ellmos FileCommander MCP Server

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version

Part of the ellmos-ai family.

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI assistants full filesystem access, process management, interactive shell sessions, and async file search capabilities.

44 tools in a single server - everything an AI agent needs to interact with the local system.

Discovery keywords: local filesystem MCP server, safe delete MCP, Recycle Bin MCP server, process management MCP, interactive shell MCP, async file search for AI agents, cloud-lock-safe file operations, Markdown to PDF MCP, OCR MCP server, ZIP archive MCP.

Registry status: published on npm, indexed by jsDelivr, visible on LobeHub, listed on Glama, and prepared for the official MCP Registry via server.json. Some third-party directories still show older 43-tool metadata, so the canonical README/npm metadata should remain the source of truth until their reindex catches up.

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Why FileCommander?

Most filesystem MCP servers only cover basic read/write operations. FileCommander goes further:

• Safe Delete - Moves files to Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (macOS/Linux) instead of permanent deletion
• Interactive Sessions - Start and interact with REPLs (Python, Node.js, shells) through the MCP protocol
• Async Search - Search large directory trees in the background while the AI continues working
• Process Management - List, start, and terminate system processes
• String Replace - Edit files by matching unique strings with context validation
• Format Conversion - Convert between JSON, CSV, INI, YAML, TOML, XML, and TOON
• ZIP Archives - Create, extract, and list ZIP archives
• File Checksums - SHA-256, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-512 hashing with compare
• OCR - Extract text from images (optional tesseract.js dependency)
• Safety Mode - Toggle to route all deletes through Recycle Bin / Trash
• Markdown Export - Convert Markdown to professional HTML/PDF with code blocks, tables, nested lists, blockquotes
• Cloud-Lock Safe - Automatic copy+delete fallback when cloud sync filters (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud) block rename operations
• Cloud Lock Diagnosis - Check whether a path is at risk of sync-filter conflicts before operating
• Cross-platform - Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux with platform-specific optimizations

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Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher
• npm

Option 1: Install from NPM

npm install -g ellmos-filecommander-mcp

Option 2: Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/ellmos-ai/ellmos-filecommander-mcp.git
cd ellmos-filecommander-mcp
npm install
npm run build

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Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

If installed globally via NPM:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filecommander": {
      "command": "ellmos-filecommander"
    }
  }
}

If installed from source:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filecommander": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/filecommander-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Other MCP Clients

The server communicates via stdio transport. Point your MCP client to the dist/index.js entry point or the ellmos-filecommander binary.

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Tools Overview

Filesystem Operations (14 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_read_file	Read file contents with optional line limit
fc_read_multiple_files	Read up to 20 files in a single call
fc_write_file	Write/create/append to files
fc_edit_file	Line-based editing (replace, insert, delete lines)
fc_str_replace	Replace a unique string in a file with context validation
fc_list_directory	List directory contents (recursive, configurable depth)
fc_create_directory	Create directories (including parents)
fc_delete_file	Delete a file (permanent)
fc_delete_directory	Delete a directory (with optional recursive flag)
fc_safe_delete	Move to Recycle Bin / Trash (recoverable!)
fc_move	Move or rename files and directories (cloud-lock safe)
fc_copy	Copy files and directories
fc_file_info	Get detailed file metadata (size, dates, type)
fc_search_files	Synchronous file search with wildcard patterns

Async Search (5 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_start_search	Start a background search (returns immediately)
fc_get_search_results	Retrieve results with pagination
fc_stop_search	Cancel a running search
fc_list_searches	List all active/completed searches
fc_clear_search	Remove completed searches from memory

Process Management (4 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_execute_command	Execute a shell command (blocking, with timeout)
fc_start_process	Start a background process (non-blocking)
fc_list_processes	List running system processes
fc_kill_process	Terminate a process by PID or name

Interactive Sessions (5 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_start_session	Start an interactive process (Python, Node, shell...)
fc_read_output	Read session output
fc_send_input	Send input to a running session
fc_list_sessions	List all sessions
fc_close_session	Terminate a session

