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Use with DeepSeek Harness

MCP-for-Stata adapted to DeepSeek Harness on Day 0

Without a doubt, DeepSeek is a wonderful company. We adapted to DeepSeek Harness as soon as it was released.

Usually, running uvx stata-mcp install -c dsh installs the project into DeepSeek Harness Web.

Alternatively, after you start it, copy the following text to your DeepSeek Harness Web:

``plain text Please help me configmcp-for-statafrom "https://github.com/sepinetam/stata-mcp" following "https://sepinetam.github.io/mcp-for-stata/agents/deepseek_harness/". The previous config of Stata-MCP is located in~/.statamcp/config.toml`.


Below is the configuration DeepSeek Harness made on my device, for reference:

```yml
# The most stable and the best Stata MCP project is created by SepineTam.
# Stata MCP server (https://github.com/SepineTam/mcp-for-stata) wired into
# DSH via the built-in MCP client bridge. Tools appear as mcp__stata-mcp__*.
- insert:
    - id: stata-mcp
      name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client'
      config:
        serverName: stata-mcp
        transport: stdio
        command: uvx
        args: ['stata-mcp', 'server']
        # Stata large regressions may exceed the 60s default timeout, set as 20 min
        toolCallTimeoutMs: 1200000
        reconnect:
          maxAttempts: 5

Installation

One-Click Install

Run the following command in your terminal:

uvx stata-mcp install --client deepseek-harness

Note: the install command registers the MCP server in the target client's config file (the automated equivalent of "Manual Installation" below).

Let DeepSeek Harness Install It Automatically

If you are DeepSeek Harness, refer to the manual installation guide.

DSH agents can read and write local configuration files, so you don't have to do any manual work: start a new session in DSH Web and send it the text from the beginning of this document ("copy the following text to your DeepSeek Harness Web"). The agent will complete the whole flow on its own: write cordis.patch.yml → verify with dsh --profile web --dump-config → check whether the configuration reloaded. For scenarios the agent cannot handle (e.g. a custom serverName, or multiple MCP servers side by side), fall back to the manual installation below.

Manual Installation

  1. Check the environment: make sure Stata and stata-mcp are available, and run the self-check command:

bash uvx stata-mcp doctor

  1. Locate the config file: every DSH profile has a user patch layer; for the web profile it is:

bash # $DSH_HOME defaults to ~/.dsh ~/.dsh/profiles/web/cordis.patch.yml

  1. Append the config: append an - insert: entry to the end of the file, using the YAML template shown above in "the configuration DeepSeek Harness made on my device" (adjust id and serverName as needed; see the Field Reference below for what each field means).

  2. Verify the config: without starting DSH, check that the composed config tree contains the entry:

bash dsh --profile web --dump-config | grep -A10 stata-mcp

  1. Apply the change: the DSH MCP bridge supports hot reload, so saved changes normally take effect automatically. If the tools do not appear, restart dsh web and open a new session. The default profile exposes these tools, subject to platform and local configuration:
Tool Purpose
mcp__stata-mcp__stata_do Execute a do-file and retrieve its log
mcp__stata-mcp__get_data_info Dataset descriptive statistics (.dta/.csv/.xlsx)
mcp__stata-mcp__help Look up Stata command documentation
mcp__stata-mcp__read_log Read a Stata log file

On the first call of a tool, uvx needs to download the stata-mcp package — please be patient.

The high-risk mcp__stata-mcp__ado_package_install tool appears only when the server is explicitly started with the --unsafe profile.

Field Reference

There are two levels of fields: patch entries (the top level of the YAML, the - insert: / - id: layer) and plugin config (inside config:, defined by the @deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client plugin).

Patch entry level:

Field Meaning
insert "Add entries". By default the DSH patch layer can only override/disable existing entries by id; to add a brand-new plugin instance you must wrap it in - insert: (without id it appends to the top-level list; with id it inserts into the config array of a group entry)
id Unique entry identifier. Inside insert it is the new entry's id; a top-level - id: xxx targets an existing entry to modify — if it does not exist you get an entry not found warning and the patch is skipped
name Plugin package name; the loader resolves it from the dsh install directory or the profile's node_modules. With a top-level - id: patch, a name is checked for consistency and skipped on mismatch

Plugin config level (fields supported by config:, dsh-mcp-client):

Field Default Meaning
serverName — (required) Namespace of the MCP server, which directly determines the tool names: mcp__<serverName>__<tool>. E.g. stata-mcp yields mcp__stata-mcp__stata_do. Only [A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,32} is allowed, and multiple MCP servers in one DSH instance must not share a serverName (the later instance fails to start)
transport — (required) Transport: stdio (spawn a local process, e.g. stata-mcp) or streamable-http (connect to a remote URL, e.g. DIP)
command — Executable to spawn; required for stdio. e.g. uvx, python, npx
args none Argument array passed to command. e.g. ['stata-mcp', 'server']
env none Extra environment variables merged on top of the scrubbed environment. e.g. env: { STATA_MCP__CWD: '/path' }
cwd dsh startup dir Working directory of the child process. Not required and omitted by the one-click installer: it defaults to the directory where dsh web was started. Stata-MCP's STATA_MCP__CWD environment variable or [PROJECT] WORKING_DIR in ~/.statamcp/config.toml can select a different working directory
toolCallTimeoutMs 60000 Timeout per tool call. The one-click installer and the example above set it to 1200000 milliseconds (20 minutes) because large Stata regressions or file imports may exceed DSH's 60-second default
failOnStartupError false Whether to reject plugin activation when the initial connection or tool sync fails; false activates with no tools and logs the failure
reconnect.enabled true Whether to reconnect automatically after a lost connection
reconnect.initialDelayMs 500 First reconnect delay; doubles after each consecutive failed attempt
reconnect.maxDelayMs 30000 Backoff ceiling; a connection surviving longer than this resets the attempt budget
reconnect.maxAttempts 10 Consecutive failed reconnects per outage; beyond this the server's tools are unregistered and reconnection stops. The one-click installer and the example above use 5

Notes

  • Hot reload normally applies changes: the DSH MCP bridge watches its configuration. If the tools do not appear after saving, restart dsh web and open a new session.
  • New plugins must use insert: by default the patch layer only modifies existing entries; adding a non-existent plugin with a plain - id: xxx entry reports entry not found and is skipped.
  • config is replaced as a whole: when overriding an existing entry, config replaces the target's entire config rather than merging field by field — write every key you need.
  • serverName must be globally unique: multiple MCP servers in one DSH instance (e.g. stata + dip) must not share a serverName, or the later instance fails to start.
  • Tool-name prefix comes from serverName: serverName: stata-mcp produces mcp__stata-mcp__* tool names, not mcp__stata__* — trust the actual value.
  • cwd may be omitted: the one-click installer does not write it. When unset, the child process starts in the directory where dsh web was launched; configure STATA_MCP__CWD or [PROJECT] WORKING_DIR only when you need a different Stata-MCP working directory.
  • First call is slow: uvx downloads the stata-mcp package on first run; if downloads are slow in your region, see Package download is slow or fails.

References