Filesystem MCP server

This Go implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows your large language model applications to interact with external file systems. It enables seamless integration between LLMs and file system operations, giving your AI applications the ability to read, write, and manipulate files.

Installation

Install the MCP filesystem server using Go's package manager:

go install github.com/qiangmzsx/mcp-filesystem-server

Configuration

To enable your LLM application to access the filesystem, you need to configure it to use the MCP server.

Adding to Claude Desktop

Add the following configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "mcp-filesystem-server",
      "args": [
        "/Users/username/Desktop",
        "/path/to/other/allowed/dir"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration Parameters

• The args array contains paths to directories that you want to allow the MCP server to access
• You can include multiple directory paths to grant access to different locations
• For security reasons, only explicitly listed directories will be accessible

Usage

Once configured, your LLM application can interact with the filesystem through the MCP protocol. The server runs in the background and responds to requests from the LLM to perform file operations within the allowed directories.

The MCP filesystem server will only have access to the specific directories you list in the configuration, ensuring that access to your filesystem is properly controlled.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "filesystem" '{"command":"mcp-filesystem-server","args":["/Users/username/Desktop","/path/to/other/allowed/dir"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "filesystem": {
            "command": "mcp-filesystem-server",
            "args": [
                "/Users/username/Desktop",
                "/path/to/other/allowed/dir"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "filesystem": {
            "command": "mcp-filesystem-server",
            "args": [
                "/Users/username/Desktop",
                "/path/to/other/allowed/dir"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect