googleapis--mcp-toolbox/DEVELOPER.md

DEVELOPER.md

This document provides instructions for setting up your development environment and contributing to the Toolbox project.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

1. Databases: Set up the necessary databases for your development environment.

2. Go: Install the latest version of Go.

3. Dependencies: Download and manage project dependencies:

   go get
   go mod tidy
   

Developing Toolbox

Running from Local Source

1. Configuration: Create a tools.yaml file to configure your sources and tools. See the Configuration section in the README for details.

2. CLI Flags: List available command-line flags for the Toolbox server:

   go run . --help
   

3. Running the Server: Start the Toolbox server with optional flags. The server listens on port 5000 by default.

   go run .
   

4. Testing the Endpoint: Verify the server is running by sending a request to the endpoint:

   curl http://127.0.0.1:5000
   

Cross Compiling For Windows

Most developers work in a Unix or Unix-like environment.

Compiling for Windows requires the download of zig to provide a C and C++ compiler. These instructions are for cross compiling from Linux x86 but should work for macOS with small changes.

1. Download zig for your platform.

   cd $HOME
   curl -fL "https://ziglang.org/download/0.15.2/zig-x86_64-linux-0.15.2.tar.xz" -o zig.tar.xz
   tar xf zig.tar.xz
   

   This will create the directory $HOME/zig-x86_64-linux-0.15.2. You only need to do this once.

   If you are on macOS curl from https://ziglang.org/download/0.15.2/zig-x86_64-macos-0.15.2.tar.xz or https://ziglang.org/download/0.15.2/zig-aarch64-macos-0.15.2.tar.xz.

2. Change to your MCP Toolbox directory and run the following:

   GOOS=windows \
   GOARCH=amd64 \
   CGO_ENABLED=1 \
   CC="$HOME/zig-x86_64-linux-0.15.2/zig cc -target x86_64-windows-gnu"  \
   CXX="$HOME/zig-x86_64-linux-0.15.2/zig c++ -target x86_64-windows-gnu" \
   go build -o toolbox.exe
   

   If you are on macOS alter the path zig-x86_64-linux-0.15.2 to the proper path for your zig installation.

Now the toolbox.exe file is ready to use. Transfer it to your windows machine and test it.

Compiling on Windows

1. Download and install the zig 0.15.2 package for windows.

2. Make sure that zig is in your path by typing zig at the command line. You should get help data.

3. Run the following commands from your mcp-toolbox folder in PowerShell.

   $env:GOOS="windows"
   $env:GOARCH="amd64"
   $env:CGO_ENABLED=1
   $env:CC="zig cc -target x86_64-windows-gnu"
   $env:CXX="zig c++ -target x86_64-windows-gnu"
   go build -o toolbox.exe
   

Tool Naming Conventions

This section details the purpose and conventions for MCP Toolbox's tools naming properties, tool name and tool type.

kind: tool
name: cancel_hotel <- tool name
type: postgres-sql  <- tool type
source: my_pg_source

Tool Name

Tool name is the identifier used by a Large Language Model (LLM) to invoke a specific tool.

• Custom tools: The user can define any name they want. The below guidelines do not apply.
• Pre-built tools: The tool name is predefined and cannot be changed. It should follow the guidelines.

The following guidelines apply to tool names:

• Should use underscores over hyphens (e.g., list_collections instead of list-collections).
• Should not have the product name in the name (e.g., list_collections instead of firestore_list_collections).
• Superficial changes are NOT considered as breaking (e.g., changing tool name).
• Non-superficial changes MAY be considered breaking (e.g. adding new parameters to a function) until they can be validated through extensive testing to ensure they do not negatively impact agent's performances.

Tool Type

Tool type serves as a category or type that a user can assign to a tool.

The following guidelines apply to tool types:

• Should use hyphens over underscores (e.g. firestore-list-collections or firestore_list_colelctions).
• Should use product name in name (e.g. firestore-list-collections over list-collections).
• Changes to tool type are breaking changes and should be avoided.

Tool Invocation & Error Handling

To align with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and ensure robust agentic workflows, Toolbox distinguishes between errors the agent can fix and errors that require developer intervention.

Error Categorization

When implementing Invoke() or ParseParams(), you must return the appropriate error type from internal/util/errors.go. This allows the LLM to attempt a "self-correct" for Agent Errors while signaling a hard stop for Server Errors.

