MXCP Project Deployment Template

🚀 Stop wasting days on deployment setup. This battle-tested template gives any MXCP project production-ready CI/CD in 5 minutes.

🎯 Why This Template?

Problems We're Solving

Without this template, every MXCP project faces:

🔄 Deployment Drift

Each project reinvents CI/CD from scratch
No consistency between projects (UAE uses one approach, Vertec another)
Knowledge isn't transferable between teams

⏰ Time Waste

1 full day to set up deployment per project
Debugging the same issues repeatedly
Manual, error-prone deployment processes

🔐 Security Risks

Secrets accidentally baked into Docker images
API keys exposed in build logs
No standardized secret management

🚨 Production Incidents

"Works on my machine" syndrome
Missing environment variables in production
No standardized health checks or monitoring

The Solution

One template, infinite projects:

5 minutes to full CI/CD (vs 1 day)
Zero secrets in Docker images
4-tiered testing catches issues early (data → tools → API → LLM)
Battle-tested in production

🏆 Quick Wins

Using this template immediately gives you:

✅ Automated deployment to AWS App Runner on every push
✅ Secure secret management (no more hardcoded API keys)
✅ 4-tiered testing (data → tools → API → LLM)
✅ Basic health check endpoint for uptime monitoring
✅ External team collaboration support (Squirro)

🚀 Quick Start

# For new projects
cp -r mxcp-project-deployment-template/ my-new-project/
cd my-new-project
./setup-project.sh --name my-project --type remote_data

# For existing projects
cd existing-project
cp -r /path/to/template/.github .
cp -r /path/to/template/deployment .
cp /path/to/template/justfile.template .
cp /path/to/template/setup-project.sh .
cp /path/to/template/ENVIRONMENT.md.template .
./setup-project.sh --name my-project --type remote_data

# Don't forget to customize .github/workflows/deploy.yml with your secrets!

Architecture Overview

Before vs After

Before this template:

10 projects = 10 different deployment approaches
10 person-days of deployment setup (1 day × 10 projects)
Constant debugging of deployment issues

After this template:

10 projects = 1 template × 10 = consistency
Less than 1 person-hour total setup time (minutes per project)
Deployment just works™

How It Works

graph LR
    %% Developer Flow
    Dev[👨‍💻 Developer] -->|git push| GH[GitHub]
    
    %% CI/CD Pipeline
    GH --> Pipeline{{"🚀 CI/CD Pipeline"}}
    
    %% Pipeline Steps
    Pipeline --> Secrets[🔐 Load Secrets<br/>from GitHub]
    Pipeline --> Data[📥 Prepare Data<br/>Outside Docker]
    Pipeline --> Build[🐳 Build Image<br/>No Secrets!]
    Pipeline --> Test[🧪 4-Tier Tests]
    
    %% Testing Tiers
    Test --> T1[Level 1: Data Quality]
    Test --> T2[Level 2: Tool Tests]  
    Test --> T3[Level 3: API Tests]
    Test --> T4[Level 4: LLM Evals]
    
    %% Deployment
    Build --> ECR[📦 Push to ECR]
    ECR --> Deploy[☁️ Deploy to App Runner]
    
    %% Runtime
    Deploy --> Runtime[🏃 Runtime]
    Secrets -.->|Injected at runtime| Runtime
    
    %% Monitoring
    Runtime --> Monitor[📊 Health & Logs]
    
    style Pipeline fill:#4CAF50,color:#fff
    style Secrets fill:#FF5252,color:#fff
    style Test fill:#2196F3,color:#fff
    style Deploy fill:#9C27B0,color:#fff

Key Components

graph TB
    %% GitHub Workflows
    subgraph "🚀 GitHub Workflows (.github/)"
        Deploy[".github/workflows/deploy.yml<br/>📋 Main CI/CD Pipeline"]
        Release[".github/workflows/release.yml<br/>🏷️ Release Management"]
    end

