File System MCP server

The Filesystem MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for file and directory operations, allowing you to seamlessly interact with your local filesystem. It provides a range of features from basic file reading/writing to advanced search capabilities, all while maintaining security through filesystem boundaries.

Installation

To get started with the Filesystem MCP Server:

1. Ensure you have Ruby 3.1 or newer installed on your system
2. Clone the repository to your local machine
3. Install dependencies:

bundle install

Running the Server

Basic Mode

Run the server by specifying one or more directories you want to make accessible:

ruby file_system_mcp.rb ~/Documents ~/Desktop

This allows the server to access files only within the specified directories.

Secure Mode (with Authentication)

For added security, enable authentication:

FILESYSTEM_MCP_API_KEY=your-secret-key ruby file_system_mcp.rb --enable-auth ~/Documents

Claude Desktop Configuration

To integrate with Claude Desktop, update your claude_desktop_config.json file:

Basic Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "ruby",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/file_system_mcp.rb",
        "~/Documents",
        "~/Desktop"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Secure Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "ruby",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/file_system_mcp.rb",
        "--enable-auth",
        "~/Documents"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FILESYSTEM_MCP_API_KEY": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

File Operations

• read_file: Retrieves the entire contents of a file
• read_multiple_files: Reads several files in a single operation
• write_file: Creates new files or overwrites existing ones
• edit_file: Makes precise text replacements with diff preview
• move_file: Renames or moves files and directories

Directory Operations

• list_directory: Shows directory contents with optional metadata
• create_directory: Creates directories, including parent directories as needed

Search Operations

• search_files: Performs basic recursive search using patterns
• find_files: Conducts advanced searches with sorting, filtering, and metadata options

Information Operations

• get_file_info: Retrieves detailed metadata for a file or directory
• get_bulk_file_info: Gets metadata for multiple files efficiently

Security Features

The server maintains security by:

• Enforcing filesystem boundaries (only accessing directories specified as command-line arguments)
• Offering optional API key authentication for all operations

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":"ruby","args":["/path/to/file_system_mcp.rb","~/Documents","~/Desktop"]}'

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": "ruby",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/file_system_mcp.rb",
                "~/Documents",
                "~/Desktop"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": "ruby",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/file_system_mcp.rb",
                "~/Documents",
                "~/Desktop"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect