Skip to content

Commit 36a244c

Browse files
anandgupta42claude
andauthored
docs: add MCP auto-discovery section to security FAQ (#346)
Documents the new auto-discovery feature (#311) in the security FAQ, covering supported config sources, trust model for home vs project-scoped servers, security hardening, and how to disable the feature. Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
1 parent d19d813 commit 36a244c

1 file changed

Lines changed: 33 additions & 0 deletions

File tree

docs/docs/reference/security-faq.md

Lines changed: 33 additions & 0 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -152,6 +152,39 @@ MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers extend Altimate Code with additional tools.
152152
!!! warning
153153
Third-party MCP servers are not reviewed or audited by Altimate. Treat them like any other third-party dependency: review the source, check for updates, and limit their access.
154154

155+
## What is MCP auto-discovery?
156+
157+
Altimate Code can automatically discover MCP server definitions from other AI tools installed on your machine. This saves you from manually re-configuring servers you already use elsewhere. Sources include:
158+
159+
| Source | Config file | Scope |
160+
|--------|------------|-------|
161+
| VS Code | `.vscode/mcp.json` | Project |
162+
| Cursor | `.cursor/mcp.json` | Project |
163+
| GitHub Copilot | `.github/copilot/mcp.json` | Project |
164+
| Claude Code | `.mcp.json` | Project + Home |
165+
| Gemini CLI | `.gemini/settings.json` | Project + Home |
166+
| Claude Desktop | `~/.claude.json` | Home |
167+
168+
**Security model:**
169+
170+
- **Home-directory configs** (your personal machine config) are treated as trusted and auto-enabled, since you installed them.
171+
- **Project-scoped configs** (checked into a repo) are discovered but **disabled by default**. You must explicitly approve them via the `/discover-and-add-mcps` tool before they run.
172+
- **Sensitive details are redacted** in discovery notifications. Server commands and URLs are only shown when you explicitly inspect them.
173+
- **Prototype pollution, command injection, and path traversal** are hardened against with input validation and `Object.create(null)` result objects.
174+
175+
**To disable auto-discovery entirely:**
176+
177+
```json
178+
{
179+
"experimental": {
180+
"auto_mcp_discovery": false
181+
}
182+
}
183+
```
184+
185+
!!! tip
186+
If your project repository contains `.vscode/mcp.json` or similar config files from other contributors, auto-discovery will find them but **will not start them** until you approve. Always review discovered servers before enabling them.
187+
155188
## How does the SQL analysis engine work?
156189

157190
As of v0.4.2, all 73 tool methods run natively in TypeScript via `@altimateai/altimate-core` (Rust napi-rs bindings). There is no Python dependency. The engine executes in-process with no subprocess, no network port, and no external service.

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)