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IntelliDiff MCP Server

by batteryshark

IntelliDiff MCP Server

An intelligent file and folder comparison MCP server with advanced text normalization and duplicate detection capabilities.

Features

  • File Comparison: CRC32-based exact comparison and smart text comparison with normalization
  • Folder Comparison: Recursive directory comparison with orphan detection
  • Duplicate Detection: Find identical files within directories
  • Text Normalization: Handle case, whitespace, tabs, line endings, and Unicode differences
  • Line-Level Analysis: Detailed diff output with line ranges and targeted file reading
  • Clean Output: Markdown-formatted text responses instead of JSON bloat
  • Security: Workspace root validation prevents path traversal attacks
  • Performance: Streaming for large files, configurable limits, symlink loop prevention

Installation

# Clone or download the project cd intellidiff-mcp # Install with uv uv init --python 3.12 uv add "fastmcp>=2.11" # Run the server uv run python intellidiff_server.py /path/to/workspace/root

Project Structure

The server is built with a clean modular architecture:

  • intellidiff_server.py (52 lines) - Main server entry point and tool registration
  • workspace_security.py - Path validation and workspace boundary enforcement
  • file_operations.py - Core file utilities (CRC32, text detection, normalization)
  • tools.py - Individual MCP tool implementations
  • folder_operations.py - Folder comparison and duplicate detection logic

MCP Configuration

Local/stdio Configuration

{ "mcpServers": { "intellidiff": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uv", "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/intellidiff-mcp", "python", "intellidiff_server.py", "/workspace/root"] } } }

Local/stdio Configuration with Environment Variables

{ "mcpServers": { "intellidiff": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uv", "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/intellidiff-mcp", "python", "intellidiff_server.py", "/workspace/root"], "env": { "INTELLIDIFF_MAX_TEXT_SIZE": "5242880", "INTELLIDIFF_MAX_BINARY_SIZE": "1073741824", "INTELLIDIFF_MAX_DEPTH": "15", "INTELLIDIFF_CHUNK_SIZE": "32768" } } } }

Remote/HTTP Configuration

{ "mcpServers": { "intellidiff": { "type": "http", "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp/" } } }

Place this configuration in:

  • VS Code: .vscode/mcp.json (project) or user settings
  • Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json
  • Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json (project) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (user)
  • LM Studio: ~/.lmstudio/mcp.json

Environment Variables

VariableDefaultDescription
INTELLIDIFF_MAX_TEXT_SIZE10485760 (10MB)Maximum size for text file comparison
INTELLIDIFF_MAX_BINARY_SIZE1073741824 (1GB)Maximum size for binary file CRC32
INTELLIDIFF_MAX_DEPTH10Maximum directory recursion depth
INTELLIDIFF_CHUNK_SIZE65536 (64KB)File reading chunk size

Tools

validate_workspace_path

Validate that a path is within the workspace root.

Parameters:

  • path (string): Path to validate

get_file_hash

Get CRC32 hash and basic information about a file.

Parameters:

  • file_path (string): Path to the file

compare_files

Compare two files with various modes and options.

Parameters:

  • left_path (string): Path to first file
  • right_path (string): Path to second file
  • mode (string): Comparison mode - "exact", "smart_text", or "binary"
  • ignore_blank_lines (boolean): Skip empty lines during comparison
  • ignore_newline_differences (boolean): Normalize line endings
  • ignore_whitespace (boolean): Ignore leading/trailing whitespace
  • ignore_case (boolean): Case-insensitive comparison
  • normalize_tabs (boolean): Convert tabs to spaces
  • unicode_normalize (boolean): Apply Unicode NFKC normalization

compare_folders

Compare two folder structures recursively.

Parameters:

  • left_path (string): Path to first folder
  • right_path (string): Path to second folder
  • max_depth (integer): Maximum recursion depth (default: from env var)
  • include_binary (boolean): Include binary files in comparison
  • comparison_mode (string): "exact" or "smart_text"

find_identical_files

Find files with identical content within a folder.

Parameters:

  • folder_path (string): Path to folder to scan
  • max_depth (integer): Maximum recursion depth (default: from env var)

read_file_lines

Read specific line ranges from a text file with optional context.

