Enables AI assistants to execute terminal commands and perform file system operations on Linux environments with configurable security constraints and directory whitelisting.
Enables AI assistants to execute terminal commands and perform file system operations on macOS environments with configurable security constraints and directory whitelisting.
Click on "Install Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@cmd-line-mcplist the files in the current directory"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
cmd-line-mcp
A secure Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants to execute terminal commands with controlled directory access and command permissions.
Written in JavaScript (ESM) — works with npx out of the box, no Python runtime required.
Quick Start
Run with npx (no install)
npx cmd-line-mcp
npx cmd-line-mcp --config /path/to/config.json
npx cmd-line-mcp --config config.json --env .envGlobal install
npm install -g cmd-line-mcp
cmd-line-mcpLocal install
npm install cmd-line-mcp
npx cmd-line-mcpClaude Desktop Integration
Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"cmd-line": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "cmd-line-mcp"],
"env": {
"CMD_LINE_MCP_SECURITY_REQUIRE_SESSION_ID": "false",
"CMD_LINE_MCP_SECURITY_AUTO_APPROVE_DIRECTORIES_IN_DESKTOP_MODE": "true"
}
}
}
}Or with a custom config file:
{
"mcpServers": {
"cmd-line": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "cmd-line-mcp", "--config", "/path/to/config.json"]
}
}
}Restart Claude for Desktop after saving.
Configuration
Configuration is resolved in this order (later overrides earlier):
Built-in
default_config.jsonFile pointed to by
CMD_LINE_MCP_CONFIGenvironment variable--config <path>CLI argument.envfile (searched from cwd upward)CMD_LINE_MCP_*environment variables
Example config.json
{
"security": {
"whitelisted_directories": ["/home", "/tmp", "~/Projects"],
"auto_approve_directories_in_desktop_mode": false,
"require_session_id": false,
"allow_command_separators": true
},
"commands": {
"read": ["ls", "cat", "grep"],
"write": ["touch", "mkdir", "rm"],
"system": ["ps", "ping"]
}
}Environment Variable Format
CMD_LINE_MCP_<SECTION>_<SETTING>Examples:
export CMD_LINE_MCP_SECURITY_WHITELISTED_DIRECTORIES="/projects,/var/data"
export CMD_LINE_MCP_SECURITY_AUTO_APPROVE_DIRECTORIES_IN_DESKTOP_MODE=true
export CMD_LINE_MCP_COMMANDS_READ="awk,jq,wc"Available MCP Tools
Tool | Description |
| Execute any allowed command (read/write/system) |
| Execute read-only commands only |
| Grant access to a directory for a session |
| Grant permission for a command category |
| List whitelisted and approved directories |
| Show commands grouped by category |
| Get usage guidance and examples |
| View current server configuration |
Supported Commands (default)
Read (no approval needed)
ls, pwd, cat, less, head, tail, grep, find, which, du, df, file, uname, hostname, uptime, date, whoami, id, env, history, sort, wc, ...
Write (approval required)
cp, mv, rm, mkdir, rmdir, touch, chmod, chown, ln, echo, tar, gzip, zip, unzip, awk, sed, ...
System (approval required)
ps, top, htop, who, netstat, ifconfig, ping, ssh, curl, wget, xargs, ...
Blocked (always denied)
sudo, su, bash, sh, zsh, eval, exec, dd, mkfs, shutdown, reboot, ...
Security Architecture
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ COMMAND-LINE MCP SERVER │
├──────────────────┬────────────────────────┬───────────────────┤
│ COMMAND SECURITY │ DIRECTORY SECURITY │ SESSION SECURITY │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ ✓ Read commands │ ✓ Directory whitelist │ ✓ Session IDs │
│ ✓ Write commands │ ✓ Runtime approvals │ ✓ Persistent │
│ ✓ System commands│ ✓ Path validation │ permissions │
│ ✓ Blocked list │ ✓ Home dir expansion │ ✓ Auto timeouts │
│ ✓ Pattern filters│ ✓ Subdirectory check │ ✓ Desktop mode │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────┴───────────────────┘Requirements
Node.js >= 18
macOS or Linux
License
MIT
Original Python source
The original Python implementation is preserved in the temp/ directory for reference.
This server cannot be installed
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