Category	Description	HTTP Status	MCP Result
Agent Error (AgentError)	Input/Execution logic errors (e.g., SQL syntax, missing records, invalid params). The agent can fix this.	200 OK	isError: true
Server Error (ClientServerError)	Infrastructure failures (e.g., DB down, auth failure, network failure). The agent cannot fix this.	500 Internal Error	JSON-RPC Error

Implementation Guidelines

Use Typed Errors: Refactor or implement the Tool interface methods to return util.ToolboxError.

In Invoke():

• Agent Error: Wrap database driver errors (syntax, constraint violations) in AgentError.
• Server Error: Wrap connection failures or internal logic crashes in ClientServerError.

In ParseParams():

• Return ToolboxError for missing required parameters or wrong types.
• Return ClientServerError for failures in resolving authenticated parameters (e.g., invalid tokens).

Example:

func (t *MyTool) Invoke(ctx context.Context, sp tools.SourceProvider, params parameters.ParamValues, token tools.AccessToken) (any, util.ToolboxError) { res, err := t.db.Exec(ctx, params.SQL) if err != nil { // Driver error is likely a syntax issue the LLM can fix return nil, util.NewAgentError("error executing SQL query", err) } return res, nil }

Implementation Guides

Adding a New Database Source or Tool

Please create an issue before implementation to ensure we can accept the contribution and no duplicated work. This issue should include an overview of the API design. If you have any questions, reach out on our Discord to chat directly with the team.

Note

New tools can be added for pre-existing data sources. However, any new database source should also include at least one new tool type.

Adding a New Database Source

We recommend looking at an example source implementation.

• Create a new directory under internal/sources for your database type (e.g., internal/sources/newdb).
• Define a configuration struct for your data source in a file named newdb.go. Create a Config struct to include all the necessary parameters for connecting to the database (e.g., host, port, username, password, database name) and a Source struct to store necessary parameters for tools (e.g., Name, Type, connection object, additional config).
• Implement the SourceConfig interface. This interface requires two methods:
  • SourceConfigType() string: Returns a unique string identifier for your data source (e.g., "newdb").
  • Initialize(ctx context.Context, tracer trace.Tracer) (Source, error): Creates a new instance of your data source and establishes a connection to the database.
• Implement the Source interface. This interface requires one method:
  • SourceType() string: Returns the same string identifier as SourceConfigType().
• Implement init() to register the new Source.
• Implement Unit Tests in a file named newdb_test.go.

Adding a New Tool

Note

Please follow the tool naming convention detailed here.

We recommend looking at an example tool implementation.

Remember to keep your PRs small. For example, if you are contributing a new Source, only include one or two core Tools within the same PR, the rest of the Tools can come in subsequent PRs.

• Create a new directory under internal/tools for your tool type (e.g., internal/tools/newdb/newdbtool).

• Define a Config struct for your tool in a file named newdbtool.go. Embed tools.ConfigBase with yaml:",inline" so your tool inherits the shared name, description, authRequired, and scopesRequired fields (and their getters) for free. Add only the fields specific to your tool (e.g., Type, Source, Statement, Parameters, Annotations). Do not redeclare the shared fields.

• Define a Tool struct that embeds tools.BaseTool[Config]. BaseTool provides default implementations of most of the Tool interface — GetName, GetDescription, GetAuthRequired, GetScopesRequired, GetAnnotations, Manifest, GetParameters, Authorized, RequiresClientAuthorization, GetAuthTokenHeaderName, and EmbedParams. Do not re-declare these — eliminating that boilerplate is the entire point of embedding BaseTool.

  Override an inherited method only when behavior differs from the default. For example, override EmbedParams to inject a vector formatter (see Vector Search below), or override RequiresClientAuthorization / GetAuthTokenHeaderName for tools that use client-side OAuth.

• Implement the ToolConfig interface:

  • ToolConfigType() string: Returns a unique string identifier for your tool (e.g., "newdb-tool").
  • Initialize(srcs map[string]sources.Source) (tools.Tool, error): Validates the config, processes parameters, and returns your Tool constructed via tools.NewBaseTool(cfg, annotations, manifest, staticParameters).

• Implement only the two methods BaseTool does not provide:

  • Invoke(ctx context.Context, sp tools.SourceProvider, params parameters.ParamValues, token tools.AccessToken) (any, util.ToolboxError): Executes the operation. Return typed errors (see Error Categorization).
  • ToConfig() tools.ToolConfig: Returns the embedded Cfg.

• Implement init() to register the new Tool.

