Profiles and environments

Run npx -y @havesomecode/kibana-mcp-server bootstrap --client codex.

Expected: /api/status verified without index access, an empty managed catalog on first install, saved profile metadata and secure credentials. Conflicting MCP registrations are rejected, not overwritten.

Call discover; if empty, ask for the exact index or pattern and wait. Never guess, list, or scan indexes. Use configure_index only for the user's selected value.

For hand-authored catalogs, run npm run setup or node dist/src/bin/kibana-mcp-server.js setup. Supply an explicit catalog path; type example only to opt into the bundled example. Setup imports the catalog into machine-local state, independent of the checkout.

Metadata lives in the machine-level app config directory. Credentials use macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or Linux Secret Service when available. Never put passwords in command arguments.

For direct startup, supply environment credentials and an explicit KIBANA_SOURCE_CATALOG_PATH, or a store in a configuration file. No implicit checkout catalog; no MCP tool accepts credentials.

Without a saved or explicit connection: No saved Kibana connection is available. Run connection bootstrap first.

Machine profiles

Remove KIBANA_BASE_URL, KIBANA_USERNAME, and KIBANA_PASSWORD from the server environment to use saved profiles. All three together select direct startup and require an explicit catalog path or store.

The default saved profile loads automatically. To select another, set KIBANA_PROFILE=<PROFILE_NAME>:

KIBANA_PROFILE=staging npm run dev

Multiple environments

1. Save each environment with bootstrap --profile <name> --client codex, or guided setup for hand-authored catalogs. Use --no-default to keep the current default.
2. Set KIBANA_PROFILE in extra MCP entries; no per-thread connection values or catalog paths are needed:

KIBANA_PROFILE=staging npm run dev
KIBANA_PROFILE=prod npm run dev

For direct startup instead, keep these distinct per environment:

• KIBANA_BASE_URL
• KIBANA_USERNAME
• KIBANA_PASSWORD
• KIBANA_SOURCE_CATALOG_PATH

Use separate catalog paths to avoid mixing persisted sources. configure_index does not overwrite operator-managed, hand-authored catalogs.