# Running the Enhanced Dash MCP Server
The server communicates over standard input and output. It uses the
`stdio_server` context manager from the MCP library to expose its streams
for MCP clients. An asynchronous `main` coroutine obtains these streams and
wires them to `server.run` using `asyncio.run`.
Example:
```bash
python3 enhanced_dash_server.py
```
This invocation wires the server to STDIO internally and requires no
additional parameters.
Since version 1.1.4 the main script uses `stdio_server` to obtain read and
write streams for `server.run()`. This prevents errors like:
```
TypeError: Server.run() missing 3 required positional arguments
```
Just run the script directly and the server will wire itself to STDIO.
Press `Ctrl+C` to stop the server gracefully; the program handles
`KeyboardInterrupt` without printing a stack trace. Version 1.2.11 adds startup
and shutdown log messages and fixes
an issue where the server could hang during startup when interrupted.
Both `KeyboardInterrupt` and internal cancellations use the same
`_cancel_task` helper to ensure consistent cleanup. The server now calls
`server.create_initialization_options()` before invoking `server.run()` to
avoid AttributeError warnings from MCP clients expecting structured
initialization data.
Logs are stored in `~/.cache/dash-mcp/server.log` with rotation.
Set `DASH_MCP_LOG_LEVEL` to control verbosity or `DASH_MCP_LOG_FILE`
to change the path.
Set `DASH_DOCSETS_PATH` only if your Dash documentation lives outside the default path.
Symlinks under `~/Library/Application Support/Dash` are followed automatically.
If the variable points at the `Dash` directory rather than `DocSets`, the server
will automatically correct the search path.
Docsets stored in subfolders are detected as well, enabling support for Dash 4's
layout where docsets can be nested within categories.
The log will record startup, shutdown, and unexpected error messages so you can
confirm the server launched correctly and diagnose failures.