}

Platform-Specific Configuration#

macOS#

Configuration file location:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Example setup:

# Install SousChef
pip3 install mcp-souschef

# Copy configuration
cp config/claude-desktop.json ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

# Restart Claude Desktop

Linux#

Configuration file location (varies by desktop environment):

~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Example setup:

# Install SousChef
pip3 install --user mcp-souschef

# Ensure pip bin is in PATH
export PATH="$PATH:$(python3 -m site --user-base)/bin"

# Copy configuration
mkdir -p ~/.config/Claude
cp config/claude-desktop.json ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows#

Configuration file location:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Example setup (PowerShell):

# Install SousChef
pip install mcp-souschef

# Copy configuration
New-Item -Path "$env:APPDATA\Claude" -ItemType Directory -Force
Copy-Item config\claude-desktop.json "$env:APPDATA\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json"

Development Configuration#

For development and testing:

Local Repository Setup#

Point to your local development repository:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "poetry",
      "args": ["run", "souschef"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/souschef/repository",
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "DEBUG"
      }
    }
  }
}

Testing Configuration#

For automated testing:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["-m", "souschef.server"],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "DEBUG",
        "TESTING": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Advanced Configuration#

Custom Tool Filtering#

Limit which tools are available:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "env": {
        "SOUSCHEF_TOOLS_INCLUDE": "parse_recipe,generate_playbook_from_recipe",
        "SOUSCHEF_TOOLS_EXCLUDE": "assess_chef_migration_complexity"
      }
    }
  }
}

Performance Tuning#

Configure for large-scale migrations:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "env": {
        "SOUSCHEF_MAX_FILE_SIZE": "10485760",
        "SOUSCHEF_CACHE_ENABLED": "true",
        "SOUSCHEF_PARALLEL_PROCESSING": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting Configuration#

Verify Configuration#

Check that your configuration is valid:

# Test MCP server launch
souschef --version

# Check if tools are accessible
souschef list-tools

Common Issues#

Command Not Found#

# Check if souschef is in PATH
which souschef

# If not, add pip's bin directory to PATH
export PATH="$PATH:$(python3 -m site --user-base)/bin"

Permission Errors#

# Ensure executable permissions
chmod +x $(which souschef)

# Or install with --user flag
pip3 install --user mcp-souschef

Configuration Not Loading#

Verify configuration file location is correct for your platform
Check JSON syntax is valid
Ensure the MCP client has read permissions
Restart the MCP client completely

Debug Mode#

Enable debug logging to troubleshoot issues:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "DEBUG"
      }
    }
  }
}

Check logs:

macOSLinuxWindows

tail -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log

tail -f ~/.local/share/Claude/logs/mcp*.log

Get-Content "$env:APPDATA\Claude\logs\mcp*.log" -Wait

Configuration Examples#

Complete Claude Desktop Config#

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "INFO",
        "CHEF_REPO_PATH": "/opt/chef/cookbooks"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code with GitHub Copilot#

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Multi-Server Setup#

Run multiple MCP servers together:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "souschef": {
      "command": "souschef",
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "INFO"
      }
    },
    "other-mcp-server": {
      "command": "other-server",
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Next Steps#

Start using SousChef with your configuration
Explore MCP tools available
Review CLI usage for automation

For detailed configuration reference and troubleshooting, see config/CONFIGURATION.md in the repository.