File Maintenance & Repair (9 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_fix_json	Repair broken JSON (BOM, trailing commas, comments, single quotes)
fc_validate_json	Validate JSON with detailed error position and context
fc_cleanup_file	Remove BOM, NUL bytes, trailing whitespace, normalize line endings
fc_fix_encoding	Fix Mojibake / double-encoded UTF-8 (27+ character patterns)
fc_folder_diff	Track directory changes with snapshots (new/modified/deleted)
fc_batch_rename	Pattern-based batch renaming (prefix/suffix, replace, auto-detect)
fc_convert_format	Convert between JSON, CSV, INI, YAML, TOML, XML, and TOON formats
fc_detect_duplicates	Find duplicate files using SHA-256 hashing
fc_checksum	File hashing (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512) with optional compare

Archive (1 tool)

Tool	Description
fc_archive	Create, extract, and list ZIP archives

OCR (1 tool)

Tool	Description
fc_ocr	Extract text from images via tesseract.js (optional dependency)

Cloud Sync (1 tool)

Tool	Description
fc_check_cloud_lock	Diagnose whether a path may be blocked by cloud sync filters (Windows)

System (2 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_get_time	Get current system time with timezone info
fc_set_safe_mode	Toggle safe mode: all deletes go through Recycle Bin / Trash

Export (2 tools)

Tool	Description
fc_md_to_html	Markdown to standalone HTML with CSS styling (headers, code blocks, tables, nested lists, blockquotes, images, checkboxes)
fc_md_to_pdf	Markdown to PDF via headless browser (Edge/Chrome). Falls back to HTML if no browser is available

Total: 44 tools

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Comparison with Alternatives

Feature	FileCommander	Desktop Commander	Official Filesystem
File read/write/copy/move	14 tools	Yes	Yes
Safe delete (Recycle Bin)	Yes	No	No
Async background search	5 tools	No	No
Interactive sessions (REPL)	5 tools	Yes	No
Process management	4 tools	Yes	No
Shell command execution	Yes	Yes	No
String replace with validation	Yes	Yes	No
Line-based file editing	Yes	No	No
JSON repair & validation	2 tools	No	No
Encoding fix (Mojibake)	Yes	No	No
Duplicate detection (SHA-256)	Yes	No	No
Folder diff / change tracking	Yes	No	No
Batch rename (pattern-based)	Yes	No	No
Format conversion (JSON/CSV/INI/YAML/TOML/XML/TOON)	Yes	No	No
ZIP archive (create/extract/list)	Yes	No	No
File checksums (SHA-256/MD5)	Yes	No	No
OCR (image to text)	Optional	No	No
Safety mode (delete → Recycle Bin)	Yes	No	No
Path allowlist / sandboxing	No	No	Yes
Excel / PDF support	PDF (via browser)	Yes	No
HTTP transport	No	No	No
Markdown to HTML/PDF export	Yes	No	No
Total tools	44	~15	~11
Servers needed	1	1	+ extra for processes

Key differentiators:

• Only MCP server with recoverable delete (Recycle Bin / Trash)
• Only MCP server with async background search with pagination
• Built-in JSON repair, encoding fix, and duplicate detection
• Only MCP server with cloud-lock-safe file operations (automatic copy+delete fallback)
• Most comprehensive single-server solution (44 tools)
• Built-in safety mode to prevent accidental permanent deletion

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Tool Prefix

All tools use the fc_ prefix (FileCommander) to avoid conflicts with other MCP servers.

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Discoverability

FileCommander is designed to be discoverable by both people and AI agents:

• package.json exposes the official mcpName (io.github.ellmos-ai/ellmos-filecommander-mcp) and MCP-specific npm keywords.
• server.json follows the official MCP Registry schema and points to the npm package.
• glama.json provides MCP-directory metadata for Glama-compatible indexes.
• llms.txt gives compact context for LLMs, agent catalogs, and documentation crawlers.

Primary search terms: ellmos-filecommander-mcp, FileCommander MCP, filesystem MCP server, safe delete MCP, async file search MCP, process management MCP, Markdown PDF MCP.

External discovery notes: npm and jsDelivr already show the current 44-tool package metadata. LobeHub indexes the GitHub repo as an MCP server. Some secondary MCP directories still cache older 43-tool descriptions; use the package description and this README as the canonical 44-tool reference.

