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Configuration Guide

This guide explains the unified configuration system available in SignalWire AI Agents SDK.

Overview

All SignalWire services (SWML-based agents, Search, MCP Gateway) now support optional JSON configuration files with environment variable substitution. SWML (SignalWire Markup Language) is the JSON document format that defines agent behavior during calls. Services continue to work without any configuration file, maintaining full backward compatibility.

Quick Start

Zero Configuration (Default)

# Works exactly as before - no config needed
agent = MyAgent()
agent.run()

With Configuration File

# Automatically detects config.json if present
agent = MyAgent()

# Or specify a config file
agent = MyAgent(config_file="production_config.json")

Configuration Files

File Locations

Services look for configuration files in this order:

  1. Service-specific: {service_name}_config.json (e.g., search_config.json)
  2. Generic: config.json
  3. Hidden: .swml/config.json
  4. User home: ~/.swml/config.json
  5. System: /etc/swml/config.json

Configuration Structure

{
  "service": {
    "name": "my-service",
    "host": "${HOST|0.0.0.0}",
    "port": "${PORT|3000}"
  },
  "security": {
    "ssl_enabled": "${SSL_ENABLED|false}",
    "ssl_cert_path": "${SSL_CERT|/etc/ssl/cert.pem}",
    "ssl_key_path": "${SSL_KEY|/etc/ssl/key.pem}",
    "auth": {
      "basic": {
        "enabled": true,
        "user": "${AUTH_USER|signalwire}",
        "password": "${AUTH_PASSWORD}"
      },
      "bearer": {
        "enabled": "${BEARER_ENABLED|false}",
        "token": "${BEARER_TOKEN}"
      }
    },
    "allowed_hosts": ["${PRIMARY_HOST}", "${SECONDARY_HOST|localhost}"],
    "cors_origins": "${CORS_ORIGINS|*}",
    "rate_limit": "${RATE_LIMIT|60}"
  }
}

Environment Variable Substitution

The configuration system supports ${VAR|default} syntax:

  • ${VAR} - Use environment variable VAR (error if not set)
  • ${VAR|default} - Use VAR or "default" if not set
  • ${VAR|} - Use VAR or empty string if not set

Examples

{
  "database": {
    "host": "${DB_HOST|localhost}",
    "port": "${DB_PORT|5432}",
    "password": "${DB_PASSWORD}"
  }
}

Priority Order

Configuration values are applied in this order (highest to lowest):

  1. Constructor parameters - Explicitly passed to service
  2. Config file values - From JSON configuration
  3. Environment variables - Direct env vars (backward compatibility)
  4. Defaults - Hard-coded defaults

Service-Specific Configuration

SWML/Agent Configuration

{
  "service": {
    "name": "my-agent",
    "route": "/agent",
    "port": "${AGENT_PORT|3000}"
  },
  "security": {
    "ssl_enabled": "${SSL_ENABLED|false}",
    "auth": {
      "basic": {
        "user": "${AGENT_USER|agent}",
        "password": "${AGENT_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Search Service Configuration

{
  "service": {
    "port": "${SEARCH_PORT|8001}",
    "indexes": {
      "docs": "${DOCS_INDEX|./docs.swsearch}",
      "api": "${API_INDEX|./api.swsearch}"
    }
  },
  "security": {
    "ssl_enabled": "${SEARCH_SSL|false}",
    "auth": {
      "basic": {
        "enabled": true,
        "user": "${SEARCH_USER|search}",
        "password": "${SEARCH_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Gateway Configuration

{
  "server": {
    "host": "${MCP_HOST|0.0.0.0}",
    "port": "${MCP_PORT|8080}",
    "auth_user": "${MCP_USER|admin}",
    "auth_password": "${MCP_PASSWORD}",
    "auth_token": "${MCP_TOKEN}"
  },
  "services": {
    "example": {
      "command": ["python", "${SERVICE_PATH|./service.py}"],
      "enabled": "${SERVICE_ENABLED|true}"
    }
  },
  "session": {
    "default_timeout": "${SESSION_TIMEOUT|300}",
    "max_sessions_per_service": "${MAX_SESSIONS|100}"
  }
}

Security Configuration

All services share the same security configuration options:

{
  "security": {
    "ssl_enabled": true,
    "ssl_cert_path": "/etc/ssl/cert.pem",
    "ssl_key_path": "/etc/ssl/key.pem",
    "domain": "api.example.com",
    
    "allowed_hosts": ["api.example.com", "app.example.com"],
    "cors_origins": ["https://app.example.com"],
    
    "max_request_size": 5242880,
    "rate_limit": 30,
    "request_timeout": 60,
    
    "use_hsts": true,
    "hsts_max_age": 31536000
  }
}

Migration Guide

From Environment Variables Only

Before:

export SWML_SSL_ENABLED=true
export SWML_SSL_CERT_PATH=/etc/ssl/cert.pem
python my_agent.py

After (Option 1 - Keep using env vars):

# Still works exactly the same
export SWML_SSL_ENABLED=true
export SWML_SSL_CERT_PATH=/etc/ssl/cert.pem
python my_agent.py

After (Option 2 - Use config file):

// config.json
{
  "security": {
    "ssl_enabled": true,
    "ssl_cert_path": "/etc/ssl/cert.pem"
  }
}

After (Option 3 - Mix config and env vars):

// config.json
{
  "security": {
    "ssl_enabled": true,
    "ssl_cert_path": "${SSL_CERT|/etc/ssl/cert.pem}"
  }
}

Best Practices

  1. Keep secrets in environment variables

    {
  "security": {
    "auth": {
      "basic": {
        "user": "admin",
        "password": "${ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

  2. Use defaults for development

    {
  "service": {
    "port": "${PORT|3000}",
    "host": "${HOST|localhost}"
  }
}

  3. Environment-specific configs

    • dev_config.json - Development settings
    • prod_config.json - Production settings
    • Use ${ENV} to switch between them

  4. Version control

    • Commit config files WITHOUT secrets
    • Use .gitignore for local overrides
    • Document required environment variables

Programmatic Usage

Loading Configuration

from signalwire_agents.core.config_loader import ConfigLoader

# Load config
loader = ConfigLoader(["my_config.json"])
if loader.has_config():
    config = loader.get_config()
    
    # Get specific value with substitution
    port = loader.get("service.port", default=3000)
    
    # Get entire section
    security = loader.get_section("security")

Using with Services

# SWML Service
from signalwire_agents import AgentBase

class MyAgent(AgentBase):
    def __init__(self):
        # Auto-detects config.json if present
        super().__init__(name="my-agent", config_file="agent_config.json")

# Search Service
from signalwire_agents.search import SearchService

service = SearchService(config_file="search_config.json")

# MCP Gateway
from mcp_gateway.gateway_service import MCPGateway

gateway = MCPGateway(config_path="mcp_config.json")

Troubleshooting

Config Not Loading

  1. Check file exists and is valid JSON:

    python -m json.tool config.json

  2. Enable debug logging:

    import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)

  3. Check for syntax errors in variable substitution

Environment Variables Not Substituting

  1. Ensure correct syntax: ${VAR} or ${VAR|default}

  2. Check environment variable is exported:

    echo $MY_VAR

  3. Remember config file values override env vars

Authentication Issues

  1. Config file auth settings override env vars
  2. Check which auth method is enabled
  3. Verify credentials match