• Implement Unit Tests in a file named newdbtool_test.go.

• Implement Vector Search if your new tool supports it. You must:

  1. Validate that the vector embedding format can be injected successfully into your Tool's statement. If not, update Tool.EmbedParams() to pass in a vector formatter into parameters.EmbedParams.
  2. Feel free to reuse existing vector formatters or create new ones.
  3. Add tests and documentation for vector injection and vector search. See the BigQuery SQL tool for an example.

Adding Integration Tests

• Add a test file under a new directory tests/newdb.

• Add pre-defined integration test suites in the /tests/newdb/newdb_integration_test.go that are required to be run as long as your code contains related features. Please check each test suites for the config defaults, if your source require test suites config updates, please refer to config option:

  1. RunToolGetTest: tests for the GET endpoint that returns the tool's manifest.

  2. RunToolInvokeTest: tests for tool calling through the native Toolbox endpoints.

  3. RunMCPToolCallMethod: tests tool calling through the MCP endpoints.

  4. (Optional) RunExecuteSqlToolInvokeTest: tests an execute-sql tool for any source. Only run this test if you are adding an execute-sql tool.

  5. (Optional) RunToolInvokeWithTemplateParameters: tests for template parameters. Only run this test if template parameters apply to your tool.

• Add additional tests for the tools that are not covered by the predefined tests. Every tool must be tested!

• Add the new database to the integration test workflow in integration.cloudbuild.yaml.

Adding Documentation

When updating documentation, you must adhere to the structural constraints enforced by our Diátaxis-based layout and internal linters:

• Adding a New Data Source:
  • Create a new folder for your integration in the docs/en/integrations/ directory (e.g., docs/en/integrations/newdb/).
  • Create an empty _index.md file. This acts purely as a structural folder wrapper for Hugo. Do not add body content here.
  • Create a source.md file. This is the definitive guide. Add all connection details, authentication, and YAML configurations here. Ensure you include the {{< list-tools >}} shortcode to dynamically display tools.
• Adding a New Native Tool:
  • Create a nested tools/ directory inside your source (e.g., docs/en/integrations/newdb/tools/).
  • Create an empty _index.md file inside the tools/ directory. It must contain only frontmatter and absolutely no markdown body text.
  • Add the tool details in a <tool_name>.md file in this new tools/ folder. Ensure you include the {{< compatible-sources >}} shortcode.
• Adding Inherited/Shared Tools (e.g., Managed Databases):
  • If a new database inherits tools from a base integration (like Cloud SQL inheriting Postgres tools), create the tools/ directory with an _index.md file.
  • Map the inherited tools dynamically by adding the shared_tools YAML array to the frontmatter of this tools/_index.md file. This file must strictly contain only frontmatter.
• Adding Samples:
  • Physical Location:
    1. Quickstarts: docs/en/documentation/getting-started/quickstart/.
    2. Integration-Specific: docs/en/integrations/<db>/samples/. Must include an _index.md with strictly only frontmatter.
    3. General: docs/en/samples/.
  • Frontmatter Requirements (Maintenance): To ensure samples appear correctly in the Samples Section, you must provide the following tags:
    1. is_sample: true - Required for indexing.
    2. Filtering (sample_filters): Always include sample_filters in the frontmatter. You MUST use strict enums for filtering.
       • Source of Truth: Always refer to .hugo/data/filters.yaml for the permitted list of Data Sources, Languages, Frameworks, and Categories. All tags are validated via CI (.ci/lint-docs-sample-filters.sh).
       • Adding New Filters: If your sample requires a new filter that is not currently listed, add it directly to .hugo/data/filters.yaml. You must use Title Case (capitalize the first letter of every word, with words separated by spaces). Never use snake_case or lowercase.
• Adding Top-Level Sections: If you add a completely new top-level documentation directory (e.g., a new section alongside integrations, documentation), you must update the AI documentation layout files located at .hugo/layouts/index.llms.txt and .hugo/layouts/index.llms-full.txt. Specifically, update the "Diátaxis Narrative Framework" preamble so AI models understand the purpose of your new section.

Adding Prebuilt Tools

You can provide developers with a set of "build-time" tools to aid common software development user journeys like viewing and creating tables/collections and data.

• Create a set of prebuilt tools by defining a new tools.yaml and adding it to internal/tools. Make sure the file name matches the source (i.e. for source "alloydb-postgres" create a file named "alloydb-postgres.yaml").
• Update cmd/root.go to add new source to the prebuilt flag.
• Add tests in internal/prebuiltconfigs/prebuiltconfigs_test.go and cmd/root_test.go.

Deprecating an Existing Primitive

A primitive (e.g., sources, tools, auth services) will only be removed after it has been marked as deprecated for at least one major version, or four minor versions (approximately two months, given our biweekly release cadence).

To mark a primitive as deprecated, you must add our deprecation helper function to the initialization of the primitive.

During the next major version release, any primitive that meets these deprecation timeframe requirements will be permanently removed.

Testing

Infrastructure

Toolbox uses both GitHub Actions and Cloud Build to run test workflows. Cloud Build is used when Google credentials are required. Cloud Build uses test project "toolbox-testing-438616".

Linting

Code Linting

Run the lint check to ensure code quality:

golangci-lint run --fix

Documentation Structure Linting

To ensure consistency, we enforce a standardized structure for integration Source and Tool pages.

Before pushing changes to integration pages:

Run the source page linter to validate:

# From the repository root
./.ci/lint-docs-source-page.sh

Run the tool page linter to validate:

# From the repository root
./.ci/lint-docs-tool-page.sh

Run the sample filters linter to validate frontmatter tags:

# From the repository root
bash .ci/lint-docs-sample-filters.sh

### Unit Tests

Execute unit tests locally:

```bash
go test -race -v ./cmd/... ./internal/...

Integration Tests

Running Locally

1. Environment Variables: Set the required environment variables. Refer to the Cloud Build testing configuration for a complete list of variables for each source.

   • SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL: Use your own GCP email.
   • CLIENT_ID: Use the Google Cloud SDK application Client ID. Contact Toolbox maintainers if you don't have it.

2. Running Tests: Run the integration test for your target source. Specify the required Go build tags at the top of each integration test file.

   go test -race -v ./tests/<YOUR_TEST_DIR>
   

   For example, to run the AlloyDB integration test:

   go test -race -v ./tests/alloydbpg
   

3. Timeout: The integration test should have a timeout on the server. Look for code like this:

   ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Minute)
   defer cancel()
   
   cmd, cleanup, err := tests.StartCmd(ctx, toolsFile, args...)
   if err != nil {
     t.Fatalf("command initialization returned an error: %s", err)
   }
   defer cleanup()
   

   Be sure to set the timeout to a reasonable value for your tests.

Running on Pull Requests

• Internal Contributors: Testing workflows should trigger automatically.
• External Contributors: Request Toolbox maintainers to trigger the testing workflows on your PR.
  • Maintainers can comment /gcbrun to execute the integration tests.
  • Maintainers can add the label tests:run to execute the unit tests.
  • Maintainers can add the label docs: deploy-preview to run the PR Preview workflow.

Test Resources

The following databases have been added as test resources. To add a new database to test against, please contact the Toolbox maintainer team via an issue or PR. Refer to the Cloud Build testing configuration for a complete list of variables for each source.

• AlloyDB - setup in the test project
  • AI Natural Language (setup instructions) has been configured for alloydb-ai-nl tool tests
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• Bigtable - setup in the test project
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• BigQuery - setup in the test project
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• Cloud SQL Postgres - setup in the test project
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• Cloud SQL MySQL - setup in the test project
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• Cloud SQL SQL Server - setup in the test project
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• Couchbase - setup in the test project via the Marketplace
• DGraph - using the public dgraph interface https://play.dgraph.io for testing
• Looker
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user for conversational analytics
  • The Looker instance runs under google.com:looker-sandbox.
• Memorystore Redis - setup in the test project using a Memorystore for Redis standalone instance
  • Memorystore Redis Cluster, Memorystore Valkey standalone, and Memorystore Valkey Cluster instances all require PSC connections, which requires extra security setup to connect from Cloud Build. Memorystore Redis standalone is the only one allowing PSA connection.
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• Memorystore Valkey - setup in the test project using a Memorystore for Redis standalone instance
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• MySQL - setup in the test project using a Cloud SQL instance
• Neo4j - setup in the test project on a GCE VM
• Postgres - setup in the test project using an AlloyDB instance
• Spanner - setup in the test project
