Global Config

Global configuration lives at ~/.mdp/config.json. This file stores your project registry, custom presets, and default preferences.

Complete config.json


{
  "projects": [
    { "path": "/home/user/myapp", "tags": ["work", "backend"] },
    { "path": "/home/user/blog", "tags": ["personal"] },
    { "path": "/home/user/design-system", "tags": ["work", "frontend"] }
  ],
  "presets": {
    "my-team": {
      "issues": {
        "prefix": "TEAM",
        "statuses": {
          "triage": [],
          "backlog": [{ "name": "Backlog", "description": "Not yet triaged" }],
          "unstarted": [{ "name": "To Do", "description": "Ready to be worked on" }],
          "started": [{ "name": "In Progress", "description": "Actively being worked on" }],
          "completed": [{ "name": "Done", "description": "Work completed" }],
          "canceled": []
        },
        "priorities": [
          { "name": "None", "description": "No priority assigned" },
          { "name": "Low", "description": "Low priority" },
          { "name": "Medium", "description": "Medium priority" },
          { "name": "High", "description": "High priority" },
          { "name": "Urgent", "description": "Requires immediate attention" }
        ],
        "labels": [
          { "name": "frontend", "description": "Frontend related" },
          { "name": "backend", "description": "Backend related" },
          { "name": "infra", "description": "Infrastructure / DevOps" },
          { "name": "testing", "description": "Test coverage" }
        ],
        "types": [
          { "name": "task", "description": "General work item" },
          { "name": "bug", "description": "Something broken" },
          { "name": "feature", "description": "New functionality" },
          { "name": "chore", "description": "Maintenance, refactoring" }
        ]
      },
      "milestones": {
        "prefix": "M",
        "statuses": {
          "backlog": [],
          "planned": [{ "name": "Planning", "description": "Defining scope and goals" }],
          "in_progress": [
            { "name": "Active", "description": "In progress" },
            { "name": "On Hold", "description": "Temporarily paused" }
          ],
          "completed": [{ "name": "Completed", "description": "All goals met" }],
          "canceled": []
        },
        "priorities": [
          { "name": "None", "description": "No priority assigned" },
          { "name": "Low", "description": "Low priority" },
          { "name": "Medium", "description": "Medium priority" },
          { "name": "High", "description": "High priority" },
          { "name": "Urgent", "description": "Requires immediate attention" }
        ],
        "labels": [
          { "name": "frontend", "description": "Frontend related" },
          { "name": "backend", "description": "Backend related" },
          { "name": "infra", "description": "Infrastructure / DevOps" },
          { "name": "testing", "description": "Test coverage" }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "defaults": {
    "preset": "my-team",
    "format": "json"
  }
}

Project Registry

The projects array tracks all known projects on your machine.

Field	Description
`path`	Absolute path to the project root (the directory containing `.mdp/`)
`tags`	String array for organizing and filtering projects

Projects are managed by the CLI:


mdp project add <path> --tags "work,backend"   # Register a project
mdp project list --tag work                     # List projects filtered by tag
mdp project remove <path>                       # Unregister a project
mdp project tag <path> --add "v2" --remove "v1" # Manage tags

Projects are automatically registered when created with mdp project create.

Example output of mdp project list --tag work:


{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "projects": [
      { "path": "/home/user/myapp", "tags": ["work", "backend"] },
      { "path": "/home/user/design-system", "tags": ["work", "frontend"] }
    ]
  }
}

Presets

A preset is a one-time configuration template used at project creation. When you run mdp project create --preset <name>, the preset’s values are written to .mdp/project.json. After that, the preset has no further effect — the project’s project.json is self-contained and can be edited directly.

Available Presets

Preset	Issue Prefix	Domain
`software`	`ISS`	Default — software development
`marketing`	`MKT`	Campaign-focused types and labels
`design`	`DES`	Design workflow types
`product`	`PRD`	Product management types
`social-media`	`SOC`	Social media content management
`generic`	`ISS`	Minimal defaults


mdp project create -p . --preset software       # Default
mdp project create -p . --preset marketing
mdp project create -p . --preset design
mdp project create -p . --preset product
mdp project create -p . --preset social-media
mdp project create -p . --preset generic

Preset Comparison

Types

Preset	Types
`software`	`task`, `bug`, `feature`, `chore`, `spike`
`marketing`	`campaign`, `content`, `email`, `social`, `analysis`
`design`	`design`, `review`, `research`, `prototype`, `asset`
`product`	`feature`, `research`, `experiment`, `feedback`, `spec`
`social-media`	`post`, `story`, `campaign`, `engagement`, `analysis`
`generic`	`task`, `milestone-task`, `review`

Labels

Preset	Labels
`software`	`bug`, `enhancement`, `documentation`, `security`, `frontend`, `backend`
`marketing`	`seo`, `paid`, `organic`, `brand`, `copy`, `design`
`design`	`ui`, `ux`, `branding`, `illustration`, `motion`
`product`	`mvp`, `growth`, `retention`, `onboarding`, `mobile`, `web`
`social-media`	`instagram`, `twitter`, `linkedin`, `tiktok`, `youtube`, `facebook`
`generic`	`urgent`, `documentation`, `question`

All presets share the same statuses and priorities. See Project Config — Statuses for details.

Custom ID Prefixes

Override the default ID prefixes when creating a project:


mdp project create -p . --issue-prefix TASK --milestone-prefix EPIC

This produces IDs like TASK-1, EPIC-1 instead of the defaults ISS-1, M-1.

With custom prefixes, the directory structure looks like:


.mdp/issues/
├── TASK-1-user-auth/
│   └── TASK-1-user-auth.md
└── TASK-2-database/
    └── TASK-2-database.md

The prefixes are stored in .mdp/project.json and used for all subsequent issue and milestone creation.

Important: Prefixes are embedded in every file and folder name. Once a project is created, the prefix cannot be changed without renaming all existing files.

Custom Presets

The presets object in ~/.mdp/config.json lets you define custom presets alongside the built-in ones. Each preset must contain the full issues and milestones objects — same schema as the issues and milestones sections of project.json.

Custom presets are available when creating projects:


mdp project create -p . --preset my-team

If a custom preset has the same name as a built-in preset, the custom one takes priority.

Default Preset

Set the default preset in ~/.mdp/config.json so you don’t need to specify --preset every time:


{
  "defaults": {
    "preset": "my-team"
  }
}

Defaults

The defaults object sets global preferences:

Field	Default	Description
`preset`	`"software"`	Default preset for `mdp project create` when `--preset` is not specified
`format`	`"json"`	Default output format when `-f` is not specified

JSON output (default):


{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "ISS-1",
    "title": "User authentication",
    "status": "Backlog"
  }
}

Table output (--format table or defaults.format: "table"):


ID        Title                  Status
ISS-1   User authentication    Backlog
ISS-2   Database schema        In Progress
ISS-3   Write tests            To Do

Which Commands Use What

Section	Commands
`projects`	`project add`, `project list`, `project remove`, `project tag`, `project create` (auto-registers)
`presets`	`project create --preset <name>`
`defaults.preset`	`project create` (when `--preset` is omitted)
`defaults.format`	All commands (when `-f` is omitted)