MCP Bundlev1.0.0

Filesystem MCP Server MCP Server

Node.js server implementing Model Context Protocol (MCP) for filesystem operations.

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mcpserverfilesystem

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Description

MCP Bundle Details

Protocol Version: 2024-11-05
Servers: filesystem

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Last updated 4/5/2026

Filesystem MCP Server

Node.js server implementing Model Context Protocol (MCP) for filesystem operations.

Features

Read/write files
Create/list/delete directories
Move files/directories
Search files
Get file metadata
Dynamic directory access control via Roots

Directory Access Control

The server uses a flexible directory access control system. Directories can be specified via command-line arguments or dynamically via Roots.

Method 1: Command-line Arguments

Specify Allowed directories when starting the server:

mcp-server-filesystem /path/to/dir1 /path/to/dir2

Method 2: MCP Roots (Recommended)

MCP clients that support Roots can dynamically update the Allowed directories.

Roots notified by Client to Server, completely replace any server-side Allowed directories when provided.

Important: If server starts without command-line arguments AND client doesn't support roots protocol (or provides empty roots), the server will throw an error during initialization.

This is the recommended method, as this enables runtime directory updates via roots/list_changed notifications without server restart, providing a more flexible and modern integration experience.

How It Works

The server's directory access control follows this flow:

Server Startup

Server starts with directories from command-line arguments (if provided)
If no arguments provided, server starts with empty allowed directories

Client Connection & Initialization

Client connects and sends initialize request with capabilities
Server checks if client supports roots protocol (capabilities.roots)

Roots Protocol Handling (if client supports roots)

On initialization: Server requests roots from client via roots/list
Client responds with its configured roots
Server replaces ALL allowed directories with client's roots
On runtime updates: Client can send notifications/roots/list_changed
Server requests updated roots and replaces allowed directories again

Fallback Behavior (if client doesn't support roots)

Server continues using command-line directories only
No dynamic updates possible

Access Control

All filesystem operations are restricted to allowed directories
Use list_allowed_directories tool to see current directories
Server requires at least ONE allowed directory to operate

Note: The server will only allow operations within directories specified either via args or via Roots.

read_text_file
- Read complete contents of a file as text
- Inputs:
  - path (string)
  - head (number, optional): First N lines
  - tail (number, optional): Last N lines
- Always treats the file as UTF-8 text regardless of extension
- Cannot specify both head and tail simultaneously
read_media_file
- Read an image or audio file
- Inputs:
  - path (string)
- Streams the file and returns base64 data with the corresponding MIME type
read_multiple_files
- Read multiple files simultaneously
- Input: paths (string[])
- Failed reads won't stop the entire operation
write_file
- Create new file or overwrite existing (exercise caution with this)
- Inputs:
  - path (string): File location
  - content (string): File content
edit_file
- Make selective edits using advanced pattern matching and formatting
- Features:
  - Line-based and multi-line content matching
  - Whitespace normalization with indentation preservation
  - Multiple simultaneous edits with correct positioning
  - Indentation style detection and preservation
  - Git-style diff output with context
  - Preview changes with dry run mode
- Inputs:
  - path (string): File to edit
  - edits (array): List of edit operations
    - oldText (string): Text to search for (can be substring)
    - newText (string): Text to replace with
  - dryRun (boolean): Preview changes without applying (default: false)
- Returns detailed diff and match information for dry runs, otherwise applies changes
- Best Practice: Always use dryRun first to preview changes before applying them
create_directory
- Create new directory or ensure it exists
- Input: path (string)
- Creates parent directories if needed
- Succeeds silently if directory exists
list_directory
- List directory contents with [FILE] or [DIR] prefixes
- Input: path (string)
list_directory_with_sizes
- List directory contents with [FILE] or [DIR] prefixes, including file sizes
- Inputs:
  - path (string): Directory path to list
  - sortBy (string, optional): Sort entries by "name" or "size" (default: "name")
- Returns detailed listing with file sizes and summary statistics
- Shows total files, directories, and combined size
move_file
- Move or rename files and directories
- Inputs:
  - source (string)
  - destination (string)
- Fails if destination exists
search_files
- Recursively search for files/directories that match or do not match patterns
- Inputs:
  - path (string): Starting directory
  - pattern (string): Search pattern
  - excludePatterns (string[]): Exclude any patterns.
- Glob-style pattern matching
- Returns full paths to matches
directory_tree
- Get recursive JSON tree structure of directory contents
- Inputs:
  - path (string): Starting directory
  - excludePatterns (string[]): Exclude any patterns. Glob formats are supported.
- Returns:
  - JSON array where each entry contains:
    - name (string): File/directory name
    - type ('file'|'directory'): Entry type
    - children (array): Present only for directories
      - Empty array for empty directories
      - Omitted for files
- Output is formatted with 2-space indentation for readability
get_file_info
- Get detailed file/directory metadata
- Input: path (string)
- Returns:
  - Size
  - Creation time
  - Modified time
  - Access time
  - Type (file/directory)
  - Permissions
list_allowed_directories
- List all directories the server is allowed to access
- No input required
- Returns:
  - Directories that this server can read/write from

Tool annotations (MCP hints)

This server sets MCP ToolAnnotations on each tool so clients can:

Distinguish read‑only tools from write‑capable tools.
Understand which write operations are idempotent (safe to retry with the same arguments).
Highlight operations that may be destructive (overwriting or heavily mutating data).

The mapping for filesystem tools is:

Tool	readOnlyHint	idempotentHint	destructiveHint	Notes
`read_text_file`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`read_media_file`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`read_multiple_files`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`list_directory`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`list_directory_with_sizes`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`directory_tree`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`search_files`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`get_file_info`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`list_allowed_directories`	`true`	–	–	Pure read
`create_directory`	`false`	`true`	`false`	Re‑creating the same dir is a no‑op
`write_file`	`false`	`true`	`true`	Overwrites existing files
`edit_file`	`false`	`false`	`true`	Re‑applying edits can fail or double‑apply
`move_file`	`false`	`false`	`true`	Deletes source file

Note: idempotentHint and destructiveHint are meaningful only when readOnlyHint is false, as defined by the MCP spec.

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

Note: you can provide sandboxed directories to the server by mounting them to /projects. Adding the ro flag will make the directory readonly by the server.

Note: all directories must be mounted to /projects by default.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/Users/username/Desktop,dst=/projects/Desktop",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/path/to/other/allowed/dir,dst=/projects/other/allowed/dir,ro",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/path/to/file.txt,dst=/projects/path/to/file.txt",
        "mcp/filesystem",
        "/projects"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

For quick installation, click the installation buttons below...

For manual installation, you can configure the MCP server using one of these methods:

Method 1: User Configuration (Recommended) Add the configuration to your user-level MCP configuration file. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) and run MCP: Open User Configuration. This will open your user mcp.json file where you can add the server configuration.

Method 2: Workspace Configuration Alternatively, you can add the configuration to a file called .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. This will allow you to share the configuration with others.

For more details about MCP configuration in VS Code, see the official VS Code MCP documentation.

You can provide sandboxed directories to the server by mounting them to /projects. Adding the ro flag will make the directory readonly by the server.