  • The Cloud Build service account is a user
• SQL Server - setup in the test project using a Cloud SQL instance
• SQLite - setup in the integration test, where we create a temporary database file

Link Checking and Fixing with Lychee

We use lychee for repository link checks.

• To run the checker locally, see the command-line usage guide.

Fixing Broken Links

1. Update the Link: Correct the broken URL or update the content where it is used.

2. Ignore the Link: If you can't fix the link (e.g., due to external rate-limits or if it's a local-only URL), tell Lychee to ignore it.

   • List regular expressions or direct links in the .lycheeignore file, one entry per line.
   • Always add a comment explaining why the link is being skipped to prevent link rot. Example .lycheeignore:

     # These are email addresses, not standard web URLs, and usually cause check failures.
     ^mailto:.*
     

Note

To avoid build failures in GitHub Actions, follow the linking pattern demonstrated here:
Avoid: (Works in Hugo, breaks Link Checker): [Read more](docs/setup) or [Read more](docs/setup/)
Reason: The link checker cannot find a file named "setup" or a directory with that name containing an index.
Preferred: [Read more](docs/setup.md)
Reason: The GitHub Action finds the physical file. Hugo then uses its internal logic (or render hooks) to resolve this to the correct /docs/setup/ web URL.

Other GitHub Checks

• License header check (.github/header-checker-lint.yml) - Ensures files have the appropriate license
• CLA/google - Ensures the developer has signed the CLA: https://cla.developers.google.com/
• conventionalcommits.org - Ensures the commit messages are in the correct format. This repository uses tool Release Please to create GitHub releases. It does so by parsing your git history, looking for Conventional Commit messages, and creating release PRs. Learn more by reading How should I write my commits?

Developing Documentation

Documentation Standards & CI Checks

To maintain consistency and prevent repository bloat, all pull requests must pass the automated documentation linters.

Source Page Structure (integrations/**/source.md)

When adding or updating a Source page, your markdown file must strictly adhere to the following architectural rules:

• File Name: The configuration guide must be named source.md. (Note: _index.md files are purely structural folder wrappers. Do not add body content to them).
• LinkTitle: The linkTitle has to be set to the string Source always.
• Frontmatter: The title field must end with the word "Source" (e.g., title: "Firestore Source").
• No H1 Headings: Do not use H1 (#) tags in the markdown body. The page title is automatically generated from the frontmatter.
• H2 Heading Hierarchy: You must use H2 (##) headings in a strict, specific order.
  • Required Headings: About, Example, Reference
  • Allowed Optional Headings: Available Tools, Requirements, Advanced Usage, Troubleshooting, Additional Resources
• Available Tools Shortcode: If you include the ## Available Tools heading, you must place the list-tools shortcode (e.g., {{< list-tools >}}) directly beneath it.

Tool Page Structure (integrations/**/tools/*.md)

When adding or updating a Tool page, your markdown file must strictly adhere to the following architectural rules:

• Location: Native tools must be placed inside a nested tools/ directory.
• No H1 Headings: Do not use H1 (#) tags in the markdown body. The page title is automatically generated from the frontmatter.
• H2 Heading Hierarchy: You must use H2 (##) headings in a strict, specific order.
  • Required Headings: About, Example
  • Allowed Optional Headings: Compatible Sources, Requirements, Parameters, Output Format, Reference, Advanced Usage, Troubleshooting, Additional Resources
• Compatible Sources Shortcode: If you include the ## Compatible Sources heading, you must place the compatible-sources shortcode (e.g., {{< compatible-sources >}}) directly beneath it.

Prebuilt Configuration Structure (integrations/**/prebuilt-configs/*.md)

To ensure new prebuilt configurations are automatically indexed by the {{< list-prebuilt-configs >}} shortcode on the main Prebuilt Configs page, follow these rules:

• Location: Always place documentation for prebuilt configurations in a nested directory named prebuilt-configs/ inside the database folder (e.g., docs/en/integrations/alloydb/prebuilt-configs/).
• Index Wrapper: Every prebuilt-configs/ directory must contain an _index.md file. This file acts as the anchor for the directory and must contain the title and description used in the automated lists.
• Architecture-Based Mapping: Map configurations to database folders based on the kind defined in the tool's YAML file (in internal/prebuiltconfigs/tools/). For example, any tool using the postgres kind should live in the postgres/ integration directory.

Frontend Assets & Layouts

If you need to modify the visual appearance, navigation, or behavior of the documentation website itself, all frontend assets are isolated within the .hugo/ directory.

