Environment variables

All configuration is through environment variables (no config file), so it works cleanly in CI, Docker and MCP-client config. Every variable is optional and has a sensible default. Set them in your MCP client's server config (the env block), your shell, or the Claude Desktop extension settings.

Server

Variable	Default	Description
TDMCP_TD_HOST	127.0.0.1	TouchDesigner bridge host.
TDMCP_TD_PORT	9980	Web Server DAT port.
TDMCP_TRANSPORT	stdio	MCP transport: stdio (default) or http (Streamable HTTP).
TDMCP_HTTP_PORT	3939	Port for the HTTP transport (when TDMCP_TRANSPORT=http).
TDMCP_EVENTS	on	Subscribe to TD WebSocket events and forward them as MCP logging notifications (on/off).
TDMCP_RAW_PYTHON	on	Whether to expose the two raw-Python escape-hatch tools (execute_python_script, exec_node_method). Set to off to lock them out for restricted setups. This removes only those two client-authored-code tools — many higher-level tools still send their own templated Python to the bridge, so off is not "no code runs in TD". To actually disable code execution, set TDMCP_BRIDGE_ALLOW_EXEC=0 in TouchDesigner's environment (below).
TDMCP_BRIDGE_TOKEN	(unset)	Optional shared bearer token. When set, the server sends it and the bridge requires it — set the same value in TouchDesigner's environment to turn auth on.
TDMCP_LOG_LEVEL	info	debug / info / warn / error / silent (logged to stderr).
TDMCP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS	10000	Per-request timeout to the bridge, in milliseconds.
TDMCP_VAULT_PATH	(unset)	Absolute path to an Obsidian vault (a folder of Markdown notes). Enables the vault tools; a leading ~/ is expanded. Leave unset to disable them.

Local copilot (tdmcp chat)

These configure the local LLM copilot.

Variable	Default	Description
TDMCP_LLM_BASE_URL	http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1	OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint. Defaults to local Ollama; point it at LM Studio, a cloud GPU or a paid API.
TDMCP_LLM_MODEL	qwen2.5:3b	Model id the copilot requests (must be pulled in the backend, e.g. ollama pull qwen2.5:3b). Bump to qwen2.5:7b for more headroom.
TDMCP_LLM_API_KEY	(unset)	Optional bearer token for the LLM endpoint (ignored by local Ollama; needed for paid/cloud APIs).
TDMCP_CHAT_PORT	4141	Loopback port the tdmcp chat web UI binds to.

TouchDesigner side

Set these in TouchDesigner's environment (not the server's) for defense in depth — they are enforced bridge-side, even for direct network callers. See Security.

Variable	Default	Description
TDMCP_BRIDGE_ALLOW_EXEC	1	Set to 0/false/off to make the bridge refuse the arbitrary-code endpoints (/api/exec, node method). The structured endpoints keep working.
TDMCP_BRIDGE_TOKEN	(unset)	Shared bearer token; must match the server's value to authorize requests.

Example: MCP client config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tdmcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/abs/path/to/tdmcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TDMCP_TD_PORT": "9980",
        "TDMCP_VAULT_PATH": "~/Documents/MyVault"
      }
    }
  }
}