GitHub - wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP: This is MCP server for Claude that gives it terminal control, file system search and diff file editing capabilities (original) (raw)

Desktop Commander MCP

Search, update, manage files and run terminal commands with AI

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Work with code and text, run processes, and automate tasks, going far beyond other AI editors - without API token costs.

Desktop Commander MCP

Desktop Commander MCP

Table of Contents

All of your AI development tools in one place. Desktop Commander puts all dev tools in one chat. Execute long-running terminal commands on your computer and manage processes through Model Context Protocol (MCP). Built on top of MCP Filesystem Server to provide additional search and replace file editing capabilities.

Features

Installation

First, ensure you've downloaded and installed the Claude Desktop app and you have npm installed.

📋 Update & Uninstall Information: Before choosing an installation option, note that only Options 1 and 3 have automatic updates. Options 2, 4, and 5 require manual updates. See the sections below for update and uninstall instructions for each option.

Option 1: Install through npx ⭐ Auto-Updates

Just run this in terminal:

npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest setup

For debugging mode (allows Node.js inspector connection):

npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest setup --debug

Restart Claude if running.

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - automatically updates when you restart Claude
🔄 Manual Update: Run the setup command again
🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest setup --uninstall

Option 2: Using bash script installer (macOS) ⭐ Auto-Updates

For macOS users, you can use our automated bash installer which will check your Node.js version, install it if needed, and automatically configure Desktop Commander:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install.sh | bash

This script handles all dependencies and configuration automatically for a seamless setup experience.

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - requires manual updates
🔄 Manual Update: Re-run the bash installer command above
🗑️ Uninstall: Remove the MCP server entry from your Claude config file and delete the cloned repository if it exists

Option 3: Installing via Smithery ⭐ Auto-Updates

To install Desktop Commander for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander --client claude

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - automatically updates when you restart Claude
🔄 Manual Update: Re-run the Smithery install command
🗑️ Uninstall: npx -y @smithery/cli uninstall @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander --client claude

Option 4: Add to claude_desktop_config manually ❌ Manual Updates

Add this entry to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{ "mcpServers": { "desktop-commander": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander" ] } } }

Restart Claude if running.

❌ Auto-Updates: No - uses npx but config might not update automatically
🔄 Manual Update: Usually automatic via npx, but if issues occur, update your config file or re-add the entry
🗑️ Uninstall: Remove the "desktop-commander" entry from your claude_desktop_config.json file

Option 5: Checkout locally ❌ Manual Updates

  1. Clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP.git cd DesktopCommanderMCP npm run setup

Restart Claude if running.

The setup command will:

❌ Auto-Updates: No - requires manual git updates
🔄 Manual Update: cd DesktopCommanderMCP && git pull && npm run setup
🗑️ Uninstall: Remove the cloned directory and remove MCP server entry from Claude config

Updating & Uninstalling Desktop Commander

Automatic Updates (Options 1 & 3 only)

Options 1 (npx) and 3 (Smithery) automatically update to the latest version whenever you restart Claude. No manual intervention needed.

Manual Updates (Options 2, 4 & 5)

Uninstalling Desktop Commander

After uninstalling, restart Claude Desktop to complete the removal.

Usage

The server provides a comprehensive set of tools organized into several categories:

Available Tools

Category Tool Description
Configuration get_config Get the complete server configuration as JSON (includes blockedCommands, defaultShell, allowedDirectories, fileReadLineLimit, fileWriteLineLimit, telemetryEnabled)
set_config_value Set a specific configuration value by key. Available settings: • blockedCommands: Array of shell commands that cannot be executed• defaultShell: Shell to use for commands (e.g., bash, zsh, powershell)• allowedDirectories: Array of filesystem paths the server can access for file operations (⚠️ terminal commands can still access files outside these directories)• fileReadLineLimit: Maximum lines to read at once (default: 1000)• fileWriteLineLimit: Maximum lines to write at once (default: 50)• telemetryEnabled: Enable/disable telemetry (boolean)
Terminal execute_command Execute a terminal command with configurable timeout and shell selection
read_output Read new output from a running terminal session
force_terminate Force terminate a running terminal session
list_sessions List all active terminal sessions
list_processes List all running processes with detailed information
kill_process Terminate a running process by PID
Filesystem read_file Read contents from local filesystem or URLs with line-based pagination (supports positive/negative offset and length parameters)
read_multiple_files Read multiple files simultaneously
write_file Write file contents with options for rewrite or append mode (uses configurable line limits)
create_directory Create a new directory or ensure it exists
list_directory Get detailed listing of files and directories
move_file Move or rename files and directories
search_files Find files by name using case-insensitive substring matching
search_code Search for text/code patterns within file contents using ripgrep
get_file_info Retrieve detailed metadata about a file or directory
Text Editing edit_block Apply targeted text replacements with enhanced prompting for smaller edits (includes character-level diff feedback)