Repository Asset Limits

• Max File Size: No individual file within the docs/ directory may exceed 24MB. This prevents repository bloat and ensures fast clone times. If you need to include large assets (like high-resolution videos or massive PDFs), host them externally and link to them in the markdown.

Running a Local Hugo Server

Follow these steps to preview documentation changes locally using a Hugo server:

1. Install Hugo: Ensure you have Hugo extended edition version 0.146.0 or later installed.

2. Navigate to the Hugo Directory:

   cd .hugo
   

3. Install Dependencies:

   npm ci
   

4. Generate Search Index & Start the Server: Because the Pagefind search engine requires physical files to build its index, hugo server (which runs purely in memory) will not display search results by default. To test the search bar locally, build the physical site once (using the development environment to avoid triggering production analytics), generate the index into the static folder, and then start the server:

   hugo --environment development
   npx pagefind --site public --output-path static/pagefind
   hugo server
   

   (Note: The static/pagefind/ directory is git-ignored to prevent committing local search indexes).

Previewing Documentation on Pull Requests

Documentation preview links are automatically generated and commented on your pull request when working from a branch within the main repository.

For external contributors (forks): For security reasons, automated deployment previews are disabled for pull requests originating from external forks for the cloudflare deployments. To review your documentation changes, please follow the Running a Local Hugo Server instructions to build and view the site on your local machine before requesting a review.

Document Versioning Setup

The documentation uses a dynamic versioning system that outputs standard HTML sites alongside AI-optimized plain text files (llms.txt and llms-full.txt).

Search Indexing: All deployment workflows automatically execute npx pagefind --site public to generate a version-scoped search index specific to that deployment's base URL.

There are 3 GHA workflows we use to achieve document versioning:

1. Deploy In-development docs: This workflow is run on every commit merged into the main branch. It deploys the built site to the /dev/ subdirectory for the in-development documentation.

2. Deploy Versioned Docs: When a new GitHub Release is published, it performs two deployments based on the new release tag. One to the new version subdirectory and one to the root directory of the cloudflare-pages branch.

   Note: Before the release PR from release-please is merged, add the newest version into the hugo.toml file.

3. Deploy Previous Version Docs: This is a manual workflow, started from the GitHub Actions UI. To rebuild and redeploy documentation for an already released version that were released before this new system was in place. This workflow can be started on the UI by providing the git version tag which you want to create the documentation for. The specific versioned subdirectory and the root docs are updated on the cloudflare-pages branch.

Contributors

Request a repo owner to run the preview deployment workflow on your PR. A preview link will be automatically added as a comment to your PR.

Maintainers

1. Inspect Changes: Review the proposed changes in the PR to ensure they are safe and do not contain malicious code. Pay close attention to changes in the .github/workflows/ directory.
2. Deploy Preview: Apply the docs: deploy-preview label to the PR to deploy a documentation preview.

Shortcodes

This repository includes custom shortcodes to help with documentation consistency and maintenance. For more information on how they work, see the Hugo Shortcodes documentation and the guide to creating custom shortcodes.

include Shortcode

The include shortcode reads a file and optionally fences it with a language.

Syntax: {{< include "path/to/file" "language" >}}

Example: {{< include "static/headers/license_header.txt" >}} {{< include "samples/program.js" "javascript" >}}

Source: .hugo/layouts/shortcodes/include.html

regionInclude Shortcode

The regionInclude shortcode reads a file, extracts content between [START region_name] and [END region_name], and optionally fences it.

Syntax: {{< regionInclude "path/to/file" "region_name" "language" >}}

Example Markdown: {{< regionInclude "samples/program.js" "program_setup" "javascript" >}}

Example Code Snippet (samples/program.js):

// [START program_setup]
import { Toolbox } from '@googleapis/mcp-toolbox';
const toolbox = new Toolbox();
// [END program_setup]

Source: .hugo/layouts/shortcodes/regionInclude.html

Building Toolbox

Building the Binary

1. Build Command: Compile the Toolbox binary:

   go build -o toolbox
   

2. Running the Binary: Execute the compiled binary with optional flags. The server listens on port 5000 by default:

