Filesystem MCP Server

The Filesystem MCP Server is the most widely-used Model Context Protocol server. It gives Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP hosts secure, sandboxed access to your local file system — letting AI assistants read files, write code, and manage directories without leaving your machine.

Installation & Configuration

Add this block to your claude_desktop_config.json (or your agent framework's MCP config file):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path/to/allowed/dir"]
    }
  }
}

Config file location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Available Tools (7)

• read_file
• write_file
• create_directory
• list_directory
• move_file
• search_files
• get_file_info

Use Cases

• Code editing — let Claude read and write your project files
• Documentation — let agents browse and update markdown docs
• Data processing — let agents read CSVs and write outputs

Source & Documentation