Tool Usage Examples

Search/Replace Block Format:

filepath.ext
<<<<<<< SEARCH
content to find
=======
new content
>>>>>>> REPLACE

Example:

src/main.js
<<<<<<< SEARCH
console.log("old message");
=======
console.log("new message");
>>>>>>> REPLACE

Enhanced Edit Block Features

The edit_block tool includes several enhancements for better reliability:

  1. Improved Prompting: Tool descriptions now emphasize making multiple small, focused edits rather than one large change
  2. Fuzzy Search Fallback: When exact matches fail, it performs fuzzy search and provides detailed feedback
  3. Character-level Diffs: Shows exactly what's different using {-removed-}{+added+} format
  4. Multiple Occurrence Support: Can replace multiple instances with expected_replacements parameter
  5. Comprehensive Logging: All fuzzy searches are logged for analysis and debugging

When a search fails, you'll see detailed information about the closest match found, including similarity percentage, execution time, and character differences. All these details are automatically logged for later analysis using the fuzzy search log tools.

URL Support

Fuzzy Search Log Analysis (npm scripts)

The fuzzy search logging system includes convenient npm scripts for analyzing logs outside of the MCP environment:

View recent fuzzy search logs

npm run logs:view -- --count 20

Analyze patterns and performance

npm run logs:analyze -- --threshold 0.8

Export logs to CSV or JSON

npm run logs:export -- --format json --output analysis.json

Clear all logs (with confirmation)

npm run logs:clear

For detailed documentation on these scripts, see scripts/README.md.

Fuzzy Search Logs

Desktop Commander includes comprehensive logging for fuzzy search operations in the edit_block tool. When an exact match isn't found, the system performs a fuzzy search and logs detailed information for analysis.

What Gets Logged

Every fuzzy search operation logs:

Log Location

Logs are automatically saved to:

What You'll Learn

The fuzzy search logs help you understand:

  1. Why exact matches fail: Common issues like whitespace differences, line endings, or character encoding
  2. Performance patterns: How search complexity affects execution time
  3. File type issues: Which file extensions commonly have matching problems
  4. Character encoding problems: Specific character codes that cause diffs

Audit Logging

Desktop Commander now includes comprehensive logging for all tool calls:

What Gets Logged

Log Location

Logs are saved to:

This audit trail helps with debugging, security monitoring, and understanding how Claude is interacting with your system.

Handling Long-Running Commands

For commands that may take a while:

Configuration Management

⚠️ Important Security Warnings

  1. Always change configuration in a separate chat window from where you're doing your actual work. Claude may sometimes attempt to modify configuration settings (like allowedDirectories) if it encounters filesystem access restrictions.
  2. The allowedDirectories setting currently only restricts filesystem operations, not terminal commands. Terminal commands can still access files outside allowed directories. Full terminal sandboxing is on the roadmap.

Configuration Tools

You can manage server configuration using the provided tools:

// Get the entire config get_config({})

// Set a specific config value set_config_value({ "key": "defaultShell", "value": "/bin/zsh" })

// Set multiple config values using separate calls set_config_value({ "key": "defaultShell", "value": "/bin/bash" }) set_config_value({ "key": "allowedDirectories", "value": ["/Users/username/projects"] })

The configuration is saved to config.json in the server's working directory and persists between server restarts.

Understanding fileWriteLineLimit

The fileWriteLineLimit setting controls how many lines can be written in a single write_file operation (default: 50 lines). This limit exists for several important reasons:

Why the limit exists:

Setting the limit:

// You can set it to thousands if you want set_config_value({ "key": "fileWriteLineLimit", "value": 1000 })

// Or keep it smaller to force more efficient behavior set_config_value({ "key": "fileWriteLineLimit", "value": 25 })

Maximum value: You can set it to thousands if you want - there's no technical restriction.

Best practices:

Best Practices

  1. Create a dedicated chat for configuration changes: Make all your config changes in one chat, then start a new chat for your actual work.
  2. Be careful with empty allowedDirectories: Setting this to an empty array ([]) grants access to your entire filesystem for file operations.
  3. Use specific paths: Instead of using broad paths like /, specify exact directories you want to access.
  4. Always verify configuration after changes: Use get_config({}) to confirm your changes were applied correctly.

Using Different Shells

You can specify which shell to use for command execution:

// Using default shell (bash or system default) execute_command({ "command": "echo $SHELL" })

// Using zsh specifically execute_command({ "command": "echo $SHELL", "shell": "/bin/zsh" })

// Using bash specifically execute_command({ "command": "echo $SHELL", "shell": "/bin/bash" })

This allows you to use shell-specific features or maintain consistent environments across commands.

