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filesystem vs mcp-shell

Side-by-side comparison to help you pick between these two MCP servers.

filesystem
by modelcontextprotocol
mcp-shell
by sonirico
Stars★ 85,748★ 77
30d uses
Score7746
Official
Categories
File SystemDeveloper ToolsProductivity
Developer ToolsSecurityOps & Infra
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Last committhis month1 mo ago

filesystem · Summary

A feature-rich MCP server for filesystem operations with dynamic directory access control.

mcp-shell · Summary

MCP server for secure and auditable shell command execution with configurable security policies.

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

mcp-shell · Use cases

  • Securely allowing AI agents to execute shell commands in restricted environments
  • Auditing and controlling all shell operations performed by AI systems
  • Providing a safe interface for file system operations through AI agents

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.

mcp-shell · Install

Installation

**Docker (recommended)**:

docker run -it --rm -v /tmp/mcp-workspace:/tmp/mcp-workspace sonirico/mcp-shell:latest

**From source**:

git clone https://github.com/sonirico/mcp-shell && cd mcp-shell
make install
mcp-shell

**Claude Desktop Configuration**: Add to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shell": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "sonirico/mcp-shell:latest"],
      "env": { "MCP_SHELL_LOG_LEVEL": "info" }
    }
  }
}

For custom config, mount the security file:

{
  "command": "docker",
  "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-v", "/path/to/security.yaml:/etc/mcp-shell/security.yaml", "-e", "MCP_SHELL_SEC_CONFIG_FILE=/etc/mcp-shell/security.yaml", "sonirico/mcp-shell:latest"]
}
Comparison generated from public README + GitHub signals. Last updated automatically.