Parameters:

  • file_path (string): Path to the text file
  • start_line (integer): Starting line number (1-based, default: 1)
  • end_line (integer): Ending line number (1-based, default: end of file)
  • context_lines (integer): Additional context lines before/after range (default: 0)

Usage Examples

Compare Two Files

# Exact comparison - clean markdown output result = await client.call_tool("compare_files", { "left_path": "file1.txt", "right_path": "file2.txt", "mode": "exact" }) print(result.content[0].text) # Output: ✅ **Exact Comparison** # 📁 Left: file1.txt (CRC32: abc123) # 📁 Right: file2.txt (CRC32: abc123) # 🔍 Result: Identical # Smart text comparison with normalization result = await client.call_tool("compare_files", { "left_path": "file1.txt", "right_path": "file2.txt", "mode": "smart_text", "ignore_case": True, "ignore_whitespace": True, "normalize_tabs": True }) print(result.content[0].text) # Output: ✅ **Smart Text Comparison - Identical** # 📁 Left: file1.txt (1.2KB) # 📁 Right: file2.txt (1.3KB) # 🔍 Result: Identical (normalized: case, whitespace, tabs)

Compare Folders

result = await client.call_tool("compare_folders", { "left_path": "folder_a", "right_path": "folder_b", "max_depth": 5 }) # Folder comparison returns structured data for programmatic access summary = result.data["summary"] orphans = result.data["orphans"] identical_files = result.data["identical_files"]

Find Duplicates

result = await client.call_tool("find_identical_files", { "folder_path": "my_folder", "max_depth": 10 }) # Duplicate detection returns structured data for analysis duplicates = result.data["duplicates"] wasted_bytes = result.data["summary"]["total_wasted_bytes"]

Read Specific Lines

# Read lines 10-20 with 2 lines of context result = await client.call_tool("read_file_lines", { "file_path": "my_file.txt", "start_line": 10, "end_line": 20, "context_lines": 2 }) # Clean line-numbered output with >>> markers for requested range print(result.content[0].text) # Output: 8| function setup() { # 9| console.log("Starting..."); # >>> 10| const data = loadData(); # >>> 11| if (!data) { # >>> 12| throw new Error("No data"); # >>> 13| } # 14| }

Working with Diff Results

# Compare files and get detailed diff information result = await client.call_tool("compare_files", { "left_path": "file1.txt", "right_path": "file2.txt", "mode": "smart_text" }) # Access structured diff data if not result.structured_content["identical"]: change_summary = result.structured_content["change_summary"] # Get affected line ranges left_ranges = change_summary["line_ranges"]["left_affected"] right_ranges = change_summary["line_ranges"]["right_affected"] # Read specific sections that changed for range_info in left_ranges: lines_result = await client.call_tool("read_file_lines", { "file_path": "file1.txt", "start_line": range_info["start"], "end_line": range_info["end"], "context_lines": 3 }) print(f"Changed section: {lines_result.content[0].text}")

Security

  • All file paths are validated against the workspace root
  • Path traversal attacks are prevented through path resolution
  • Symlink loops are detected and avoided
  • File size limits prevent memory exhaustion
  • Read-only operations only

Performance

  • Streaming I/O for large files
  • Early exit on size mismatches
  • CRC32 caching for repeated operations
  • Configurable chunk sizes and limits
  • Progress reporting for large operations

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

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security - not tested
F
license - not found
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quality - not tested

hybrid server

The server is able to function both locally and remotely, depending on the configuration or use case.

Enables intelligent file and folder comparison with advanced text normalization, duplicate detection, and line-level diff analysis. Provides secure workspace-constrained file operations with CRC32-based exact matching and smart text comparison capabilities.

  1. Features
    1. Installation
      1. Project Structure
        1. MCP Configuration
          1. Local/stdio Configuration
          2. Local/stdio Configuration with Environment Variables
          3. Remote/HTTP Configuration
        2. Environment Variables
          1. Tools
            1. validate_workspace_path
            2. get_file_hash
            3. compare_files
            4. compare_folders
            5. find_identical_files
            6. read_file_lines
          2. Usage Examples
            1. Compare Two Files
            2. Compare Folders
            3. Find Duplicates
            4. Read Specific Lines
            5. Working with Diff Results
          3. Security
            1. Performance
              1. License

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