Add LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR support for MCP server setup

- Add LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR env var to config loader for custom config paths
- Add portable wrapper script for MCP server registration
- Update README with MCP setup documentation
- Remove site-specific migrate_theme.sh script

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: jonradoff

CLAUDE.md

@@ -11,9 +11,14 @@ LightCMS is a lightweight, self-hosted content management system built in Go. It
 
 ## MCP Server Integration
 
-**IMPORTANT:** When the user asks about changing website content, templates, themes, assets, or site configuration, prefer using the LightCMS MCP server tools instead of making code changes. The MCP server provides 38 tools for content management operations.
+**IMPORTANT:** All website content operations MUST go through the MCP server. Do NOT:
+- Write scripts to directly modify the database
+- Use Go code to create/edit/delete content
+- Bypass the MCP server for any content management tasks
 
-### When to Use MCP Server:
+If the MCP server is not available or not working, ASK the user for permission before attempting any content changes through other means.
+
+### Content Operations (REQUIRE MCP or explicit user permission):
 - Creating, editing, publishing, or deleting content
 - Managing templates and their HTML layouts
 - Uploading or managing assets (images, CSS, JS, documents)
@@ -22,14 +27,36 @@ LightCMS is a lightweight, self-hosted content management system built in Go. It
 - Viewing or reverting content versions
 - Site configuration changes
 
-### When to Make Code Changes:
+### Code Changes (allowed without MCP):
 - Adding new features to LightCMS itself
 - Fixing bugs in the application
 - Changing application behavior or logic
 - Adding new MCP tools
 - Modifying database schemas or indexes
 - Security improvements
 
+### Setting Up MCP with Claude Code
+
+To use LightCMS with Claude Code, register the MCP server:
+
+```bash
+# Build the MCP server first
+go build -o bin/lightcms-mcp ./cmd/mcp
+
+# Register with Claude Code
+claude mcp add --transport stdio lightcms-mcp -- /path/to/lightcms/bin/lightcms-mcp
+```
+
+After registering, restart Claude Code. You can verify the server is connected:
+- Run `/mcp` in Claude Code to check status
+- Run `claude mcp list` in terminal to see registered servers
+
+Once connected, you can ask Claude to manage your content naturally:
+- "Create a new blog post about AI"
+- "List all my published content"
+- "Update the homepage hero image"
+- "Delete the /random page"
+
 ### MCP Server Location
 Binary: `bin/lightcms-mcp`
 Config: Uses same `config.dev.json` or environment variables as main server

README.md

@@ -215,6 +215,68 @@ Fields: headline, subheadline, dateline, release_date, body, boilerplate, contac
 ### Explanatory Page
 Fields: title, subtitle, hero_image, intro, main_content, sidebar, cta_text, cta_link
 
+## Using with Claude Code (AI-Powered Content Management)
+
+LightCMS includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows you to manage your website content using Claude Code. Instead of navigating the admin UI, you can simply ask Claude to create pages, update content, manage assets, and more.
+
+### Setup
+
+1. Build the MCP server:
+   ```bash
+   go build -o bin/lightcms-mcp ./cmd/mcp
+   ```
+
+2. Register the MCP server with Claude Code using the wrapper script:
+   ```bash
+   claude mcp add --transport stdio lightcms-mcp -- /path/to/lightcms/lightcms-mcp-wrapper.sh
+   ```
+
+   The wrapper script automatically sets `LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR` so the MCP server can find your config files regardless of where Claude Code runs from.
+
+3. Restart Claude Code (or start a new session)
+
+4. Verify the connection by running `/mcp` in Claude Code
+
+### Alternative: Environment Variables
+
+Instead of using config files, you can configure via environment variables:
+
+```bash
+claude mcp add --transport stdio lightcms-mcp \
+  -e MONGO_URI="mongodb+srv://..." \
+  -e SESSION_SECRET="your-secret" \
+  -- /path/to/lightcms/bin/lightcms-mcp
+```
+
+### Configuration Options
+
+The MCP server supports these environment variables:
+- `LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR` - Directory containing config.dev.json or config.prod.json
+- `MONGO_URI` - MongoDB connection string (bypasses config files)
+- `SESSION_SECRET` - Session encryption key (required with MONGO_URI)
+- `BASE_URL` - Public site URL (optional)
+
+### Example Commands
+
+Once connected, you can manage your site with natural language:
+
+- "Create a new blog post about machine learning"
+- "List all my draft content"
+- "Update the homepage title to 'Welcome to My Site'"
+- "Delete the /old-page content"
+- "Show me all templates"
+- "Upload an image for my latest blog post"
+- "Change the site's primary color to blue"
+
+### Available Tools
+
+The MCP server provides 38 tools for complete content management:
+
+- **Content**: Create, read, update, delete, publish, unpublish, versioning
+- **Templates**: Manage content templates and their fields
+- **Assets**: Upload and manage images, documents, and other files
+- **Settings**: Theme customization, redirects, folders, collections
+
 ## Development
 
 ```bash

config/config.go

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ func DefaultProd() *Config {
 
 // Load loads configuration from JSON config file or environment variables
 // Priority: environment variables > config.prod.json > config.dev.json
+// Set LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR to specify a custom config directory
 func Load() (*Config, error) {
 	// Check if running with environment variables (e.g., Fly.io)
 	if mongoURI := os.Getenv("MONGO_URI"); mongoURI != "" {
@@ -53,15 +54,24 @@ func Load() (*Config, error) {
 	var configPath string
 	var cfg *Config
 
+	// Check for custom config directory
+	configDir := os.Getenv("LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR")
+	if configDir == "" {
+		configDir = "."
+	}
+
 	// Check for production config first
-	if _, err := os.Stat("config.prod.json"); err == nil {
-		configPath = "config.prod.json"
+	prodPath := filepath.Join(configDir, "config.prod.json")
+	devPath := filepath.Join(configDir, "config.dev.json")
+
+	if _, err := os.Stat(prodPath); err == nil {
+		configPath = prodPath
 		cfg = DefaultProd()
-	} else if _, err := os.Stat("config.dev.json"); err == nil {
-		configPath = "config.dev.json"
+	} else if _, err := os.Stat(devPath); err == nil {
+		configPath = devPath
 		cfg = DefaultDev()
 	} else {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no config file found (expected config.dev.json or config.prod.json)")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no config file found (expected config.dev.json or config.prod.json in %s)", configDir)
 	}
 
 	if err := loadFromFile(configPath, cfg); err != nil {

lightcms-mcp-wrapper.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Wrapper script for lightcms-mcp that sets the config directory
+# This allows the MCP server to find config files regardless of working directory
+
+# Get the directory where this script is located (lightcms root)
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+# Export the config directory so the MCP server can find config files
+export LIGHTCMS_CONFIG_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR"
+
+# Run the MCP server from bin/
+exec "$SCRIPT_DIR/bin/lightcms-mcp" "$@"