    %% Justfile Tasks
    subgraph "⚡ Justfile Tasks (justfile)"
        ValidateConfig["just validate-config<br/>📝 YAML validation"]
        CiTests["just ci-tests-with-data<br/>🔍 CI tests + data"]
        FullPipeline["just full-pipeline<br/>🏗️ Complete dev pipeline"]
        TestTools["just test-tools<br/>🔧 Tool tests"]
        PrepareData["just prepare-data<br/>📥 Data download"]
        PrepareBuild["just prepare-build<br/>📦 Full preparation"]
        TestData["just test-data<br/>🧪 Level 1: dbt tests"]
        TestEvals["just test-evals<br/>🤖 Level 3: LLM evals"]
    end

    %% Deployment Files
    subgraph "🐳 Deployment (deployment/)"
        Dockerfile["Dockerfile<br/>🐳 Container build"]
        ConfigEnv["config.env.template<br/>⚙️ AWS configuration"]
        MxcpSite["mxcp-site-docker.yml.template<br/>🔧 MXCP config"]
        UserConfig["mxcp-user-config.yml.template<br/>🔐 Secrets & LLM keys"]
        StartSh["start.sh<br/>🚀 Container startup"]
    end

    %% Project Files
    subgraph "📁 Project Structure"
        Scripts["scripts/<br/>📜 Data download logic"]
        Tools["tools/<br/>🛠️ MXCP endpoints"]
        Models["models/<br/>📊 dbt transformations"]
    end

    %% Workflow Relationships
    Deploy -->|"1. Validation"| CiTests
    Deploy -->|"Fallback"| ValidateConfig
    Deploy -->|"2. Post-deployment"| TestTools
    
    Test -->|"PR Testing"| FullPipeline
    Test -->|"Fallback"| ValidateConfig

    %% Justfile Task Dependencies
    CiTests --> ValidateConfig
    CiTests --> PrepareBuild
    CiTests --> TestData
    
    FullPipeline --> PrepareBuild
    FullPipeline --> TestData
    FullPipeline --> TestTools
    
    TestTools -->|"Uses"| Tools
    TestData -->|"Tests"| Models

    %% Docker Build Process
    Dockerfile -->|"Installs just"| PrepareBuild
    PrepareBuild -->|"Downloads data"| Scripts
    PrepareBuild -->|"Runs dbt"| Models

    %% Configuration Flow
    ConfigEnv -->|"AWS settings"| Deploy
    MxcpSite -->|"MXCP config"| Dockerfile
    UserConfig -->|"Secrets"| Dockerfile

    %% 4-Tiered Testing
    subgraph "🎯 4-Tiered Testing"
        Level1["Level 1: Data Quality<br/>🧪 dbt schema tests<br/>💰 Free"]
        Level2["Level 2: Tool Tests<br/>🔧 MXCP tools tests<br/>💰 Free"]
        Level3["Level 3: API Tests<br/>🔌 External API tests<br/>💰 Free/Minimal"]
        Level4["Level 4: LLM Evaluation<br/>🤖 AI behavior tests<br/>💰 Costs Apply"]
    end

    TestData -.->|"Implements"| Level1
    TestTools -.->|"Implements"| Level2
    TestEvals -.->|"Implements"| Level4

    %% Styling
    classDef workflow fill:#e1f5fe,stroke:#01579b,stroke-width:2px
    classDef justfile fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#4a148c,stroke-width:2px
    classDef deployment fill:#e8f5e8,stroke:#1b5e20,stroke-width:2px
    classDef project fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
    classDef testing fill:#fce4ec,stroke:#880e4f,stroke-width:2px

    class Deploy,Test,Release workflow
    class ValidateConfig,CiTests,FullPipeline,TestTools,PrepareBuild,TestData,TestEvals justfile
    class Dockerfile,ConfigEnv,MxcpSite,UserConfig,StartSh deployment
    class Scripts,Tools,Models project
    class Level1,Level2,Level3 testing

Understanding the Architecture

The diagram above shows how the template's components work together:

🔄 Workflow Execution Flow:

GitHub Workflows trigger Justfile tasks for consistent execution
Justfile tasks orchestrate the 4-tiered testing approach
Deployment files configure the containerized environment
Project files contain your specific MXCP implementation

🎯 Key Integration Points:

Workflows → Justfile: All CI/CD uses justfile tasks (no manual commands)
Justfile → Project: Tasks operate on your scripts, models, and tools
Docker → Justfile: Container build expects data to be ready (uses just test-config)
Config → All: Template files provide consistent configuration patterns

💡 Benefits:

Consistency: Same tasks run locally and in CI/CD
Flexibility: Graceful fallbacks for different project types
Maintainability: Centralized task definitions in justfile
Testability: 4-tiered approach from config validation to LLM evaluation

Purpose

Why Use This Template?

Benefit	Description
🔧 Standardized CI/CD	Same deployment logic across all MXCP projects
🤝 Multi-team Support	Works for RAW Labs, Squirro, and other external teams
✅ Production Ready	Used by UAE MXCP Server (3M+ records)
🔄 Easy Updates	Minimal merge conflicts, clear separation of concerns
🏃 Fast Deployment	~8-12 minutes from push to deployment
🔒 Security First	Built-in secrets management, basic health checks

Template Components

📁 Directory Structure

mxcp-project-deployment-template/
├── .github/                    # Stable CI/CD (rarely modified)
│   ├── workflows/              
│   │   ├── deploy.yml         # Main deployment pipeline
│   │   ├── test.yml           # PR testing workflow
│   │   └── release.yml        # Release management
│   └── scripts/
│       └── deploy-app-runner.sh # AWS deployment script
├── deployment/                 # Customizable configs
│   ├── config.env.template    # AWS settings
│   ├── Dockerfile             # Container build
│   ├── mxcp-site-docker.yml.template # MXCP config
│   ├── mxcp-user-config.yml.template # Secrets config
│   ├── profiles-docker.yml.template  # dbt profiles
│   ├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
│   └── start.sh              # Container startup
├── .squirro/                  # External team integration
│   ├── setup-for-squirro.sh.template
│   └── merge-from-raw.sh     
├── justfile.template          # Task runner config
├── setup-project.sh           # One-click setup
├── ENVIRONMENT.md.template    # Variable documentation
└── README.md                  # This file

Prerequisites

✅ Required

Component	Purpose	Setup Guide
AWS Account	Deployment target	AWS Free Tier
GitHub Account	CI/CD and version control	GitHub Signup
IAM Role	`AppRunnerECRAccessRole`	See ENVIRONMENT.md

🔑 Configuration Approach: Hybrid (config.env + GitHub Variables)

The template uses a hybrid configuration approach:

Base defaults are stored in deployment/config.env (tracked in git)
Environment-specific overrides use GitHub Variables
Secrets always use GitHub Secrets (never in config.env)

This provides self-documenting configuration with secure overrides.

GitHub Variables (Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables):

# AWS deployment configuration (optional overrides for config.env values)
gh variable set AWS_ACCOUNT_ID --body "684130658470"    # Override AWS account ID
gh variable set AWS_REGION --body "eu-west-1"           # Override AWS region
gh variable set ECR_REPOSITORY --body "your-project-mxcp-server"
gh variable set APP_RUNNER_SERVICE --body "your-project-mxcp-server"
gh variable set CPU_SIZE --body "1 vCPU"                 # Override CPU allocation
gh variable set MEMORY_SIZE --body "4 GB"                # Override memory allocation

GitHub Secrets (Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Secrets):

# Deployment credentials
gh secret set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
gh secret set AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

# Data access (if using S3/external data)
gh secret set MXCP_DATA_ACCESS_KEY_ID
gh secret set MXCP_DATA_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

# LLM APIs (if using AI features)
gh secret set OPENAI_API_KEY        # Optional
gh secret set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY     # Optional

🛠️ Local Development Tools

Tool	Required	Installation
Git	✅ Yes	`apt install git`
Docker	⚠️ Optional	Docker Desktop
just	⚠️ Recommended	`curl -sSf https://just.systems/install.sh \| bash`

Usage

For New MXCP Projects

Quick Setup (Automated)

# Copy template to your project
cp -r /path/to/mxcp-project-deployment-template your-new-project/
cd your-new-project

# Run automated setup (steps 2-4)
./setup-project.sh --name your-project-name [options]

# Examples:
./setup-project.sh --name finance-demo
./setup-project.sh --name uae-licenses --region us-west-2 --type remote_data
./setup-project.sh --name vertec-poc --type api

# Options:
# --name: Project name (required)
# --type: Project type - data, remote_data, or api (default: remote_data)
# --region: AWS region (default: eu-west-1)

# ℹ️ dbt Integration: The script automatically updates dbt_project.yml 
# to use profile '{{PROJECT_NAME}}-mxcp' matching the generated profiles.yml

# ⚠️ Important: The script also handles .gitignore to ensure deployment files
# are tracked in git (required for CI/CD to work)

# Project Types:
# - data: Local data files in data/ directory (default)
# - remote_data: Data downloaded from external sources (S3, etc.)
# - api: API-based project with no static data or dbt models

# Note: The script automatically removes all .template files and itself after
# successful setup to keep your project clean

MXCP Configuration

The deployment/mxcp-user-config.yml file configures LLM models and secrets:

# LLM Models Configuration (REQUIRED FORMAT)
models:
  default: gpt-4o        # Default model to use
  models:                # Nested models object
    gpt-4o:
      type: openai       # Use 'type' not 'provider'
      api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
    gpt-3.5-turbo:
      type: openai
      api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
    # Add other OpenAI models as needed (claude-3-opus, etc.)

# Project secrets configuration
projects:
  "{{PROJECT_NAME}}-mxcp":
    profiles:
      prod:
        secrets:
          - name: "example-secret"
            type: "custom"
            parameters:
              param_a: "value_a"
              param_b: "value_b"

⚠️ Common Configuration Errors:

Using flat model structure instead of models.default + models.models
Using provider: instead of type: for model configuration
Adding unsupported properties like secrets: {} at top level
Forgetting quotes around project names with special characters

Manual Setup (Step by Step)

1. Copy Template Components

# Copy the stable and customizable directories to your new project
cp -r /path/to/mxcp-project-deployment-template/.github your-new-project/
cp -r /path/to/mxcp-project-deployment-template/deployment your-new-project/

2. Customize Configuration

cd your-new-project

# Customize deployment configuration
cp deployment/config.env.template deployment/config.env
vim deployment/config.env

# Set your values:
# AWS_ACCOUNT_ID=your-aws-account
# AWS_REGION=your-region  
# ECR_REPOSITORY=your-project-mxcp-server
# APP_RUNNER_SERVICE=your-project-mxcp-server

3. Setup Task Runner (Optional but Recommended)

# Copy and customize the modern task runner
cp justfile.template justfile

# Customize placeholders for your project (see Justfile Guide below)
sed -i "s/{{PROJECT_NAME}}/your-project/g" justfile
# Add your specific data download and dbt commands...

# Install just (if not already installed)
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://just.systems/install.sh | bash -s -- --to ~/.local/bin

4. Customize Docker Configuration

# Update MXCP configuration
cp deployment/mxcp-site-docker.yml.template deployment/mxcp-site-docker.yml
sed -i "s/{{PROJECT_NAME}}/your-project/g" deployment/mxcp-site-docker.yml

# Update dbt profiles
cp deployment/profiles-docker.yml.template deployment/profiles-docker.yml
sed -i "s/{{PROJECT_NAME}}/your-project/g; s/{{AWS_REGION}}/your-region/g" deployment/profiles-docker.yml

5. Initialize MXCP Project Structure

# Initialize MXCP project with example endpoints
mxcp init --bootstrap

# This creates:
# - mxcp-site.yml (main configuration)
# - tools/ directory with example endpoints
# - Basic project structure

