excalidraw-mcp vs filesystem
Side-by-side comparison to help you pick between these two MCP servers.
excalidraw-mcp by cmd8 | filesystem by modelcontextprotocol | |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | ★ 4 | ★ 85,748 |
| 30d uses | — | — |
| Score | 38 | 77 |
| Official | — | ✓ |
| Categories | ProductivityDeveloper ToolsAI / LLM Tools | File SystemDeveloper ToolsProductivity |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last commit | 6 mo ago | this month |
excalidraw-mcp · Summary
MCP server for creating and editing Excalidraw diagrams programmatically with node and edge manipulation tools.
filesystem · Summary
A feature-rich MCP server for filesystem operations with dynamic directory access control.
excalidraw-mcp · Use cases
- Automatically generate and update Excalidraw diagrams based on system architecture documentation
- Collaborate on diagrams by having AI agents modify elements programmatically
- Create visualizations of code structures or system designs directly within AI assistants
filesystem · Use cases
- Enable AI models to read and write project files during development
- Allow Claude or other MCP clients to browse and analyze codebases
- Provide secure sandboxed access to specific directories for content generation
excalidraw-mcp · Install
Installation
Claude Desktop
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"excalidraw": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cmd8/excalidraw-mcp", "--diagram", "/path/to/diagram.excalidraw"]
}
}
}Other Clients
- **Cursor**: Add to
~/.cursor/mcp.json - **Claude Code**:
claude mcp add excalidraw -- npx -y @cmd8/excalidraw-mcp --diagram /path/to/diagram.excalidraw - **VS Code**: Add to VS Code MCP settings with type "stdio"
- **Amp**:
amp mcp add excalidraw -- npx -y @cmd8/excalidraw-mcp --diagram /path/to/diagram.excalidraw - **Windsurf**: Add to MCP config
Requires Node.js >= v18.0.0
filesystem · Install
Installation
Using NPX
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
"/path/to/allowed/directory"
]
}
}
}Using Docker
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"--mount", "type=bind,src=/path/to/allowed/dir,dst=/projects/allowed/dir",
"mcp/filesystem",
"/projects"
]
}
}
}VS Code Extension
Click the installation buttons in the README to install directly in VS Code.