Runtime and discovery

Set these in the server entry’s environment, then restart the server after safely saving intended work. Defaults below mean unset, not necessarily your current machine’s values.

Output and application

Variable	Default	Accepted values and effect
VISIO_MCP_ROOT	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\VisioMcp	Nonblank directory path; created at startup. Blank/whitespace uses default. Generated drawings/read artifacts, not authorization or app-data relocation
VISIO_APP_VISIBLE	Visible	1, true, yes, on enable visibility/repainting, case-insensitive. Any other explicit value, including empty, hides it

Hidden doesn’t mean headless: an interactive Windows session, installed Visio, and explicit manage_visio open are still required. No environment setting saves a drawing automatically.

Index freshness

The first eligible tool call in a session refreshes the stencil index in the background if the saved index is more than 15 minutes old. This built-in interval is not a periodic timer and can’t be changed with an environment variable.

For changes now, use manage_visio update_index. It waits for refresh/publication and bypasses freshness without opening Visio or requiring a restart.

Configure custom content through registered Visio locations. Built-in content follows the Windows display language, falling back to English or another installed Visio language; there’s no setting to choose it.

Related: Configuration | Logging | Custom shapes.