What can you do with this server?

This server exposes Linux filesystem operations as MCP tools for LLM agents, confined to a configured root directory. * Read-only tools (default): list directory contents (list_dir), read files as text or base64 binary (read_file), fetch metadata (stat), check existence (exists), and search files by glob pattern (glob_search). * Mutating tools (only if FS_READONLY=false): write/append text to files (write_file), create directories (mkdir), delete files/directories (delete), move/rename (move), and copy files/directories (copy). * Safety boundaries: all paths are resolved against FS_ROOT; attempts to escape via .. or symlinks are rejected. Unset/empty FS_READONLY defaults to read-only (fail-closed). * Use cases: let an LLM agent inspect a sandboxed directory, read project files, search code, and—when explicitly enabled—modify files within that sandbox.

Which integrations are available for this server?

Provides tools for interacting with the Linux filesystem, including listing directories, reading and writing files, checking metadata and existence, glob searching, and performing file operations such as copy, move, and delete when enabled.

How do I use mcp-server-filesystem?

1. Click on "Deploy Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@mcp-server-filesystem list files in /home/user/documents" 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.

mcp-server-filesystem

MCP server exposing Linux filesystem operations as tools for LLM agents, built with FastMCP. Designed as a lightweight, low-dependency test server for the mcprack MCP proxy/catalog tool.

Configuration

No credentials are needed. All configuration is via environment variables, read once at startup:

Variable	Required	Description
`FS_ROOT`	no	Directory all paths are confined to (default: current working directory at startup)
`FS_READONLY`	no	`true` (default) blocks mutating tools; set to `false` to allow writes/deletes/moves. Empty/unset values are treated as read-only (fail-closed).

All paths given to tools are resolved against FS_ROOT and rejected if they would escape it (via .. or a symlink). This is an application-level boundary, not a hardened sandbox (no chroot/mount namespace).

Related MCP server: maic-server-fs-mcp

Tools

Read-only: list_dir, read_file, stat, exists, glob_search.

Mutating (require FS_READONLY=false): write_file, mkdir, delete, move, copy.

Usage

Recommended — Debian package from VitexSoftware repository

sudo curl -fsSL http://repo.vitexsoftware.com/KEY.gpg -o /usr/share/keyrings/vitexsoftware-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/vitexsoftware-archive-keyring.gpg] http://repo.vitexsoftware.com trixie main backports" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vitexsoftware.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mcp-server-filesystem

The backports component is required, not optional: python3-mcp (a python3-fastmcp dependency) needs python3-jsonschema >= 4.20.0, which is newer than the version Debian trixie ships in main — it's only available in backports. Without it, apt install fails with an unmet-dependency error on python3-jsonschema.

This installs python3-fastmcp and mcp-server-filesystem in a single step.

Alternative — pip

pip install -e .
export FS_ROOT=/path/to/sandbox
mcp-server-filesystem

mcprack integration

Register this server in mcprack with:

Command: mcp-server-filesystem
Env: FS_ROOT=/path/to/sandbox, FS_READONLY=false (if writes are needed)

mcprack spawns it as a stdio subprocess and proxies it over HTTP per user.

Development

pytest
python tests/live_capability_scenario.py              # temp sandbox, FS_READONLY=true
python tests/live_capability_scenario.py --allow-writes  # also exercise mutations

The live scenario creates a temporary FS_ROOT, exercises every read tool, verifies path-escape rejection, and confirms mutating tools refuse under read-only mode. No credentials required.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Available Tools

10 tools

copyCopyB

Copy a file, or a directory if recursive=True. Requires FS_READONLY=false.

Inputs: dst (required), src (required), recursive. Returns: object

deleteDeleteA

Delete a file, or a directory if recursive=True. Requires FS_READONLY=false.

Inputs: path (required), recursive. Returns: object

existsExistsB

Check whether a path exists.

Inputs: path (required). Returns: result

glob_searchGlob SearchA

Search for files matching a glob pattern (e.g. **/*.py) under path.

Inputs: pattern (required), path. Returns: result

list_dirList DirA

List the contents of a directory (name, is_dir, size, mtime).

Inputs: path. Returns: result

mkdirMkdirB

Create a directory. Requires FS_READONLY=false.

Inputs: path (required), parents, exist_ok. Returns: object

moveMoveB

Move/rename a file or directory. Requires FS_READONLY=false.

Inputs: dst (required), src (required). Returns: object

read_fileRead FileA

Read a file's contents.

Text files are decoded with encoding (errors replaced). Set binary=True to get the raw bytes base64-encoded instead. Reads are capped at max_bytes to avoid dumping huge files into context.

Inputs: path (required), binary, encoding, max_bytes. Returns: result

statStatC

Fetch filesystem metadata for a path.

Inputs: path (required). Returns: object

write_fileWrite FileB

Write text content to a file. Requires FS_READONLY=false.

Inputs: path (required), content (required), append, encoding. Returns: object

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Loading tool schema changelog…

Deploy Server

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TDQS

A3.6/5.0

Scored 2026-08-31 06:30 across 10 tools

Disambiguation5/5

Each tool maps to a distinct filesystem operation: read, write, list, search, move, copy, delete, create directory, stat, and exists. There is no meaningful overlap that would cause an agent to select the wrong tool.

Naming Consistency3/5

Tool names are lowercase and readable, but the convention is mixed: some use verb_noun (write_file, list_dir, glob_search) while others are bare verbs or familiar commands (move, copy, delete, stat, exists, mkdir). This is not chaotic, but it is not a consistently applied pattern.

Tool Count5/5

Ten tools is well within the ideal range for a filesystem server and each tool covers a core operation without redundancy. The set is neither too thin nor overloaded.

Completeness5/5

The domain is fully covered: reading, writing, listing, searching, moving, copying, deleting, creating directories, checking existence, and fetching metadata. There are no obvious dead ends or missing core filesystem operations.

Maintenance

ActivityActive

ResponsivenessOutdated data

Resources

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