   ./toolbox
   

3. Testing the Endpoint: Verify the server is running by sending a request to the endpoint:

   curl http://127.0.0.1:5000
   

Building Container Images

1. Build Command: Build the Toolbox container image:

   docker build -t toolbox:dev .
   

2. View Image: List available Docker images to confirm the build:

   docker images
   

3. Run Container: Run the Toolbox container image using Docker:

   docker run -d toolbox:dev
   

Developing Toolbox SDKs

Refer to the SDK developer guide for instructions on developing Toolbox SDKs.

Maintainer Information

Team

Team @googleapis/senseai-eco has been set as CODEOWNERS. The GitHub TeamSync tool is used to create this team from MDB Group, senseai-eco. Additionally, database-specific GitHub teams (e.g., @googleapis/toolbox-alloydb) have been created from MDB groups to manage code ownership and review for individual database products.

Issue/PR Triage and SLO

After an issue is created, maintainers will assign the following labels:

• Priority (defaulted to P0)
• Type (if applicable)
• Product (if applicable)

All incoming issues and PRs will follow the following SLO:

Type	Priority	Objective
Feature Request	P0	Must respond within 5 days
Process	P0	Must respond within 5 days
Bugs	P0	Must respond within 5 days, and resolve/closure within 14 days
Bugs	P1	Must respond within 7 days, and resolve/closure within 90 days
Bugs	P2	Must respond within 30 days

Types that are not listed in the table do not adhere to any SLO.

Releasing

Toolbox has two types of releases: versioned and continuous. It uses Google Cloud project, database-toolbox.

• Versioned Release: Official, supported distributions tagged as latest. The release process is defined in versioned.release.cloudbuild.yaml.
• Continuous Release: Used for early testing of features between official releases and for end-to-end testing. The release process is defined in continuous.release.cloudbuild.yaml.
• GitHub Release: .github/release-please.yml automatically creates GitHub Releases and release PRs.

How-to Release a new Version

1. [Optional] If you want to override the version number, send a PR to trigger release-please. You can generate a commit with the following line: git commit -m "chore: release 0.1.0" -m "Release-As: 0.1.0" --allow-empty
2. [Optional] If you want to edit the changelog, send commits to the release PR
3. Approve and merge the PR with the title “chore(main): release x.x.x”
4. The trigger should automatically run when a new tag is pushed. You can view triggered builds here to check the status
5. Update the Github release notes to include the following table:

   1. Run the following command (from the root directory):

      export VERSION="v0.0.0"
      .ci/generate_release_table.sh
      

   2. Copy the table output

   3. In the GitHub UI, navigate to Releases and click the edit button.

   4. Paste the table at the bottom of release note and click Update release.

6. Post release in internal chat and on Discord.

Supported Binaries

The following operating systems and architectures are supported for binary releases:

• linux/amd64
• darwin/arm64
• darwin/amd64
• windows/amd64
• windows/arm64

Supported Container Images

The following base container images are supported for container image releases:

• distroless

Automated Tests

Integration and unit tests are automatically triggered via Cloud Build on each pull request. Integration tests run on merge and nightly.

Failure notifications

On-merge and nightly tests that fail have notification setup via Cloud Build Failure Reporter GitHub Actions Workflow.

Trigger Setup

Configure a Cloud Build trigger using the UI or gcloud with the following settings:

• Event: Pull request
• Region: global (for default worker pools)
• Source:
  • Generation: 1st gen
  • Repo: googleapis/mcp-toolbox (GitHub App)
  • Base branch: ^main$
• Comment control: Required except for owners and collaborators
• Filters: Add directory filter
• Config: Cloud Build configuration file
  • Location: Repository (add path to file)
• Service account: Set for demo service to enable ID token creation for authenticated services

Triggering Tests

Trigger pull request tests for external contributors by:

• Cloud Build tests: Comment /gcbrun
• Unit tests: Add the tests:run label

Repo Setup & Automation

• .github/blunderbuss.yml - Auto-assign issues and PRs from GitHub teams. Use a product label to assign to a product-specific team member.
• .github/renovate.json5 - Tooling for dependency updates. Dependabot is built into the GitHub repo for GitHub security warnings
• go/github-issue-mirror - GitHub issues are automatically mirrored into buganizer
• (Suspended) .github/sync-repo-settings.yaml - configure repo settings
• .github/release-please.yml - Creates GitHub releases
• .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE - templates for GitHub issues

How-to Release the npm Package

MCP Toolbox is available as an npm package: @toolbox-sdk/server.

Note

