Most MCP servers (e.g. GitHub API, Slack API) require API keys for authentication, and these credentials need to be configured via an .env file in the project root directory. For example, the GitHub server requires the GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN variable, and the token needs to be pre-generated in the GitHub Developer Settings.The SDK uses the dotenv specification to load environment variables to ensure that sensitive information is not entered into the codebase, which is a secure design and facilitates the configuration management in different environments.
This answer comes from the articleToolSDK.ai: a free SDK to quickly connect AI tools to MCP serversThe
May not be reproduced without permission:AI productivity tools " Environment variable configuration is a necessary step for interfacing with the MCP server using ToolSDK.ai.
