Modal MCP Server

An MCP server implementation for interacting with Modal volumes and deploying Modal applications from within Cursor.

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/smehmood/modal-mcp-server.git
cd modal-mcp-server

2. Install dependencies using uv:

uv sync

Related MCP server: MCP Shell Server

Configuration

To use this MCP server in Cursor, add the following configuration to your ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "modal-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--project", "/path/to/modal-mcp-server",
        "run", "/path/to/modal-mcp-server/src/modal_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/modal-mcp-server with the absolute path to your cloned repository.

Requirements

• Python 3.11 or higher

• uv package manager

• Modal CLI configured with valid credentials

• For Modal deploy support:

  • Project being deployed must use uv for dependency management

  • Modal must be installed in the project's virtual environment

Supported Tools

Modal Volume Operations

1. List Modal Volumes (list_modal_volumes)

   • Lists all Modal volumes in your environment

   • Returns JSON-formatted volume information

   • Parameters: None

2. List Volume Contents (list_modal_volume_contents)

   • Lists files and directories in a Modal volume

   • Parameters:

     • volume_name: Name of the Modal volume

     • path: Path within volume (default: "/")

3. Copy Files (copy_modal_volume_files)

   • Copies files within a Modal volume

   • Parameters:

     • volume_name: Name of the Modal volume

     • paths: List of paths where last path is destination

   • Example: ["source.txt", "dest.txt"] or ["file1.txt", "file2.txt", "dest_dir/"]

4. Remove Files (remove_modal_volume_file)

   • Deletes a file or directory from a Modal volume

   • Parameters:

     • volume_name: Name of the Modal volume

     • remote_path: Path to file/directory to delete

     • recursive: Boolean flag for recursive deletion (default: false)

5. Upload Files (put_modal_volume_file)

   • Uploads a file or directory to a Modal volume

   • Parameters:

     • volume_name: Name of the Modal volume

     • local_path: Path to local file/directory to upload

     • remote_path: Path in volume to upload to (default: "/")

     • force: Boolean flag to overwrite existing files (default: false)

6. Download Files (get_modal_volume_file)

   • Downloads files from a Modal volume

   • Parameters:

     • volume_name: Name of the Modal volume

     • remote_path: Path to file/directory in volume to download

     • local_destination: Local path to save downloaded files (default: current directory)

     • force: Boolean flag to overwrite existing files (default: false)

   • Note: Use "-" as local_destination to write file contents to stdout

Modal Deployment

1. Deploy Modal App (deploy_modal_app)

   • Deploys a Modal application

   • Parameters:

     • absolute_path_to_app: Absolute path to the Modal application file

   • Note: The project containing the Modal app must:

     • Use uv for dependency management

     • Have the modal CLI installed in its virtual environment

Response Format

All tools return responses in a standardized format, with slight variations depending on the operation type:

# JSON operations (list volumes, list contents):
{
    "success": True,
    "data": {...}  # JSON data from Modal CLI
}

# File operations (put, get, copy, remove):
{
    "success": True,
    "message": "Operation successful message",
    "command": "executed command string",
    "stdout": "command output",  # if any
    "stderr": "error output"     # if any
}

# Error case (all operations):
{
    "success": False,
    "error": "Error message describing what went wrong",
    "command": "executed command string",  # for file operations
    "stdout": "command output",  # if available
    "stderr": "error output"     # if available
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.