MCP Server: SSH Rails Runner

An MCP server that enables secure remote execution of Rails console commands via SSH. This server provides tools for both read-only operations and carefully managed mutations in a deployed Rails environment.

This works great with Cursor. You can use Cursor Composer to pull in your Rails model files as context and then use the execute_read_only, dry_run_mutate, and execute_mutate tools to make changes to the database. No need to trudge through complicated Admin UI's to get your data wrangling and analysis done.

Example

Features

Remote Rails console execution over SSH
Safe read-only operations
Dry-run capability for mutations
Execution of approved mutations
Resource management for code snippets

Installation

npm install
npm run build

Configuration

Set the following environment variables:

SSH_HOST=your.remote.host
SSH_USER=your_ssh_user
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH=your_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH
RAILS_WORKING_DIR=/path/to/rails/app

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"ssh-rails-runner": {
			"command": "npx",
			"args": ["mcp-server-ssh-rails-runner"],
			"env": {
				"SSH_HOST": "your.remote.host",
				"SSH_USER": "your_ssh_user",
				"SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "your_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH",
				"RAILS_WORKING_DIR": "/path/to/rails/app/root"
			}
		}
	}
}

Available Tools

run_read_only

Executes read-only Rails console operations. The tool will analyze the request, formulate safe read-only commands, and return the results.

dry_run_mutate

Plans and validates potential mutations. Creates a code snippet resource with the proposed changes without executing them.

execute_mutate

Executes previously approved mutation code snippets. Requires explicit user approval of a code snippet resource before execution.

Security Considerations

Only use with trusted SSH endpoints from your own local machine that is (temporarily) provided access to the remote environment
Review all mutations before execution

License

MIT