Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ironbee.ai/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Config file locations
IronBee reads configuration from two locations. Settings are deep-merged, with the project config taking precedence over the global config.
| File | Scope |
|---|
~/.ironbee/config.json | Global — applies to all projects |
<project>/.ironbee/config.json | Project-level — overrides global |
ironbee config set / ironbee config get to edit values from the CLI, or edit the JSON files directly.
Full example
{
"ignoredVerifyPatterns": ["*.test.ts", "*.spec.ts"],
"maxRetries": 5,
"browser": {
"verifyPatterns": ["*.ts", "*.tsx", "*.css"],
"additionalVerifyPatterns": ["*.mdx"]
},
"node": {
"verifyPatterns": ["server/**/*.ts", "pages/api/**/*.ts"],
"additionalVerifyPatterns": ["lib/db/**/*.ts"]
},
"backend": {
"verifyPatterns": ["api/**/*.java", "controllers/**/*.go"],
"additionalVerifyPatterns": ["handlers/**/*.py"]
},
"verification": {
"enable": true
},
"fileChange": {
"captureChangeset": true
}
}
Options reference
Core options
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
ignoredVerifyPatterns | string[] | [] | Glob patterns excluded from all verification cycles. Checked first — matching files never trigger any cycle. |
maxRetries | number | 3 | Maximum failed verification attempts before the agent is allowed to complete (must report unresolved issues). Single global counter regardless of how many cycles are active. |
Browser cycle
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
browser.verifyPatterns | string[] | 40+ code extensions | Glob patterns that trigger the browser cycle. Replaces the built-in defaults entirely when set. Set to [] to hard-disable (same as ironbee browser disable). |
browser.additionalVerifyPatterns | string[] | [] | Extra patterns appended to the defaults (or to verifyPatterns if set). |
Node cycle
The Node cycle requires ironbee node enable to activate. It uses the V8 inspector to set debug probes on a running Node.js process.
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
node.verifyPatterns | string[] | [] | Glob patterns that trigger the Node.js V8 inspector verification cycle. Empty by default — opt in via ironbee node enable. |
node.additionalVerifyPatterns | string[] | [] | Extra patterns appended to node.verifyPatterns. |
Backend cycle
The backend cycle requires ironbee backend enable to activate. It drives real HTTP/gRPC/GraphQL/WebSocket calls and works with any backend runtime.
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
backend.verifyPatterns | string[] | [] | Glob patterns that trigger the runtime-agnostic backend protocol cycle. Empty by default — opt in via ironbee backend enable. |
backend.additionalVerifyPatterns | string[] | [] | Extra patterns appended to backend.verifyPatterns. |
Verification toggle
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
verification.enable | boolean | true | Master enforcement switch. Set to false for monitoring-only mode — sessions still ship telemetry, but no verify gate is installed. Equivalent to running ironbee disable-verification. |
File change capture
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
fileChange.captureChangeset | boolean | false | When true, every file_change event includes a hunks-only unified diff (changeset). Useful for richer analytics and historical code review. Skipped on binary content. |
fileChange.maxChangesetBytes | number | 65536 | Hard cap on the changeset string size (64 KB). Diffs over the cap are truncated with a footer noting bytes omitted. |
Default browser patterns
When browser.verifyPatterns is not set, IronBee matches a broad set of code file extensions including:
.ts .tsx .js .jsx .css .scss .html .py .go .rs .java .vue .svelte and more.
Non-code files like README.md, package.json, and .gitignore are never matched by the defaults.
Patterns are not materialized into config.json — they live in the CLI and update automatically with CLI upgrades. Customize with browser.verifyPatterns (replaces defaults) or browser.additionalVerifyPatterns (appends).
IronBee installs three MCP server entries: browser-devtools, node-devtools, and backend-devtools. Each can be customized independently.
{
"browserDevTools": {
"env": {
"BROWSER_HEADLESS_ENABLE": "true",
"OTEL_ENABLE": "true"
}
}
}
{
"browserDevTools": {
"mcp": {
"url": "http://localhost:4000/mcp"
}
}
}
{
"nodeDevTools": {
"env": {
"NODE_INSPECTOR_HOST": "127.0.0.1"
}
}
}
{
"backendDevTools": {
"env": {
"BACKEND_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:8080"
}
}
}
| Key | Description |
|---|
browserDevTools.mcp / nodeDevTools.mcp / backendDevTools.mcp | Full MCP server config replacement — supports command+args (stdio) or url (HTTP) |
browserDevTools.env / nodeDevTools.env / backendDevTools.env | Extra env vars merged into the default config. Only used when mcp is not set |
IronBee always sets TOOL_NAME_PREFIX, TOOL_INPUT_METADATA_ENABLE=true, and PLATFORM — these cannot be overridden.
Common setups
Ignore test files
{
"ignoredVerifyPatterns": [
"**/*.test.ts",
"**/*.spec.ts",
"**/*.test.tsx",
"**/__tests__/**"
]
}
Add MDX to browser patterns
{
"browser": {
"additionalVerifyPatterns": ["*.mdx", "*.md"]
}
}
Backend-only project (no browser cycle)
{
"browser": {
"verifyPatterns": []
},
"backend": {}
}
ironbee browser disable
ironbee backend enable
Strict mode — more retries
Monitoring only (no enforcement)
{
"verification": {
"enable": false
}
}
Capture code diffs in analytics
{
"fileChange": {
"captureChangeset": true
}
}
