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Precedence

How dbmcp picks each setting from the environment, env files, config files, and defaults

Each setting is resolved on its own, highest priority first:

  1. Process environment — DBMCP_* variables, typically set by the MCP client (via env or envFile in the server config)
  2. Env files — DBMCP_* keys in the files named by --env-file / DBMCP_ENV_FILE; a later file wins
  3. Config files — keys in the YAML files named by --config-file / DBMCP_CONFIG_FILE; a later file wins
  4. Built-in defaults — backend-aware defaults (see Backend defaults)

When the same setting is set in multiple places, the higher-priority source wins. An empty DBMCP_* value counts as unset at every layer, so it falls through to the next source; to set a setting to an empty string, use key: "" in the YAML file. Unknown DBMCP_* variables are ignored.

Worked example. database.port set in three layers:

# /srv/dbmcp/dbmcp.yaml
database:
  backend: postgres
  port: 5432
# /srv/dbmcp/dbmcp.env
DBMCP_DB_PORT=6432
DBMCP_DB_PORT=7432 dbmcp --config-file /srv/dbmcp/dbmcp.yaml --env-file /srv/dbmcp/dbmcp.env
ChangeResulting portSource
All three layers set7432process environment
Process variable unset, or DBMCP_DB_PORT= (empty)6432env file
Env file line removed as well5432config file
port removed from the YAML too5432PostgreSQL backend default