File ManagementOfficial

Filesystem

Read, write, search, and manage local files and directories with granular permission controls.

Overview

The Filesystem server lets an AI assistant read, create, edit, move, and search files on your own computer, but only inside folders you explicitly list when you start it. "MCP" (Model Context Protocol) is simply the open standard that lets assistants like Claude talk to tools like this one. With it connected, you can ask things like "rename every photo in my Vacation folder by date" or "summarise all the meeting notes in my Projects folder", and the assistant does the file work itself instead of telling you how.

The safety model is path-based: every allowed folder is an argument in the command, and anything outside those folders is invisible to the assistant. Writing and editing are possible inside the allowed paths, so most clients (such as Claude Desktop) also ask you to approve each tool action before it runs.

Instructions

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /Users/username/Desktop /path/to/other/allowed/dir

Pick the folders you want to exposeDecide which directories the assistant may touch, for example a single Documents/Projects folder. Every path you pass on the command line becomes readable and writable, so start narrow. You can always add more folders later by editing the command.
Add it to your client configIn Claude Desktop, open Settings, then Developer, then Edit Config, and add an entry under mcpServers with command "npx" and args ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/your/folder"]. In Claude Code, run: claude mcp add filesystem -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /your/folder.
Restart and check the tools appearRestart Claude Desktop (or start a new Claude Code session). You should see filesystem tools such as read_file, write_file, list_directory, and search_files listed among the available tools. No API key or account is needed. It runs entirely on your machine.
Run a harmless first testAsk: "List the files in my allowed folder." Then try a read, like "Open notes.txt and summarise it." Approve the tool prompts when they appear. If the assistant says a path is not allowed, the folder was not included in the command arguments.

Starter recipes

Real tasks you can ask an agent once this server is connected.

Tidy a messy downloads folder

Ask the assistant to list everything in the folder, group files by type, create subfolders like PDFs and Images, and move each file into the right one, then report what it changed.

Try

Summarise a folder of notes

Point it at a folder of meeting notes or journal entries and ask for a single summary file, written as summary.md, with one bullet per document and open action items pulled out.

Try

Find and update text across files

Ask it to search every file in a project folder for an old phone number or product name, show you where it appears, and replace it in each file after you confirm.

Try

Install

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /Users/username/Desktop /path/to/other/allowed/dir

Runs on your computer. Your AI client starts it with npx when it needs it.

From the project README · checked 2 Oct 2026

Owner

modelcontextprotocol

github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers

Downloads

19.3M

npm · all time since Nov 2024 · as of 2 Oct 2026

Checked 2 Oct 2026

License

MIT

Official server

Access

It can read and write only the folders you pass as arguments. Everything else on disk is off-limits by design. There is no network access or account involved; the remaining risk is that writes inside allowed folders can overwrite files, so keep the scope narrow.

Filesystem

Starter recipes

Tidy a messy downloads folder

Summarise a folder of notes

Find and update text across files

One AI recipe you can use.Every Monday.

One AI recipe you can use.
Every Monday.