filesystem-mcp-server

Overview

The Filesystem MCP Server provides a comprehensive interface for AI agents to perform file system operations including reading, writing, updating, and managing files and directories. It implements platform-agnostic file capabilities with advanced search/replace and directory tree traversal features. Built on TypeScript with a production-ready foundation, the server emphasizes security with path sanitization, JWT authentication for HTTP transport, and robust error handling. It supports both STDIO for direct process communication and HTTP for network-based interactions with streaming capabilities.

Try asking AI

After installing, here are 5 things you can ask your AI assistant:

• set_filesystem_default

  Sets a default absolute path for the current session to resolve relative paths.

  Try:Set the default working directory to /home/user/documentsTry:Set project root to ./my-project
• read_file

  Reads the entire content of a specified file as UTF-8 text.

  Try:Read the content of config.jsonTry:Show me what's in the README.md file
• write_file

  Writes content to a specified file, creating it if it doesn't exist.

  Try:Create a new file with the content 'Hello, World!' called greetings.txtTry:Overwrite the existing notes.md file with updated content
• update_file

  Performs search-and-replace operations within an existing file.

  Try:Replace all occurrences of 'TODO' with 'DONE' in tasklist.txtTry:Use regex to find version numbers and update them
• list_files

  Lists files and directories within a specified path.

  Try:Show all files in the current directoryTry:List all files recursively in the src folder
• delete_file

  Permanently removes a specific file.

  Try:Delete the temporary backup fileTry:Remove old_log.txt from the logs directory
• delete_directory

  Permanently removes a directory and optionally its contents.

  Try:Delete the empty temp folderTry:Remove the build directory and all its contents
• create_directory

  Creates a new directory at the specified path.

  Try:Create a new directory called assetsTry:Make nested directories like src/components/utils

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Installation

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/filesystem-mcp-server.git
cd filesystem-mcp-server

npm install

npm run build

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/filesystem-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "FS_BASE_DIRECTORY": "/safe/workspace",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

How do I restrict filesystem access to specific directories?

Set the FS_BASE_DIRECTORY environment variable to an absolute path. All filesystem operations will be restricted to this directory and its subdirectories.

Does this server support both STDIO and HTTP transports?

Yes, you can configure the server to use either STDIO (default) or HTTP transport via the MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE environment variable.

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