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SylphxAI / filesystem-mcp

📁 Secure, efficient MCP filesystem server - token-saving batch operations with project root confinement

Home Page:https://www.npmjs.com/package/@shtse8/filesystem-mcp

Repository from Github https://github.comSylphxAI/filesystem-mcpRepository from Github https://github.comSylphxAI/filesystem-mcp

ai-agentclaude-aiclinefilesystemmcpmodel-context-protocolnodejsnpmroo-codetypescriptai-toolsbatch-operationssecurity

Filesystem MCP 📁

Secure filesystem operations for AI agents - Token-optimized with batch processing

npm version Docker Pulls License

Batch operations • Project root safety • Token optimized • Zod validation

Quick Start • Installation • Tools

Filesystem MCP Server

🚀 Overview

Empower your AI agents (like Claude/Cline) with secure, efficient, and token-saving access to your project files. This Node.js server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to provide a robust set of filesystem tools.

The Problem:

Traditional AI filesystem access:
- Shell commands for each operation ❌
- No batch processing (high token cost) ❌
- Unsafe (no project root boundaries) ❌
- High latency (shell spawn overhead) ❌

The Solution:

Filesystem MCP Server:
- Batch operations (10+ files at once) ✅
- Token optimized (reduce round trips) ✅
- Secure (confined to project root) ✅
- Direct API (no shell overhead) ✅

Result: Safe, fast, and token-efficient filesystem operations for AI agents.

⚡ Performance Advantages

Token & Latency Optimization

Metric Individual Shell Commands Filesystem MCP Improvement
Operations/Request 1 file 10+ files 10x reduction
Round Trips N operations 1 request N× fewer
Latency Shell spawn per op Direct API 5-10× faster
Token Usage High overhead Batched context 50-70% less
Error Reporting stderr parsing Per-item status Detailed

Real-World Benefits

  • Batch file reads - Read 10 files in one request vs 10 requests
  • Multi-file edits - Edit multiple files with single tool call
  • Recursive operations - List entire directory trees efficiently
  • Detailed status - Per-item success/failure reporting

🎯 Why Choose This Server?

Security & Safety

  • 🛡️ Project Root Confinement - All operations restricted to cwd at launch
  • 🔒 Permission Control - Built-in chmod/chown tools
  • ✅ Validation - Zod schemas validate all arguments
  • 🚫 Path Traversal Prevention - Cannot escape project directory

Efficiency & Performance

  • ⚡ Batch Processing - Process multiple files/directories per request
  • 🎯 Token Optimized - Reduce AI-server communication overhead
  • 🚀 Direct API - No shell process spawning
  • 📊 Detailed Results - Per-item status for batch operations

Developer Experience

  • 🔧 Easy Setup - npx/bunx for instant use
  • 🐳 Docker Ready - Official Docker image available
  • 📦 Comprehensive Tools - 11+ filesystem operations
  • 🔄 MCP Standard - Full protocol compliance

📦 Installation

Method 1: npx/bunx (Recommended)

The simplest way - always uses latest version from npm.

Using npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@sylphlab/filesystem-mcp"],
      "name": "Filesystem (npx)"
    }
  }
}

Using bunx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem-mcp": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@sylphlab/filesystem-mcp"],
      "name": "Filesystem (bunx)"
    }
  }
}

Important: The server uses its own Current Working Directory (cwd) as the project root. Ensure your MCP host (e.g., Cline/VSCode) launches the command with cwd set to your project's root directory.

Method 2: Docker

Use the official Docker image for containerized environments.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem-mcp": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-v",
        "/path/to/your/project:/app",
        "sylphlab/filesystem-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "name": "Filesystem (Docker)"
    }
  }
}

Remember to replace /path/to/your/project with your actual project path.

Method 3: Local Build (Development)

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/SylphxAI/filesystem-mcp.git
cd filesystem-mcp

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build
pnpm run build

# Watch mode (auto-rebuild)
pnpm run dev

MCP Host Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/filesystem-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "name": "Filesystem (Local Build)"
    }
  }
}

🚀 Quick Start

Once configured in your MCP host (see Installation), your AI agent can immediately use the filesystem tools.

