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SSH MCP Server

by termau
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TypeScript
Local

SSH MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for executing commands and managing files on remote servers via SSH.

Optionally auto-discovers BinaryLane VPS servers so they're available immediately.

Features

  • Execute shell commands on remote servers

  • Read files and list directories remotely

  • Upload and download files via SFTP

  • Persistent connections saved to config file across restarts

  • BinaryLane auto-discovery of active servers

  • Per-connection SSH key configuration

  • Multiple connection sources with clear priority

Installation

npm install npm run build

Configuration

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your Claude configuration:

{ "mcpServers": { "ssh": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/ssh-mcp/dist/index.js"], "env": { "BINARYLANE_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

The BINARYLANE_API_TOKEN is optional — only needed for auto-discovery of BinaryLane servers.

Config File

On first run, a config file is created at ~/.config/ssh-mcp/connections.json:

{ "defaultPrivateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519", "binarylane": { "enabled": true, "apiToken": "your-token-here", "defaultUsername": "root", "defaultPrivateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519" }, "connections": [ { "name": "my-server", "host": "10.0.0.5", "port": 22, "username": "deploy", "privateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/deploy_key" } ] }

The BinaryLane API token can be set here or as an environment variable.

Environment Variable (Legacy)

Still supported for backward compatibility:

export SSH_CONNECTIONS='[ {"name": "web1", "host": "192.168.1.10", "port": 22, "username": "root", "privateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_rsa"} ]'

Connection Options

Option

Required

Default

Description

name

Yes

-

Unique identifier for the connection

host

Yes

-

Server hostname or IP address

port

No

22

SSH port

username

Yes

-

SSH username

privateKeyPath

No

-

Path to SSH private key (supports ~ expansion)

password

No

-

SSH password (if not using key auth)

If neither privateKeyPath nor password is provided, the server will try default SSH key locations (~/.ssh/id_ed25519, ~/.ssh/id_rsa).

Connection Priority

When multiple sources define the same connection name:

  1. Config file (highest) — manual connections from ~/.config/ssh-mcp/connections.json

  2. Environment variable — SSH_CONNECTIONS

  3. BinaryLane auto-discovery (lowest) — active servers from the API

Available Tools

Connection Management

  • list_connections — List all available SSH connections with source info

  • test_connection — Test connectivity with latency reporting

  • add_connection — Add a connection (persisted to config file)

  • remove_connection — Remove a manual connection from config

  • refresh_connections — Re-discover BinaryLane servers and reload all connections

  • get_config — Show current configuration (tokens redacted)

Command Execution

  • run_command — Execute a shell command with configurable timeout

File Operations

  • read_remote_file — Read file contents via SFTP

  • list_remote_directory — List directory contents with metadata

  • upload_file — Upload a local file to remote server

  • download_file — Download a remote file to local machine

Example Usage

# List all connections (shows source: config, env, or binarylane) list_connections # Test connection test_connection connection="web1" # Run a command run_command connection="web1" command="uptime" # Add a new persistent connection add_connection name="staging" host="10.0.0.5" username="deploy" privateKeyPath="~/.ssh/deploy_key" # Refresh after creating new BinaryLane servers refresh_connections

Security Notes

  • SSH keys are read from your local filesystem and never transmitted or stored by the MCP

  • Passwords in config are only held in memory during operation

  • The config file should be protected with appropriate filesystem permissions

  • Commands are executed with the privileges of the SSH user

  • Consider using dedicated SSH keys with limited permissions for automation

Development

npm run dev # Watch mode npm run build # Compile TypeScript npm start # Run compiled server

Project Structure

ssh-mcp/ ├── src/ │ ├── index.ts # Server entry point │ ├── ssh-client.ts # SSH connection manager │ ├── config.ts # Persistent config file management │ ├── binarylane.ts # BinaryLane auto-discovery │ ├── tools.ts # MCP tool definitions │ └── handlers.ts # Tool handler implementations ├── dist/ # Compiled JavaScript ├── package.json └── tsconfig.json

License

MIT

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