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Filesystem MCP Server
Read and write files in a sandboxed local directory.
readwritelistsearch
The filesystem MCP server gives your AI client sandboxed access to a directory on your machine — list, read, write, search. Unlike the GitHub server (which reaches over the network to a remote repo), filesystem is local: the AI sees and edits the same files you do, with the boundary set by the directory you configure. Pair it with a code-aware client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) for assistance with files outside the IDE.
Install in your client
Copy and paste — no manual config. Replace placeholder values.
run in any terminal
claude mcp add filesystem npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystemCommon use cases
- Let Claude read project documentation, journal entries, or notes outside of a code editor
- Build prompts that reference long-form text files without copy-pasting
- Give Cursor access to design specs, schemas, or research that lives in `~/Documents`
Note
The configured directory is the trust boundary. Anything inside is readable and writable; anything outside is invisible. Pick the smallest scope that works.