Ask for the manual folder at install, in the extension bundle (#120) - #133
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The .mcpb manifest passed an empty env, so a Claude Desktop user installing the
bundle had no way to configure the manual library at all - the tool would simply
never appear, and the only workaround was a machine-wide environment variable
set by hand, which is a poor answer for a one-click install.
The manifest now declares an MCPB v0.3 user_config entry - "Instrument manual
folder", type directory, optional - substituted into GPIB_MCP_MANUALS for the
server process. Desktop prompts for it at install and it stays editable in the
Extensions UI, so the setting belongs to the extension: visible where the user
already is, and gone when the extension is removed.
Also lists manual_search in the manifest's advertised tools.
Verified rather than assumed:
- the official @anthropic-ai/mcpb CLI validates the manifest against the schema
("Manifest schema validation passes!"), so the user_config shape is right;
- unpacking the built bundle confirms the env substitution survives packing;
- and the degradation claim in the comment was tested, not asserted: running the
server with the placeholder UNSUBSTITUTED gives one stderr warning, 29 tools,
no manual_search, and no crash. Which is what a user who skips the setting
gets.
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The
.mcpbmanifest passed an emptyenv, so a Claude Desktop user installing the bundle had no way to configure the manual library at all —manual_searchwould simply never appear, and the only workaround was a machine-wide environment variable set by hand. Poor answer for a one-click install.Change
The manifest now declares an MCPB v0.3
user_configentry — Instrument manual folder, typedirectory, optional — substituted intoGPIB_MCP_MANUALSfor the server process. Desktop prompts for it at install and it stays editable in the Extensions UI, so the setting belongs to the extension: visible where the user already is, and gone when the extension is removed.Also lists
manual_searchamong the manifest's advertised tools.Verified, not assumed
@anthropic-ai/mcpbCLI validates the manifest against the schema — "Manifest schema validation passes!" — so theuser_configshape is right rather than plausible.env: {"GPIB_MCP_MANUALS":"${user_config.manuals_folder}"}.GPIB_MCP_MANUALS points at '${user_config.manuals_folder}', which does not exist; manual lookup is disabled), 29 tools, nomanual_search, no crash.No code change, so the suite is unaffected (453 + 113).
README and
packaging/README.mdboth say how it's configured in Desktop versus by environment variable.