MCP `env: {}` block — pre-Phase-1 installs need an in-place patch path

[edheltzel]

What happened

A user's ~/.claude.json had this for the recall-memory MCP registration:

"recall-memory": {
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "/Users/ed/.bun/bin/bun",
  "args": ["run", "/Users/ed/.bun/bin/mem-mcp"],
  "env": {}
}

env: {} — empty. The claude mcp add CLI doesn't accept an env block, and the historical installer never patched this after the fact. So mem-mcp always resolved the DB path from defaults instead of the explicit override the user set.

Net effect: the MCP server's view of the DB diverged from the CLI's view in any install that had a non-default MEM_DB_PATH, or after the relocation to ~/.agents/Recall/recall.db.

What we've already done

Phase 1 (c46cc90) added _recall_ensure_mcp_env in lib/install-lib.sh. After recall_configure_mcp runs, the new helper patches env.RECALL_DB_PATH into whichever config file owns the registration (~/.claude.json or ~/.claude/settings.json). Fresh installs and ./update.sh runs are now fixed.

What this issue tracks

Existing installs that haven't run the new update.sh still have env: {}. They keep working only because:

1. The default resolver path happens to match where their DB lives, OR
2. MEM_DB_PATH happens to be set in their shell when Claude Code spawns mem-mcp (depends on launch context — Claude.app, terminal, etc.)

That's fragile. We need:

1. A standalone repair command — e.g. mem doctor --fix should detect a stale env: {} block and patch it without requiring a full re-install. Currently doctor doesn't even check the MCP env block.
2. A doctor probe for "MCP env has RECALL_DB_PATH matching the resolved DB path" — if they diverge, warn the user about the next-Claude-restart hazard.

Possibly also: a one-shot mem path --fix-mcp-env to make this surgically repairable from the CLI.

Related:

• lib/install-lib.sh:_recall_ensure_mcp_env
• src/commands/doctor.ts:checkMcpServer (current MCP check only verifies registration exists, not env state)
• src/commands/path.ts (already reports the active env source — could grow a check that compares against config file value)