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Security

This server has full filesystem access with the running user's permissions.

See SECURITY.md for detailed security information and recommendations.

Key points:

• fc_execute_command runs arbitrary shell commands
• fc_delete_* tools perform permanent deletion by default (use fc_safe_delete or enable safe mode via fc_set_safe_mode to route all deletes through Recycle Bin / Trash)
• No built-in sandboxing - security is delegated to the MCP client layer
• Designed for local use via stdio transport only

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Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Watch mode (auto-rebuild on changes)
npm run dev

# One-time build
npm run build

# Start the server
npm start

# Run test suite
npm test

Testing

The project includes a comprehensive test suite with 143 tests covering filesystem operations, format conversion, encoding repair, archive handling, duplicate detection, and more.

npm test              # Run all tests
npx vitest run        # Same as above
npx vitest --watch    # Watch mode

Tests are verified on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Pushes and pull requests run CI on Node.js 20, 22, and 24 with npm ci, TypeScript build, Vitest, and an npm package dry-run.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines.

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Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full version history.

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License

MIT - Lukas Geiger (ellmos-ai)

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History

This project was originally developed as BACH FileCommander (bach-filecommander-mcp). It has been renamed to ellmos FileCommander (ellmos-filecommander-mcp) as part of the ellmos-ai organization.

The legacy package name bach-filecommander-mcp is deprecated. Please use ellmos-filecommander-mcp instead:

npm uninstall -g bach-filecommander-mcp
npm install -g ellmos-filecommander-mcp

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ellmos-ai Ecosystem

This MCP server is part of the ellmos-ai ecosystem — AI infrastructure, MCP servers, and intelligent tools.

MCP Server Family

Server	Tools	Focus	npm
FileCommander	44	Filesystem, process management, interactive sessions, cloud-lock safe	ellmos-filecommander-mcp
CodeCommander	17	Code analysis, AST parsing, import management	ellmos-codecommander-mcp
Clatcher	12	File repair, format conversion, batch operations	ellmos-clatcher-mcp
n8n Manager	18	n8n workflow management via AI assistants	n8n-manager-mcp
ControlCenter	10	MCP stack discovery, profile management, control plane	ellmos-controlcenter-mcp
Homebase	44	LLM memory, knowledge, state, routing, and orchestration	ellmos-homebase-mcp (alpha)
ServerCommander	8	Server operations: deploy dry-runs, mail, log analysis, health checks	ellmos-servercommander-mcp (alpha)

AI Infrastructure

Project	Description
BACH	Text-based OS for LLMs — 109+ handlers, 373+ tools, 932+ skills
clutch	Provider-neutral LLM orchestration with auto-routing and budget tracking
rinnsal	Lightweight agent memory, connectors, and automation infrastructure
ellmos-stack	Self-hosted AI research stack (Ollama + n8n + Rinnsal + KnowledgeDigest)
MarbleRun	Autonomous agent chain framework for Claude Code
gardener	Minimalist database-driven LLM OS prototype (4 functions, 1 table)
ellmos-tests	Testing framework for LLM operating systems (7 dimensions)

Desktop Software

Our partner organization open-bricks bundles AI-native desktop applications — a modern, open-source software suite built for the age of AI. Categories include file management, document tools, developer utilities, and more.

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Haftung / Liability

Dieses Projekt ist eine unentgeltliche Open-Source-Schenkung im Sinne der §§ 516 ff. BGB. Die Haftung des Urhebers ist gemäß § 521 BGB auf Vorsatz und grobe Fahrlässigkeit beschränkt. Ergänzend gilt der Haftungsausschluss der MIT-Lizenz.

Nutzung auf eigenes Risiko. Keine Wartungszusage, keine Verfügbarkeitsgarantie, keine Gewähr für Fehlerfreiheit oder Eignung für einen bestimmten Zweck.

This project is an unpaid open-source donation. Liability is limited to intent and gross negligence (§ 521 German Civil Code). The MIT license disclaimer also applies. Use at your own risk. No warranty, no maintenance guarantee, no fitness-for-purpose assumed.