npm releases are automated through the OSS Exit Gate via the publish-npm-to-ar and trigger-exit-gate steps in .ci/versioned.release.cloudbuild.yaml. The versioned release pipeline pushes all six packages to the Exit Gate Artifact Registry (us-npm.pkg.dev/oss-exit-gate-prod/mcp-toolbox--npm) and uploads a publish_all: true manifest to gs://oss-exit-gate-prod-projects-bucket/mcp-toolbox/npm/manifests/, which triggers Exit Gate to publish externally to npmjs.org.

If the npm portion fails after the Go binaries are already in GCS, retry just the npm steps without rebuilding binaries via .ci/npm_retry.cloudbuild.yaml (invocation instructions are in the file header). The retry is idempotent — already- published packages are skipped.

PyPI releases are automated through the same Exit Gate via the publish-pypi-to-ar and trigger-exit-gate-pypi steps. Each release builds five platform-tagged wheels (one per OS/arch) via pypi/setup.py with TOOLBOX_PLATFORM set per wheel, uploads them all to us-python.pkg.dev/oss-exit-gate-prod/mcp-toolbox--pypi, then drops a manifest at gs://oss-exit-gate-prod-projects-bucket/mcp-toolbox/pypi/manifests/ so Exit Gate publishes them to pypi.org via trusted publishing. PyPI-only retries: .ci/pypi_retry.cloudbuild.yaml. Idempotency is handled by twine upload --skip-existing.

The manual procedure below is retained as a fallback for when the automation is broken.

To release a new version manually, follow these steps:

Pre-requisites

• npm Account: Create an account at npmjs.com if you haven't already.
• 2FA Setup: Ensure Two-Factor Authentication is enabled on your npm account (required for publishing).
• Permissions: Request Editor access to the @toolbox-sdk/ organization by pinging the current maintainers.

Preparation

• You will be publishing packages for the following OS/Architecture combinations:
  • darwin/arm64 -> server-darwin-arm64
  • darwin/x64 -> server-darwin-x64
  • linux/x64 -> server-linux-x64
  • win32/arm64 -> server-win32-arm64
  • win32/x64 -> server-win32-x64

Phase A: Release Platform-Specific Packages

Repeat the following steps for each of the 5 combinations listed above.

1. Navigate to the package directory:

   cd npm/server-<os>-<arch>
   

2. Verify versioning:
   • The toolbox binary version is sourced from cmd/version.txt at the repo root (the release-please versionFile); downloadBinary.js reads it from there during prepack. Verify it reflects the version to be released.
   • Open package.json and verify that the "version" field matches cmd/version.txt.
3. Sync Lockfile:

   npm install --force
   

4. Clean Artifacts: Remove any pre-existing binaries to ensure a clean pack.

   rm -rf bin/
   

5. Pack and Publish:

   npm pack .
   npm publish --access public
   

6. Verify: Check the npm registry to ensure the version is live at https://www.npmjs.com/package/@toolbox-sdk/server-<os>-<arch> before moving to the next package.

Phase B: Release Main Package (@toolbox-sdk/server)

Once all platform-specific packages are live, release the main wrapper package.

1. Navigate to the main directory:

   cd ../server
   

2. Verify Versioning:
   • Open package.json and verify the "version" field reflects the target version.
   • Verify that versions for dependencies in "optionalDependencies" match the new version for all 5 packages.
3. Sync Lockfile: (Before this step, all 5 dep packages need to be published to npm)

   npm install --package-lock-only
   

   1. Ensure that a node module entry for each package is present in package-lock.json.
   2. Ensure that the integrity hashes for all packages are updated. If not, delete the file and use the Sync Lockfile command to generate a new lockfile.
4. Pack and Publish:

   npm pack .
   npm publish --access public
   

5. Verify: Confirm the main package is live with the correct version at https://www.npmjs.com/package/@toolbox-sdk/server.

Committing changes to the repo

Once all packages have been successfully published, please create a Pull Request containing the updated package-lock.json files from all npm/ subdirectories. Ensure that any additional changes made during the release process are also included in this PR. Finally, set the title of the PR to: chore(main): release npm vX.Y.Z.

Important

Do not commit the binaries to the repo.

Troubleshooting

• Access Token Expired or Need Auth: Run npm login. If the registry is not https://registry.npmjs.org/, update it via npm config set registry https://registry.npmjs.org/ or by modifying your .npmrc.
• Version Mismatches: Do not re-publish the same version. Increment the patch version and release the new version following the steps above.
• Deprecation (Preferred): If a specific version is broken, mark it as deprecated: npm deprecate <package_name>@<version> "critical bug fixed in vX.Y.Z".
• Unpublishing (Nuclear Option): Only possible if published within the last 72 hours using npm unpublish <package-name>@<version>. Note that this permanently burns the version number.