Example Agent Interaction

<use_mcp_tool>
  <server_name>filesystem-mcp</server_name>
  <tool_name>read_content</tool_name>
  <arguments>{"paths": ["src/index.ts", "package.json"]}</arguments>
</use_mcp_tool>

Server Response:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "path": "src/index.ts",
      "content": "...",
      "success": true
    },
    {
      "path": "package.json",
      "content": "...",
      "success": true
    }
  ]
}

📋 Features

File Operations

Tool Description Batch Support
read_content Read file contents ✅ Multiple files
write_content Write/append to files ✅ Multiple files
edit_file Surgical edits with diff output ✅ Multiple files
search_files Regex search with context ✅ Multiple files
replace_content Multi-file search & replace ✅ Multiple files

Directory Operations

Tool Description Batch Support
list_files List files/directories recursively Single path
stat_items Get detailed file/directory status ✅ Multiple items
create_directories Create directories with parents ✅ Multiple paths

Management Operations

Tool Description Batch Support
delete_items Remove files/directories ✅ Multiple items
move_items Move/rename files/directories ✅ Multiple items
copy_items Copy files/directories ✅ Multiple items

Permission Operations

Tool Description Batch Support
chmod_items Change POSIX permissions ✅ Multiple items
chown_items Change ownership ✅ Multiple items

Key Benefit: Tools supporting batch operations process each item individually and return detailed per-item status reports.

💡 Design Philosophy

Core Principles

  1. Security First

    • All operations confined to project root
    • Path traversal prevention
    • Permission controls built-in

  2. Efficiency Focused

    • Batch processing reduces token usage
    • Direct API calls (no shell overhead)
    • Minimal communication round trips

  3. Robustness

    • Per-item success/failure reporting
    • Detailed error messages
    • Zod schema validation

  4. Simplicity

    • Clear, consistent API
    • MCP standard compliance
    • Easy integration

📊 Comparison with Alternatives

Feature Filesystem MCP Shell Commands Other Scripts
Security ✅ Root confined ❌ Full shell access ⚠️ Variable
Token Efficiency ✅ Batching ❌ One op/command ⚠️ Variable
Latency ✅ Direct API ❌ Shell spawn ⚠️ Variable
Batch Operations ✅ Most tools ❌ No ⚠️ Maybe
Error Reporting ✅ Per-item detail ❌ stderr parsing ⚠️ Variable
Setup ✅ Easy (npx/Docker) ⚠️ Secure shell setup ⚠️ Custom
MCP Standard ✅ Full compliance ❌ No ⚠️ Variable

🛠️ Tech Stack

Component Technology
Language TypeScript (strict mode)
Runtime Node.js / Bun
Protocol Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Validation Zod schemas
Package Manager pnpm
Distribution npm + Docker Hub

🎯 Use Cases

AI Agent Development

Enable AI agents to:

  • Read project files - Access code, configs, docs
  • Edit multiple files - Refactor across codebase
  • Search codebases - Find patterns and definitions
  • Manage project structure - Create, move, organize files

Code Assistants

Build powerful coding tools:

  • Cline/Claude integration - Direct filesystem access
  • Batch refactoring - Edit multiple files at once
  • Safe operations - Confined to project directory
  • Efficient operations - Reduce token costs

Automation & Scripting

Automate development tasks:

  • File generation - Create boilerplate files
  • Project setup - Initialize directory structures
  • Batch processing - Handle multiple files efficiently
  • Content transformation - Search and replace across files

🗺️ Roadmap

✅ Completed

  • Core filesystem operations (read, write, edit, etc.)
  • Batch processing for most tools
  • Project root security
  • Docker image
  • npm package
  • Zod validation

🚀 Planned

  • File watching capabilities
  • Streaming support for large files
  • Advanced filtering for list_files
  • Performance benchmarks
  • Compression/decompression tools
  • Symlink management

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these guidelines:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch - git checkout -b feature/my-feature
  3. Write tests - Ensure good coverage
  4. Follow TypeScript strict mode - Type safety first
  5. Add documentation - Update README if needed
  6. Submit a pull request

Development Setup

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/SylphxAI/filesystem-mcp.git
cd filesystem-mcp
pnpm install

# Build
pnpm run build

# Watch mode (auto-rebuild)
pnpm run dev

🤝 Support

npm GitHub Issues

Show Your Support: ⭐ Star • 👀 Watch • 🐛 Report bugs • 💡 Suggest features • 🔀 Contribute

📄 License

MIT © Sylphx

🙏 Credits

Built with:

Special thanks to the MCP community ❤️

📚 Publishing

This repository uses GitHub Actions to automatically publish to:

Triggered on version tags (v*.*.*) pushed to main branch.

Required secrets: NPM_TOKEN, DOCKERHUB_USERNAME, DOCKERHUB_TOKEN

Secure. Efficient. Token-optimized.
The filesystem MCP server that saves tokens and keeps your projects safe

sylphx.com • @SylphxAI • hi@sylphx.com

About

📁 Secure, efficient MCP filesystem server - token-saving batch operations with project root confinement

https://www.npmjs.com/package/@shtse8/filesystem-mcp

ai-agentclaude-aiclinefilesystemmcpmodel-context-protocolnodejsnpmroo-codetypescriptai-toolsbatch-operationssecurity

License:MIT License

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