6. Clean Up Template Files (Optional)

# Remove .template files after customization to keep your project clean
rm -f justfile.template
rm -f deployment/*.template
rm -f ENVIRONMENT.md.template

7. Choose Your Data Strategy

⚠️ Important: Data preparation now happens OUTSIDE Docker build:

GitHub Actions downloads/prepares data before building the image
Keeps Docker images smaller and builds faster
No secrets in Docker build context
Data files are included in the image but not downloaded during build

The template supports three data patterns:

Option A: Static Data (simplest)

# Place your data files in data/ directory
mkdir -p data/
# Copy your CSV/JSON files here
# Modify Dockerfile to skip download step

Option B: Downloaded Data

# Create data download script (customize for your source)
mkdir -p scripts/
# Create scripts/download_real_data.py for your data source (S3, API, etc.)
# Docker will run this during build

Option C: Live API Integration

# No data download needed - your tools connect to live APIs
# Remove data download from Dockerfile
# Configure API endpoints in your tools/

7. Deploy

# Set GitHub repository secrets (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY)
# Push to trigger automatic deployment
git push origin main

Customizing Secrets for Your Project

Each project must customize .github/workflows/deploy.yml to include its specific secrets:

Open .github/workflows/deploy.yml
Find the env: block at the top (after the on: section)

UNCOMMENT and customize the secrets your project needs:

env:
  # Example secrets (uncomment and modify for your project):
  OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY || '' }}  # ← UNCOMMENT THIS!
  # ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY || '' }}
  # CUSTOM_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CUSTOM_API_TOKEN || '' }}

Commit these changes - they're part of your project configuration

⚠️ IMPORTANT: The secrets are commented out by default. You MUST uncomment the ones you need!

Why this approach?

Simple and explicit - you see exactly what secrets your project uses
No complex template processing or filtering
GitHub Actions requires explicit secret references anyway
Easy to add new secrets as your project evolves

Critical: .gitignore Configuration

⚠️ IMPORTANT: The deployment files MUST be tracked in git for CI/CD to work!

When using this template in your project, ensure these files are NOT in your .gitignore:

deployment/config.env
deployment/mxcp-user-config.yml
deployment/mxcp-site-docker.yml
deployment/profiles-docker.yml
justfile

The setup-project.sh script automatically handles this, but if you're setting up manually:

# Remove these entries from .gitignore if present
sed -i '/^deployment\/config\.env$/d' .gitignore
sed -i '/^deployment\/mxcp-user-config\.yml$/d' .gitignore
sed -i '/^deployment\/mxcp-site-docker\.yml$/d' .gitignore
sed -i '/^deployment\/profiles-docker\.yml$/d' .gitignore
sed -i '/^justfile$/d' .gitignore

Why this matters: During CI/CD, GitHub Actions clones your repository and builds the Docker image. If these files are gitignored, they won't exist in the clone, causing the Docker build to fail with "file not found" errors.

For Existing MXCP Projects

Scenario 1: Project Without CI/CD

If you have an MXCP project with just core files but no deployment:

# Copy template infrastructure
cd your-existing-project
cp -r /path/to/template/.github .
cp -r /path/to/template/deployment .
cp /path/to/template/justfile.template .
cp /path/to/template/setup-project.sh .

# Run setup
./setup-project.sh --name your-project-name --type remote_data

# Configure and deploy
git add .
git commit -m "Add deployment infrastructure"
git push origin main

Scenario 2: Project With Different CI/CD

For selective adoption:

# Compare components before replacing
diff -r .github/workflows /path/to/template/.github/workflows

# Adopt what makes sense
cp /path/to/template/.github/workflows/deploy.yml .github/workflows/
cp /path/to/template/deployment/Dockerfile deployment/

# Or run full setup for complete standardization
./setup-project.sh --name your-project-name --type remote_data

Scenario 3: External Teams (Squirro)

