type: decision
status: active
timestamp: 2026-06-29
tags: [mcp, config, agents, sync, infrastructure]

MCP config single source of truth across all 5 agents

Single .mcp.json synced to all 5 agents via script

MCP config single source of truth

The problem

18 MCP servers total (6 core + 12 toolbox), configured across 5 agents (Claude Code, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Cline, Antigravity). Each agent had its own config file with copy-pasted definitions. A single fix required editing 5 files.

The decision (grill-locked 2026-06-29)

Question	Chosen option
Config sync strategy	Single source + sync script — `.mcp.json` canonical, `scripts/sync-mcp-configs.mjs` derives all 5 agent configs
Server count	Keep all 18, prune later — no urgent need to consolidate
Agents to maintain	Keep all 5, single source of truth — each has different strengths
Search strategy	Keep independent search tools — no unified search wrapper needed

The 6 core MCP servers

Server	Tool	Why kept
`fetch`	`mcp-server-fetch`	URL fetching, lightweight
`searxng`	`mcp-searxng` ? baresearch.org	Free multi-engine search
`open-websearch`	`open-websearch` (MODE=stdio)	GitHub README fetch + multi-engine
`mcp-crawl`	`./scripts/crawl-mcp/server.js`	Full browser crawl
`serena`	`oraios/serena`	Symbol-level code intelligence
`codebase-memory`	`codebase-memory-mcp`	Code graph / RAG

What was fixed

open-websearch defaulted to MODE=both, tried to bind HTTP port 3000, crashed with EADDRINUSE. Fixed by adding MODE=stdio and DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE=duckduckgo in all 5 configs.
OpenCode’s opencode.jsonc had a stale config (no env vars for open-websearch). Fixed.

Free coding agent alternatives researched (Crab Code, SideCar, gocode, Codeep, Coddy, Claurst, free-code) — all BYOK, zero markup.
Antigravity 2.0 announced at Google I/O 2026 with CLI + SDK. Still keeping all 5 agents.
See knowledge/rules/agent/mcp-config-single-source-of-truth.md for the enforceable rule.

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