Configuration

Maybe Don’t is configured through a YAML file, environment variables, or a combination of both. This section covers how configuration works and the options available.

Configuration File

By default, the gateway looks for maybe-dont.yaml in these locations (in order):

Path specified by --config-dir CLI flag
Path specified by MAYBE_DONT_CONFIG_DIR environment variable
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/maybe-dont/ (typically ~/.config/maybe-dont/)
$HOME/.config/maybe-dont/

The first file found wins. If no config file exists on first run, default files are generated.

Configuration Precedence

Values are resolved in this order (later overrides earlier):

Priority	Source	Example
1 (lowest)	Config file	`maybe-dont.yaml`
2	Environment variables	`MAYBE_DONT_SERVER_TYPE=http`
3 (highest)	CLI flags	`--config-dir /custom/path`

This means you can set defaults in your config file and override specific values with environment variables - useful for Docker deployments where secrets shouldn’t be in files.

Environment Variables

Any configuration option can be set via environment variable using the pattern:

MAYBE_DONT_{PATH}

Where {PATH} is the YAML path with dots replaced by underscores, in uppercase. For example:

YAML Path	Environment Variable
`server.type`	`MAYBE_DONT_SERVER_TYPE`
`server.listen_addr`	`MAYBE_DONT_SERVER_LISTEN_ADDR`
`validation.ai.api_key`	`MAYBE_DONT_VALIDATION_AI_API_KEY`
`audit.path`	`MAYBE_DONT_AUDIT_PATH`

Variable Substitution

You can reference environment variables in your config file using ${VAR_NAME} syntax:

validation:
  ai:
    api_key: "${OPENAI_API_KEY}"

downstream_mcp_servers:
  github:
    type: http
    url: "${GITHUB_MCP_URL}"

This is expanded at load time, allowing you to keep secrets out of config files while maintaining readable configuration.

Configuration Sections

Logging

Application log configuration

Reference

Complete configuration reference

Audit Log Skills