# Copy Squirro integration
cp -r /path/to/template/.squirro .

# Run setup
./.squirro/setup-for-squirro.sh

# Use merge script for updates
./.squirro/merge-from-raw.sh

Template Philosophy

.github/ = PROJECT-CUSTOMIZED - Add your project's secrets to the env: block
.squirro/ = SQUIRRO-SPECIFIC - Tools and workflows for Squirro integration
deployment/ = CUSTOMIZABLE - Projects modify configuration files
justfile.template = GENERIC - Uses placeholders for project-specific commands:
- {{DATA_DOWNLOAD_COMMAND}} - How to download your project's data
- {{DBT_DEPS_COMMAND}} - Install dbt dependencies (or skip for API projects)
- {{DBT_RUN_COMMAND}} - How to run dbt with your data variables
- {{DBT_TEST_COMMAND}} - How to test dbt with your data variables
Simplicity over standardization - Each project customizes what it needs

Justfile Guide

The template includes a modern task runner (justfile.template) that provides a standardized way to run common MXCP operations. This replaces scattered shell scripts with clean, documented tasks.

4-Tiered Testing Architecture

The justfile implements a comprehensive testing strategy with four levels:

Level	Type	Purpose	Cost	When Run	Command
Build	Config Validation	YAML syntax, basic setup	Free	During Docker build	`just test-config`
Level 1	Data Quality	dbt schema tests, referential integrity	Free	After build	`just test-data`
Level 2	Tool Tests	MXCP tools functionality (`python tests/test.py tool`)	Free	After build	`just test-tools`
Level 3	API Tests	External API integration (`python tests/test.py api`)	Free	After build	`just test-api`
Level 4	LLM Evaluation	End-to-end AI behavior validation	$$$	After build	`just test-evals`

Important:

Data download happens BEFORE Docker build in the GitHub Actions workflow (using just prepare-data)
Docker build runs just build-models to build dbt models with the downloaded data
Docker build runs just test-config for basic validation
Full testing (Levels 1-3) happens AFTER the Docker build, when secrets are available
This ensures we never bake secrets into the Docker image

Template Placeholders

When customizing justfile.template, replace these placeholders with your project-specific commands:

Replace with your project name (e.g., "uae-licenses", "finance-demo"):

sed -i "s/{{PROJECT_NAME}}/your-project/g" justfile

ℹ️ dbt Integration: The setup script automatically creates a dbt profile named {{PROJECT_NAME}}-mxcp and updates your dbt_project.yml to match. No manual synchronization needed!

Replace with your data download command:

Example (S3 download):

python3 scripts/download_real_data.py --output data/licenses.csv

Example (API fetch):

python3 scripts/fetch_from_api.py --output data/records.csv

Example (Static data):

echo "Using static data - no download needed"

Install dbt dependencies (or skip for API projects):

Example (data projects):

dbt deps

Example (API projects):

echo "🔌 API-based project - no dbt dependencies"

Replace with your dbt run command:

Example (with variables):

dbt run --vars '{"licenses_file": "data/licenses.csv"}'

Example (simple):

dbt run

Replace with your dbt test command:

Example (with variables):

dbt test --vars '{"licenses_file": "data/licenses.csv"}'

Example (simple):

dbt test

Replace with your API test command (for API-based projects).

For API projects:

python tests/test.py api

For data projects (default):

@echo '📊 Data project - no API tests needed'

Replace with your MXCP evaluation commands.

⚠️ Important: The command is prefixed with - to make failures non-blocking.

Default (runs all evals):

-mxcp evals

Legacy format (specific eval suites):

-mxcp evals basic_test
-mxcp evals search_functionality
-mxcp evals edge_cases

UAE MXCP Server Example

Here's how the UAE project customized the template:

# UAE-specific customization
PROJECT_NAME="uae-licenses"
DATA_DOWNLOAD_COMMAND="python3 scripts/download_real_data.py --output data/licenses.csv"
DBT_RUN_COMMAND='dbt run --vars '"'"'{"licenses_file": "data/licenses.csv"}'"'"''
DBT_TEST_COMMAND='dbt test --vars '"'"'{"licenses_file": "data/licenses.csv"}'"'"''
MXCP_EVALS_COMMANDS="-mxcp evals"  # Runs all eval suites

