File Time Search MCP Server

An MCP server that provides file searching capabilities based on modification or creation time.

Features

• Search files by modified or created time.

• Filter by time range (from, to).

• Glob pattern matching.

• Pagination support.

• Secure root path restriction (ALLOW_ROOTS).

Related MCP server: MCP File Server

Installation

npm install

Usage with npx

You can run this server directly using npx:

export ALLOW_ROOTS=/path/to/search
npx file-search-mcp

Usage

Environment Variables

• ALLOW_ROOTS: Comma-separated list of allowed root directories (Required).

• DEFAULT_ROOT: Default root directory if not specified in request (Optional).

Running via Stdio

export ALLOW_ROOTS=/path/to/search
npm run start:stdio

Development

# Run in dev mode (stdio)
export ALLOW_ROOTS=$(pwd)
npm run dev:stdio

# Run tests
npm test

Documentation

See docs/README.md for detailed documentation.

AI Agent Configuration (Claude Desktop)

To use this tool with Claude Desktop, you need to configure the claude_desktop_config.json file.

1. Build the Project

First, ensure the project is built:

npm run build

2. Edit Configuration

Open or create the configuration file:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following configuration (replace paths with your actual paths):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "file-search": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "D:/1.playground_ai/file_search_mcp/dist/stdio.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALLOW_ROOTS": "D:/1.playground_ai/file_search_mcp",
        "DEFAULT_ROOT": "D:/1.playground_ai/file_search_mcp"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: ALLOW_ROOTS is required. It defines the directories the AI is allowed to search. You can specify multiple paths separated by commas (or semicolons on Windows).

3. Usage Examples

Once configured and Claude Desktop is restarted, you can ask questions like:

• "Find all markdown files modified in the last 24 hours."

• "Search for files created between 2024-01-01 and 2024-02-01 in the src folder."

• "List the top 10 most recently modified files."

VS Code Copilot Configuration

To use this tool with GitHub Copilot in VS Code, add the following to your VS Code settings.json:

1. Build the Project

Ensure the project is built:

npm run build

2. Edit VS Code Settings

Open your VS Code settings.json and add the github.copilot.mcpServers configuration:

{
  "github.copilot.mcpServers": {
    "file-search": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "D:/1.playground_ai/file_search_mcp/dist/stdio.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALLOW_ROOTS": "D:/1.playground_ai/file_search_mcp",
        "DEFAULT_ROOT": "D:/1.playground_ai/file_search_mcp"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace the paths with your actual absolute paths. ALLOW_ROOTS is required.

Tip: In VS Code, you can use ${workspaceFolder} to dynamically set the current workspace path:

"env": {
  "ALLOW_ROOTS": "${workspaceFolder}",
  "DEFAULT_ROOT": "${workspaceFolder}"
}