Overview

The Filesystem MCP Server provides secure, configurable access to your local file system. It implements fine-grained access controls, allowing you to specify exactly which directories Claude can read, write, or modify.

Features

Read files — Single files or entire directories recursively
Write files — Create, update, or append file content
Move / rename — Relocate files and directories safely
Delete — Remove files with confirmation
Search — Find files by name pattern or content regex
Directory listings — Tree view with metadata

Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/Documents"]
    }
  }
}

You can specify multiple allowed directories:

"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/home/user/docs", "/home/user/projects"]

Available Tools

Tool	Description
`read_file`	Read content of a single file
`read_multiple_files`	Read several files at once
`write_file`	Create or overwrite a file
`edit_file`	Make targeted edits with diff preview
`create_directory`	Create a new directory
`list_directory`	List files and subdirectories
`directory_tree`	Get recursive tree structure
`move_file`	Move or rename a file
`search_files`	Search by filename pattern
`get_file_info`	Get metadata (size, modified, permissions)

Security

The server enforces strict path validation — all operations are sandboxed to the directories you explicitly allowlist. Symlinks are resolved and validated. No access is granted outside the specified paths.