Skip to content

Troubleshooting Guide

Common issues and their solutions.

Installation Issues

Python Version Compatibility

Problem: Installation fails with Python version 1.0.0

Solution:

# Check Python version
python --version

# MCP Standards Server requires Python 3.11+
# Install compatible Python version
pyenv install 3.11.0
pyenv global 3.11.0

Dependencies Installation Failed

Problem: pip install fails with dependency conflicts.

Solution:

# Clean install with virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install mcp-standards-server

Server Issues

Port Already in Use

Problem: [Errno 48] Address already in use

Solution:

# Find process using port 8080
lsof -i :8080

# Kill the process
kill -9 <PID>

# Or use different port
mcp-standards serve --port 8081

Permission Denied

Problem: Permission denied when accessing cache directory.

Solution:

# Fix permissions
sudo chown -R $USER ~/.mcp-standards/
chmod 755 ~/.mcp-standards/cache

# Or use custom cache directory
mcp-standards serve --cache-dir ./cache

Memory Issues

Problem: Server runs out of memory.

Solution:

# Limit memory usage
export MCP_MAX_MEMORY=1024  # MB
mcp-standards serve

# Or clear cache
mcp-standards cache clear

Configuration Issues

Invalid YAML Syntax

Problem: Configuration file parsing error.

Solution:

# Validate YAML syntax
python -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('~/.mcp-standards/config.yaml'))"

# Reset to default configuration
mcp-standards config init --force

Redis Connection Failed

Problem: Cannot connect to Redis server.

Solution:

# Check Redis status
redis-cli ping

# Start Redis (macOS with Homebrew)
brew services start redis

# Start Redis (Linux with systemd)
sudo systemctl start redis

# Disable Redis in config if not needed
mcp-standards config set standards.redis.enabled false

Standards Sync Issues

Network Connection Failed

Problem: Cannot download standards from repository.

Solution:

# Check network connectivity
curl -I https://github.com/williamzujkowski/standards

# Use proxy if needed
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080
mcp-standards sync

# Use local standards directory
mcp-standards config set standards.local_directory /path/to/local/standards

Git Authentication Failed

Problem: Cannot access private standards repository.

Solution:

# Set up SSH key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub  # Add to GitHub

# Or use personal access token
export GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here
mcp-standards sync

Standards Format Error

Problem: Invalid standards file format.

Solution:

# Validate standards format
mcp-standards validate-standards ./standards/

# Force resync to get latest format
mcp-standards sync --force

Validation Issues

No Standards Found

Problem: No applicable standards found for project.

Solution:

# Check available standards
mcp-standards query list

# Sync standards first
mcp-standards sync

# Manually specify standards
mcp-standards validate --standard python-pep8 .

Language Detection Failed

Problem: Cannot detect project language automatically.

Solution:

# Manually specify language
mcp-standards validate --language python .

# Check project structure
find . -name "*.py" -o -name "*.js" -o -name "*.go" | head -10

Performance Issues

Problem: Validation is very slow.

Solution:

# Use parallel processing
mcp-standards validate --workers 4 .

# Exclude large directories
echo "node_modules/" >> .mcpignore
echo "*.min.js" >> .mcpignore

# Use incremental validation
mcp-standards validate --incremental .

API and Integration Issues

MCP Protocol Errors

Problem: MCP client cannot connect to server.

Solution:

# Check server status
curl http://localhost:8080/health

# Enable CORS for web clients
mcp-standards config set server.enable_cors true

# Check server logs
tail -f ~/.mcp-standards/mcp-server.log

IDE Integration Failed

Problem: VS Code extension not working.

Solution: 1. Check extension is installed and enabled 2. Verify server is running: mcp-standards status 3. Check extension logs in VS Code Developer Tools 4. Restart VS Code and server

CI/CD Integration Issues

Problem: GitHub Actions workflow fails.

Solution:

# Add to GitHub Actions workflow
- name: Setup MCP Standards
  run: |
    pip install mcp-standards-server
    mcp-standards sync

- name: Validate Code
  run: |
    mcp-standards validate --format sarif --output results.sarif
  continue-on-error: true

Logging and Debugging

Enable Debug Logging

# Temporary debug mode
mcp-standards --verbose serve

# Persistent debug configuration
mcp-standards config set logging.level DEBUG

Log File Locations

  • Server logs: ~/.mcp-standards/mcp-server.log
  • Validation logs: ~/.mcp-standards/validation.log
  • Sync logs: ~/.mcp-standards/sync.log

Collect Diagnostic Information

# Generate diagnostic report
mcp-standards diagnostic > diagnostic-report.txt

# Include in bug reports:
# - OS and Python version
# - Configuration file
# - Recent log entries
# - Steps to reproduce

Performance Optimization

Cache Optimization

# Warm cache for common standards
mcp-standards cache warm

# Monitor cache hit rate
mcp-standards cache stats

# Increase cache size
mcp-standards config set standards.max_cache_size 2GB

Memory Optimization

# Limit concurrent validations
mcp-standards config set performance.max_workers 2

# Enable garbage collection tuning
mcp-standards config set performance.gc_threshold 0.8

Getting Help

Community Support

Bug Reports

When reporting bugs, please include:

  1. MCP Standards Server version: mcp-standards --version
  2. Operating system and Python version
  3. Complete error message
  4. Steps to reproduce
  5. Configuration file (remove sensitive data)
  6. Relevant log entries

Feature Requests

Feature requests are welcome! Please:

  1. Check existing issues first
  2. Describe the use case
  3. Provide implementation ideas if possible
  4. Consider contributing the feature

Still having issues? Join our Discord community for real-time help!