SSH servers not loaded — hardcoded `__dirname` path ignores `process.cwd()`

[ibr]

Summary

The MCP server fails to load SSH server configurations from .env because index.js hardcodes the .env path relative to __dirname (the module directory), while config-loader.js documents process.cwd() as the default path. These two paths are almost never the same in real deployments.

Environment

• mcp-ssh-manager version: 3.2.0
• Node.js: v22.17.1
• OS: Linux Ubuntu 25.10
• npm install -g mcp-ssh-manager

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install mcp-ssh-manager globally via npm
2. Create ~/.env with valid SSH server config:

   SSH_SERVER_MYHOST_HOST=myhost.example.com
   SSH_SERVER_MYHOST_USER=root
   SSH_SERVER_MYHOST_PORT=22
   SSH_SERVER_MYHOST_KEYPATH=/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa

3. Run ssh-manager server list → servers are listed correctly ✅
4. Start the MCP server: node /path/to/mcp-ssh-manager/src/index.js
5. Observe: ⚠️ No SSH server configurations found / Loaded 0 SSH server configurations from null

Root Cause

In src/index.js (line ~167):

// Load environment variables (for backward compatibility)
const envFilePath = path.join(__dirname, '..', '.env');
dotenv.config({ path: envFilePath });

// Load SSH server configuration
configLoader.load({
  envPath: envFilePath,   // ← hardcoded to module dir, NOT process.cwd()
  ...
})

__dirname resolves to .../node_modules/mcp-ssh-manager/src/, so envFilePath becomes .../node_modules/mcp-ssh-manager/.env — a path that never exists in a global npm install.

Meanwhile, config-loader.js correctly defaults to process.cwd():

async load(options = {}) {
  const {
    envPath = path.join(process.cwd(), '.env'),  // ← correct default
    ...
  }
}

But this default is never used because index.js always passes the hardcoded __dirname-based path.

Additionally, configLoader.load() is called without await — it uses .then() — so the MCP server initializes before servers are loaded. The warning No SSH server configurations found fires from the synchronous init path, not from the resolved promise.

Expected Behavior

The MCP server should find .env in process.cwd() (the directory Claude Code is started from), consistent with what config-loader.js documents and what ssh-manager server add uses (~/.env = home directory).

Suggested Fix

Option A — Use process.cwd() consistently in index.js:

const envFilePath = path.join(process.cwd(), '.env');

Option B — Fall back to os.homedir() if process.cwd()/.env does not exist:

const cwdEnv = path.join(process.cwd(), '.env');
const homeEnv = path.join(os.homedir(), '.env');
const envFilePath = fs.existsSync(cwdEnv) ? cwdEnv : homeEnv;

Option C — Use the same path as ssh-manager server add writes to (~/.env):

const envFilePath = path.join(os.homedir(), '.env');

Workaround

Until fixed, create a symlink:

ln -sf ~/.env ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.17.1/lib/node_modules/mcp-ssh-manager/.env

[bvisible]

Hi @ibr, thanks for the excellent bug report — the analysis is spot on.

This is now fixed in PR #17. Here's what changed:

1. .env path resolution with fallback chain instead of the hardcoded __dirname path. The search order is:

   • SSH_ENV_PATH env var (explicit override)
   • process.cwd()/.env
   • ~/.env (where ssh-manager server add writes)
   • __dirname/../.env (backward compat for local installs)

2. Race condition fixed — configLoader.load(), initializeHooks(), and loadToolConfig() are now properly awaited (top-level await in ESM) instead of fire-and-forget .then().

3. The resolved path is logged at startup for easier debugging.

You can remove the symlink workaround once this is released.