NetSendo v2.7.1: Live Visitors and MCP Config Fixes for Docker

You open the Live Visitors page on your self-hosted NetSendo. On the server it works, but when a colleague opens it from their laptop, the real-time list stays empty. There's no error you can see and no visitors on screen. The browser is quietly trying to reach ws://localhost:8085, which on their machine points at nothing.

NetSendo v2.7.1 is a small fix release that solves this for Docker installs. It also fixes the same underlying bug in the MCP integration, so your MCP_API_KEY is found again. Below we explain what went wrong, how to upgrade and how to check your real-time setup.

🚀 What's New in v2.7.1

The Root Cause: env() and a Cached Config

NetSendo is built on Laravel. When the Docker entrypoint starts, it runs php artisan config:cache, which saves all configuration into one fast file. This is standard production practice, but it has a catch: once the config is cached, Laravel no longer loads .env. After that, env() returns nothing everywhere except inside the config files themselves.

Think of it like a printed restaurant menu. Once the menu is printed (cached), asking the kitchen's whiteboard (.env) for today's specials gets you no answer. You have to read the menu instead (config()).

The Live Visitors controller read VITE_REVERB_HOST, VITE_REVERB_PORT and VITE_REVERB_SCHEME directly with env(). With the cached config, all three came back empty, so the page fell back to its defaults: localhost, 8085 and http. That only worked if your browser ran on the server itself.

The Fix

These values now live in config/broadcasting.php under a browser key, and the page reads them with config(). Your existing .env entries keep working, for example:

VITE_REVERB_HOST=marketing.example.com
VITE_REVERB_PORT=443
VITE_REVERB_SCHEME=https

Because the values are passed to the page when the server renders it, they aren't built into the JavaScript bundle. After you change them, docker compose up -d applies them. You don't need to rebuild the frontend, which matters because npm run build can't run inside the production container anyway.

ℹ️ Verified: The team tested this in the 2.7.0 image with a cached config. The old code sent the browser to localhost; the new code sends it to the address in .env.

MCP_API_KEY Is Found Again

The MCP status in the panel and the php artisan mcp:test-connection command had the same problem: they read MCP_API_KEY with env(). They also checked a services.mcp.api_key setting first, but that setting didn't exist. It now exists in config/services.php, so the key is picked up even with a cached config.

A Test to Stop It Coming Back

The new tests/Feature/RuntimeConfigTest.php does two things. It checks that the Live Visitors page uses the configured address, and it fails the build if app code, routes or views call env() directly. Future features can't bring this bug back by accident.

💼 Benefits & Use Cases

• ✅ Real-time visitor tracking works from any device, not just the server
• ✅ .env changes take effect after a container restart, with no rebuild
• ✅ MCP integrations report their status correctly
• ✅ No config file changes since 2.7.0

🛠️ Step-by-Step: Upgrading and Verifying

1. Pull the new image

   From your NetSendo directory, run:

   docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

2. Check your Reverb values in .env

   Set VITE_REVERB_HOST, VITE_REVERB_PORT and VITE_REVERB_SCHEME to the address browsers use to reach your WebSocket server. That is usually your public domain, not localhost.

3. Apply the changes

   If you edited .env, run docker compose up -d again. The entrypoint rebuilds the config cache with the new values.

4. Test from another computer

   Open Live Visitors from a different device. In your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab and filter by "WS". The connection should go to your domain, not localhost:8085.

5. Test MCP (if you use it)

   Inside the app container, run php artisan mcp:test-connection (for example, docker compose exec <app-service> php artisan mcp:test-connection). Then check that the MCP status in the panel shows the key.

⚠️ Common pitfall: If your panel loads over HTTPS, the browser will block a plain ws:// connection as mixed content. Behind a TLS proxy, set VITE_REVERB_SCHEME=https and use the proxy's public port, usually 443.

✅ Conclusion

v2.7.1 is a small release with a real impact. In Docker installs, Live Visitors works for every user on every device again. The MCP integration correctly finds your API key. And a new test stops this kind of config bug from coming back. Upgrading takes one command and no config changes, and because you host NetSendo yourself, your visitor data stays on your own servers.

See the documentation for real-time and MCP setup details, browse the available integrations, or read the full release notes on GitHub.