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The validate command checks your UMCP configuration file for errors without starting the server.

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Usage

umcp validate [OPTIONS]
Compatibility flag syntax: 
umcp --validate [OPTIONS]
Both forms are functionally identical.

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Flags

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--config
string
default:"~/.config/umcp/umcp.jsonc"
Path to the UMCP configuration file to validate.Examples:
umcp validate --config /path/to/custom.jsonc
umcp validate --config=~/.config/umcp/production.jsonc

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Examples

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Validate Default Config

umcp validate
Validates ~/.config/umcp/umcp.jsonc. Success output: 
Config is valid: ~/.config/umcp/umcp.jsonc

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Validate Custom Config

umcp validate --config /etc/umcp/production.jsonc
Success output: 
Config is valid: /etc/umcp/production.jsonc

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Using Compatibility Flag

umcp --validate --config ~/my-config.jsonc
Identical to umcp validate --config ~/my-config.jsonc.

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What Gets Validated

The validate command checks:
  1. File existence and readability
    • Verifies the config file exists
    • Checks file permissions
  2. JSON/JSONC syntax
    • Validates proper JSON formatting
    • Supports JSONC features (comments, trailing commas)
  3. Schema compliance
    • Validates against the UMCP config schema
    • Checks required fields
    • Validates field types and formats
  4. Category and provider structure
    • Ensures categories exist
    • Validates provider definitions
    • Checks transport configurations
  5. Naming rules
    • Category names match [a-zA-Z0-9_-]+
    • Provider names match [a-zA-Z0-9_-]+
    • Tool aliases match [a-zA-Z0-9_-]+
  6. Environment variables
    • Validates env key-value pairs
    • Checks array values for round-robin rotation

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Validation Errors

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File Not Found

umcp validate --config /nonexistent/config.jsonc

Error: Config file not found: /nonexistent/config.jsonc

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Invalid JSON Syntax

If your config has JSON syntax errors: 
{
  "categories": {
    "web_search": {
      "providers": {
        "brave": {
          // missing closing brace

Error: Invalid JSON in config file
Unexpected end of JSON input

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Schema Validation Errors

If your config doesn’t match the schema: 
{
  "categories": {
    "web_search": {
      "providers": {
        "brave": {
          "transport": "invalid-transport"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

{"level":"error","event":"config.invalid","message":"Configuration validation failed","data":{"errors":["Invalid transport type: invalid-transport"]}}
The validation process will report all issues found in the configuration.

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Invalid Naming

If category, provider, or alias names contain invalid characters: 
{
  "categories": {
    "web.search": {  // Invalid: contains '.'
      "providers": {
        "brave-search": {  // Valid
          "transport": "stdio",
          "command": "npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Error: Invalid category name 'web.search'. Must match [a-zA-Z0-9_-]+

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Exit Codes

  • 0: Configuration is valid
  • Non-zero: Validation failed or error occurred

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Use Cases

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CI/CD Validation

#!/bin/bash
if umcp validate --config ./umcp.jsonc; then
  echo "Config valid, deploying..."
  # deployment steps
else
  echo "Config validation failed!"
  exit 1
fi

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Pre-commit Hook

#!/bin/bash
# .git/hooks/pre-commit
umcp validate || {
  echo "UMCP config validation failed"
  exit 1
}

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Quick Config Check

# After editing config, validate before restarting
vim ~/.config/umcp/umcp.jsonc
umcp validate && umcp serve

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Structured Logs

Validation emits structured logs to stderr: Success: 
{"level":"info","event":"config.loaded","message":"Configuration loaded","data":{"path":"~/.config/umcp/umcp.jsonc"}}
Failure: 
{"level":"error","event":"config.invalid","message":"Configuration validation failed","data":{"errors":["Error details"]}}

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Validation vs. Dry Run

Use validate to:
  • Check config syntax and schema before starting the server
  • Validate configs in CI/CD pipelines
  • Quick syntax checks after editing
  • Does not connect to upstream servers
Use dry-run to:
  • Preview actual tool discovery from upstream servers
  • Test provider connections
  • See the final namespaced tool list
  • Debug tool aliasing
  • Connects to upstream servers
See dry-run command for details.

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Next Steps

Dry Run

Preview tool discovery

Serve

Start the UMCP server

Configuration

Learn about config schema

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