Configuration

PDK is configured through environment variables. To avoid setting them in every terminal, in the MCP server and in the hook, they can be written in a TOML file, by default ~/.pdk/config.toml (another file can be pointed to with PDK_CONFIG). A variable that is already set in the environment takes precedence over the file.

Settings

Key in config.toml	Environment variable	Default and meaning
gateway_url	PDK_GATEWAY_URL	http://127.0.0.1:8088. The gateway’s address; it must be this machine.
ignition_home	IGNITION_HOME	The standard install path of each operating system (C:\Program Files\Inductive Automation\Ignition, /usr/local/bin/ignition or /usr/local/ignition). Used to find the Perspective module, the jars and the module’s token.
api_key	PDK_IGNITION_API_KEY	Read from ~/.pdk/ignition-api-key. A gateway API key, used only to install the module and restart the gateway.
work_dir	PDK_WORK_DIR	work/ in the current folder (the one pdk init set up); in a clone, in the repository. Where pulled and new views live.
schemas_dir	PDK_SCHEMAS_DIR	~/.pdk/schemas/; in a clone, schemas/ in the repository. Where schema bundles are extracted and read.
perspective_version	PDK_PERSPECTIVE_VERSION	The newest bundle. Which bundle to validate against when several are extracted; the --perspective option overrides it per command.
update_check	PDK_UPDATE_CHECK	On. Once a day PDK asks GitHub’s public API for the latest release and says when a newer one is out (on the next command, in pdk doctor and to the agent through the MCP server). false or 0 turns it off; it is always off when CI is set.

Example:

gateway_url = "http://127.0.0.1:8088"
ignition_home = "D:/Ignition"

pdk doctor reports which settings the file applied, and flags unknown keys.

Other variables

PDK_GATEWAY_TOKEN

The module’s access token. Normally PDK reads it from <ignition_home>/data/pdk-gateway.token, which the module rewrites on every start; set this variable only if that file is not readable by your user. On Linux and macOS the file is readable only by the gateway’s user and group: join that group, or set this variable. pdk gateway restart still waits for the new token in the file, since this value does not change on restart.

PDK_EYES_IDLE_S

Seconds without use after which the MCP server closes its browser (default 120), releasing its Perspective session.

Gateway settings

The sandbox and the target project are not configured in PDK but on the gateway, in ignition.conf, so that a client cannot change them:

-Dpdk.sandbox=<project>

The only project PDK writes to. Without it the module is read-only.

-Dpdk.target=<project>

Optional. The project that receives finished views through promote --to-project target. It must differ from the sandbox; otherwise it is ignored.

-Dignition.allowunsignedmodules=true

Required because the PDK module is not signed.

The client reads the sandbox and target names from the module (uv run pdk gateway health).