Available Tasks

After customization, your justfile will provide these tasks:

Data Pipeline Tasks

just download - Download/prepare your project data
just build-models - Run dbt transformations
just prepare-data - Download data only (used in GitHub Actions)
just prepare-build - Download data + build models (used inside Docker)

Testing Tasks (3-Tier)

just test-config - Validate YAML configurations (instant)
just test-data - Run dbt data quality tests (Level 1)
just test-tools - Test MXCP tools functionality (Level 2)
just test-api - Test external API integration (Level 2, API projects)
just test-evals - Run LLM evaluation tests (Level 3, costs apply)
just test-all - Run all testing levels

Development Workflows

just dev - Standard development pipeline (Levels 1+2, free)
just dev-full - Full development pipeline (Levels 1+2+3, costs apply)
just full-pipeline - Complete ETL + testing pipeline
just ci-tests-with-data - CI-ready tests with data download

Utility Tasks

just validate-config - Quick YAML validation (no data needed)
just or just --list - Show all available tasks

Usage Examples

# Quick development cycle (free)
just dev                    # Download data + build + test Levels 1+2

# Full validation before release (costs apply)  
just dev-full              # Download data + build + test all 3 levels

# Individual testing levels
just test-data             # Level 1: dbt schema tests
just test-tools            # Level 2: MXCP tools tests  
just test-evals           # Level 3: LLM evaluation tests (requires OPENAI_API_KEY)

# CI/CD pipeline
just ci-tests-with-data    # Standard CI tests with data

Cost Management

Level 3 (LLM Evaluation) costs apply:

Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable
Each eval run costs ~$0.10-$2.00 depending on complexity
Use just test-evals sparingly (before releases, not every commit)
Use just dev for daily development (excludes Level 3)

Examples

🏆 Success Story: UAE Business Licenses

Metric	Value
Repository	uae-mxcp-server
Live Service	App Runner Deployment
Data Scale	3,186,320 business licenses
Performance	4 vCPU, 8GB RAM
Deployment Time	< 10 minutes
Merge Conflicts	Zero during RAW-Squirro collaboration

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Docker Build Failures

"File not found" errors

COPY failed: file not found in build context

Cause: Deployment files are in .gitignore Fix: Ensure deployment files are tracked in git (see Critical: .gitignore Configuration)

"Invalid user config" errors

Error: Invalid user config: Additional properties are not allowed

Cause: Incorrect MXCP configuration format Fix: Check deployment/mxcp-user-config.yml follows the correct format

"Model not configured" errors

Error: Model 'gpt-4.1' not configured in user config

Cause: Eval tests reference a model not in config Fix: Either:

Add the model to mxcp-user-config.yml (if it's a real model)
Update the eval test to use an existing model (e.g., change gpt-4.1 to gpt-4o)
Make the eval command non-blocking with - prefix

CI/CD Issues

Eval tests causing build failures

Cause: Eval test failures blocking deployment Fix: Ensure all mxcp evals commands in justfile have - prefix:

test-evals:
    -mxcp evals test1  # Note the - prefix
    -mxcp evals test2  # Makes failures non-blocking

Missing GitHub Variables

Cause: GitHub Variables not set for the repository Fix: Set all required variables:

gh variable set AWS_ACCOUNT_ID --body "684130658470"
gh variable set AWS_REGION --body "eu-west-1"
gh variable set ECR_REPOSITORY --body "your-project-mxcp-server"
gh variable set APP_RUNNER_SERVICE --body "your-project-mxcp-server"

Integration Guide for DevOps Teams

Overview

This template enables standardized deployment of MXCP servers with proven patterns for both RAW Labs and external teams (like Squirro). The architecture supports:

Standardized CI/CD with AWS App Runner or external systems
Flexible data strategies (static, downloaded, or API-based)
Basic health check endpoint for uptime monitoring
Clean separation between stable infrastructure and customizable components

