feat: Set AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE default to 1

[Aaron ("AJ") Steers (aaronsteers)]

Devin Session: https://app.devin.ai/sessions/11bea17b89694183953ebc1b341d2940

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores

  • Enabled Safe Mode by default, making cloud operations more restricted unless explicitly disabled.

• Documentation

  • Consolidated and clarified guidance for Safe Mode and Read‑Only Mode, including defaults, behaviors, and recommended configuration for testing and local workflows.

[devin-ai-integration]

Original prompt from AJ Steers

Received message in Slack channel #dev-coral-mcp:

@Devin - Update our example docs in the Connector Builder MCP to include env var defaults for the pyairbyte-mcp exzamples:
• `AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_READ_ONLY=0`  - toggle to `1` to restrict to read only operations while still allowing `sync` actions.
• `AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE=0`  - toggle to `1` to disallow potentially harmful updates or deletions. (Creations still okay.)
Thread URL: https://airbytehq-team.slack.com/archives/C065V6XFWNQ/p1761285435510759?thread_ts=1761285435.510759

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[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Flip default MCP safe-mode to enabled and update inline documentation: SAFE_MODE now defaults to "1" (enabled) unless explicitly set to "0"; READONLY_MODE remains default "0". Corresponding docs in the MCP package were rewritten to describe Safe Mode and Read-Only Mode behavior and env var usage.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
MCP package docs/config airbyte/mcp/__init__.py	Rewrote documentation describing Airbyte Cloud MCP Server Safety; changed the example/default presentation so AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE is shown as "1" (enabled) and clarified defaults/behavior for SAFE_MODE and READONLY_MODE.
MCP utility logic airbyte/mcp/_tool_utils.py	Changed evaluation of AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE to default to "1" and treat any value other than "0" as enabled (os.environ.get(..., "1").strip() != "0"); safe-mode enforcement logic usage unchanged.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• feat(mcp): Implement decorator-based safe mode filtering for Cloud ops tools #842 — Updates default and documentation for AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE, directly overlapping the same vars and docs.
• feat: Add safe_mode to custom connector definition deletion #831 — Introduces safe_mode enforcement for connector deletion tooling; relates to how the changed default affects tool registration.
• feat: Implement session-based safe mode for Cloud ops #844 — Modifies SAFE_MODE handling and session-mode logic in _tool_utils.py, which may interact with this default-change.

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	You can run @coderabbitai generate docstrings to improve docstring coverage.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title Check	✅ Passed	The pull request title "feat: Set AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE default to 1" is directly related to the primary change in the changeset. The modifications in both airbyte/mcp/__init__.py and airbyte/mcp/_tool_utils.py confirm that the AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE default is being changed to 1, where the logic switches from an opt-in model (requiring explicit "1" value) to an opt-out model (defaulting to "1" unless explicitly set to "0"). The title is concise, clear, and specific enough that a teammate scanning the commit history would understand the primary change without ambiguity or vague terminology.

✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate docstrings

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch devin/safe-mode-default-1

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between a04242a and db59e82.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• airbyte/mcp/__init__.py (2 hunks)
• airbyte/mcp/_tool_utils.py (1 hunks)

🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (1)

• airbyte/mcp/_tool_utils.py

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🔇 Additional comments (2)

airbyte/mcp/__init__.py (2)

89-90: Example configuration looks good!

The explicit values for both environment variables align with the documented defaults and make the configuration clear and easy to modify. Nice work!

---

114-146: Implementation matches documentation—verification complete.

The code correctly implements the documented defaults:

• SAFE_MODE: Defaults to "1" (enabled) via os.environ.get("AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_SAFE_MODE", "1") ✓
• READONLY_MODE: Defaults to "" (disabled) via os.environ.get("AIRBYTE_CLOUD_MCP_READONLY_MODE", "") ✓

Both match what the documentation states. The optional suggestion about being more explicit in the docs (e.g., "defaults to '1'") still stands—would that improve clarity for users, or does the current wording work well for your audience?

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PyTest Results (Fast Tests Only, No Creds)

304 tests  ±0   304 ✅ ±0   6m 18s ⏱️ +30s
  1 suites ±0     0 💤 ±0 
  1 files   ±0     0 ❌ ±0 

Results for commit a04242a. ± Comparison against base commit fed8d94.