Configuration

The only setting you need is an API token. The rest control how the server talks to the StatusCake API, and have defaults that suit most accounts.

API token

You can view and manage your API tokens from the StatusCake account panel. The server only reads, so a token with read access is enough. The server refuses to start without one:

API token is required: set STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN or pass --api-token

Because your assistant starts the server, the token is usually given in the client's configuration, as the STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN environment variable. See Setting Up a Client. Avoid the --api-token flag when you can: arguments can be seen by other users of the machine in the process list, while an environment variable or a file only you can read cannot.

Settings

Setting	Flag	Environment	Default	Meaning
api_token	--api-token	STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN		The token used to authenticate.
rps	--rps	STATUSCAKE_RPS	4	The most requests made each second.
retries	--retries	STATUSCAKE_RETRIES	3	How many times a failed request is tried again.
min_backoff	--min-backoff	STATUSCAKE_MIN_BACKOFF	1s	The shortest wait before a retry.
max_backoff	--max-backoff	STATUSCAKE_MAX_BACKOFF	30s	The longest wait before a retry.

Durations take a unit, such as 500ms, 2s or 1m.

The server limits itself to rps requests each second, to stay under the API's ratelimit, and retries with a wait that grows from min_backoff to max_backoff. Listing checks may take several API requests for an account with many, which is why the limit exists.

Where settings come from

A setting can be given in three places. A flag wins over the environment, and the environment wins over the configuration file, which wins over the default.

The configuration file is mcp.yaml, and the server looks for it in ./config and then in ~/.config/statuscake. Use --config to name a file instead. It is plain YAML, using the setting names above:

~/.config/statuscake/mcp.yaml

api_token: <token>
rps: 2
retries: 5
max_backoff: 1m

If you name a file with --config and it cannot be read, the server stops with an error rather than carrying on without it. A file that does not exist in the default locations is not an error.

Flags are given as args in the client's configuration. For example, in Claude Desktop:

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "statuscake": {
      "command": "statuscake-mcp",
      "args": ["--config", "/home/me/.config/statuscake/work.yaml"]
    }
  }
}

More than one account

Each server is configured with one token, and so sees one account. To use several, add the server more than once under different names, each with its own token:

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "statuscake-production": {
      "command": "statuscake-mcp",
      "env": { "STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN": "<production token>" }
    },
    "statuscake-staging": {
      "command": "statuscake-mcp",
      "env": { "STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN": "<staging token>" }
    }
  }
}

Logs

The server writes its logs to standard error, since standard output carries the protocol. Clients differ in whether and where they show them; see your client's documentation for how to find the logs of an MCP server. Logs record which tool was called and with what filters, and any errors. The server does not write the API token to them.

Next Steps

Read about security.