Fix process.cwd() issue for GUI-launched apps (Claude Desktop, VS Code)

[mrsimpson]

Problem

The server uses process.cwd() to find the .knowledge/ directory, which fails when launched from GUI applications:

• Claude Desktop on macOS: CWD = /Applications
• VS Code on macOS: CWD = /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app

This makes it impossible for users to use project-specific .knowledge/ docsets.

Solution

A reusable directory-discovery utility has been implemented in prompts-mcp (commit 21c3830) that solves this problem.

Implementation Guide

See complete instructions: https://github.com/mrsimpson/prompts-mcp/blob/preconfigured-prompts/DIRECTORY_DISCOVERY_ISSUE.md

Quick Steps:

1. Copy packages/mcp-server/src/utils/directory-discovery.ts from prompts-mcp
2. Copy packages/mcp-server/test/unit/directory-discovery.test.ts
3. Update code using process.cwd() to use the discovery utility:

import { discoverDirectory } from "./utils/directory-discovery.js";

const knowledgeDiscovery = discoverDirectory({
  subdirEnvPrefix: "KNOWLEDGE",  // Creates KNOWLEDGE_SUBDIR env var
  subdir: ".knowledge",
  useHomeFallback: true
});

// Use knowledgeDiscovery.path for the directory
// Check knowledgeDiscovery.exists to see if it exists
// Check knowledgeDiscovery.source to see how it was found

New Environment Variables

• PROJECT_DIR - Override starting directory for upward search
• KNOWLEDGE_SUBDIR - Directly specify .knowledge directory location

Search Strategy

1. Check KNOWLEDGE_SUBDIR env var (direct override)
2. Search upward from PROJECT_DIR or process.cwd()
3. Fallback to ~/.knowledge/ (home directory)

Benefits

✅ Works with Claude Desktop and GUI apps
✅ Searches upward from nested directories
✅ Home directory fallback
✅ Flexible environment variable control
✅ Zero breaking changes
✅ Well-tested (18 new tests in prompts-mcp)

Reference Implementation

• Repo: https://github.com/mrsimpson/prompts-mcp
• Branch: preconfigured-prompts
• Commit: 21c3830
• Files: 17 changed (+929, -678 lines)
• Tests: 197 total, all passing