For RAW Labs Teams

Create new MXCP project from template:

cp -r mxcp-project-deployment-template/ new-project/
cd new-project
./setup-project.sh --name project-name --type remote_data

Implement project logic:

Add tools in tools/
Create data scripts in scripts/
Set up dbt models in models/

Deploy:

git push origin main  # Triggers automatic deployment

For External Teams (Squirro)

Fork the project repository (not this template)
Run Squirro setup:

./.squirro/setup-for-squirro.sh

Customize for your infrastructure:

Update deployment/config.env
Modify data sources if needed
Configure your deployment system

Merge updates from RAW:

./.squirro/merge-from-raw.sh

Network and Service Discovery

Port Configuration:

External: Port 8000 (health checks + MCP proxy)
Internal: Port 8001 (MXCP server)

Health Architecture:

Client → :8000/health → 200 OK (App Runner/K8s health)
Client → :8000/mcp/* → Proxy → :8001 (MXCP server)

Environment Variables

Each project should document its specific requirements:

AWS Configuration: Set in deployment/config.env
Secrets: Use GitHub Secrets, Vault, or 1Password
API Keys: Configure in deployment/mxcp-user-config.yml

Production Checklist

Set up AWS credentials and GitHub secrets
Configure deployment/config.env with your values
Test locally with just full-pipeline
Deploy with git push origin main
Verify health endpoint responds
Check CloudWatch logs for audit trail

Secret Management

How Secrets Work in This Template

The template uses a secure approach where secrets are:

Never baked into Docker images (security best practice)
Passed at runtime via environment variables
Configured per-project in the workflow's env: block
Injected into AWS App Runner as RuntimeEnvironmentVariables

When deploying to AWS App Runner, the deploy-app-runner.sh script:

Collects all API keys from the GitHub Actions environment
Passes them to App Runner as RuntimeEnvironmentVariables
These are then available to your MXCP server at runtime

Advanced Secret Management Options

MXCP also supports enterprise secret management solutions:

HashiCorp Vault

# Set Vault address and token
export VAULT_ADDR="https://vault.example.com"
export VAULT_TOKEN="your-vault-token"

# Store secrets
vault kv put secret/mxcp/{{project}} \
  OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..." \
  ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

1Password Connect

# Set service account token
export OP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN="your-token"
# MXCP can reference op:// paths in config

GitHub Secrets (Recommended for CI/CD)

gh secret set OPENAI_API_KEY --body "sk-..."
gh secret set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID --body "AKIA..."

What's Included vs What's Not

✅ What This Template Provides

Health Check: Basic /health endpoint for App Runner monitoring
Logging: stdout/stderr captured by AWS App Runner (viewable in CloudWatch)
Configuration: Secure management of API keys and settings
Testing: 4-tier testing framework (data → tools → API → LLM)
CI/CD: Automated deployment pipeline

❌ What You Need to Add

Audit Logging: MXCP supports structured audit logs, but you need to configure them
Metrics/Monitoring: Beyond basic health checks, you'll need CloudWatch, Datadog, etc.
Backup/Recovery: Your data and configuration backup strategy
Scaling: Auto-scaling policies for App Runner
Alerting: PagerDuty, Slack notifications, etc.

Support

What RAW Labs Provides

Template maintenance and updates
Bug fixes in MXCP framework
Technical guidance and best practices
Documentation and examples

What Teams Handle

Infrastructure and deployment
Secret management
Monitoring and alerting
Scaling and performance tuning

Contacts

Technical Questions: Pavlos Polydoras ([email protected])
Template Issues: Ben ([email protected])
Documentation: https://mxcp.dev/docs/

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 82 Commits
.github		.github
.squirro		.squirro
deployment		deployment
.gitignore		.gitignore
ENVIRONMENT.md.template		ENVIRONMENT.md.template
README.md		README.md
justfile.template		justfile.template
setup-project.sh		setup-project.sh

raw-labs/mxcp-project-deployment-template

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