  1. execute_command returns after timeout with initial output
  2. Command continues in background
  3. Use read_output with PID to get new output
  4. Use force_terminate to stop if needed

Debugging

If you need to debug the server, you can install it in debug mode:

Using npx

npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest setup --debug

Or if installed locally

npm run setup:debug

This will:

  1. Configure Claude to use a separate "desktop-commander" server
  2. Enable Node.js inspector protocol with --inspect-brk=9229 flag
  3. Pause execution at the start until a debugger connects
  4. Enable additional debugging environment variables

To connect a debugger:

Important debugging notes:

Troubleshooting:

Model Context Protocol Integration

This project extends the MCP Filesystem Server to enable:

Created as part of exploring Claude MCPs: https://youtube.com/live/TlbjFDbl5Us

DONE

Work in Progress/TODOs/Roadmap

The following features are currently being explored:

❤️ Support Desktop Commander

📢 SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

Desktop Commander MCP is free and open source, but needs your support to thrive!

Our philosophy is simple: we don't want you to pay for it if you're not successful. But if Desktop Commander contributes to your success, please consider contributing to ours.

Ways to support:

Supporters Hall of Fame

Generous supporters are featured here. Thank you for helping make this project possible!

Why your support matters

Your support allows us to:

Website

Visit our official website at https://desktopcommander.app/ for the latest information, documentation, and updates.

Media

Learn more about this project through these resources:

Article

Claude with MCPs replaced Cursor & Windsurf. How did that happen? - A detailed exploration of how Claude with Model Context Protocol capabilities is changing developer workflows.

Video

Claude Desktop Commander Video Tutorial - Watch how to set up and use the Commander effectively.

Publication at AnalyticsIndiaMag

analyticsindiamag.pngThis Developer Ditched Windsurf, Cursor Using Claude with MCPs

Community

Join our Discord server to get help, share feedback, and connect with other users.

Testimonials

It's a life saver! I paid Claude + Cursor currently which I always feel it's kind of duplicated. This solves the problem ultimately. I am so happy. Thanks so much. Plus today Claude has added the web search support. With this MCP + Internet search, it writes the code with the latest updates. It's so good when Cursor doesn't work sometimes or all the fast requests are used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly3bed99Dy8&lc=UgyyBt6_ShdDX_rIOad4AaABAg

This is the first comment I've ever left on a youtube video, THANK YOU! I've been struggling to update an old Flutter app in Cursor from an old pre null-safety version to a current version and implemented null-safety using Claude 3.7. I got most of the way but had critical BLE errors that I spent days trying to resolve with no luck. I tried Augment Code but it didn't get it either. I implemented your MCP in Claude desktop and was able to compare the old and new codebase fully, accounting for the updates in the code, and fix the issues in a couple of hours. A word of advice to people trying this, be sure to stage changes and commit when appropriate to be able to undo unwanted changes. Amazing!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly3bed99Dy8&lc=UgztdHvDMqTb9jiqnf54AaABAg

Great! I just used Windsurf, bought license a week ago, for upgrading old fullstack socket project and it works many times good or ok but also many times runs away in cascade and have to revert all changes losing hundereds of cascade tokens. In just a week down to less than 100 tokens and do not want to buy only 300 tokens for 10$. This Claude MCP ,bought claude Pro finally needed but wanted very good reason to also have next to ChatGPT, and now can code as much as I want not worrying about token cost. Also this is much more than code editing it is much more thank you for great video!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly3bed99Dy8&lc=UgyQFTmYLJ4VBwIlmql4AaABAg

it is a great tool, thank you, I like using it, as it gives claude an ability to do surgical edits, making it more like a human developer.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly3bed99Dy8&lc=Ugy4-exy166_Ma7TH-h4AaABAg

You sir are my hero. You've pretty much summed up and described my experiences of late, much better than I could have. Cursor and Windsurf both had me frustrated to the point where I was almost yelling at my computer screen. Out of whimsy, I thought to myself why not just ask Claude directly, and haven't looked back since. Claude first to keep my sanity in check, then if necessary, engage with other IDEs, frameworks, etc. I thought I was the only one, glad to see I'm not lol. 33 1https://medium.com/@pharmx/you-sir-are-my-hero-62cff5836a3e

If you find this project useful, please consider giving it a ⭐ star on GitHub! This helps others discover the project and encourages further development.

We welcome contributions from the community! Whether you've found a bug, have a feature request, or want to contribute code, here's how you can help:

All contributions, big or small, are greatly appreciated!

If you find this tool valuable for your workflow, please consider supporting the project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some common questions. For a more comprehensive FAQ, see our detailed FAQ document.

What is Desktop Commander?

It's an MCP tool that enables Claude Desktop to access your file system and terminal, turning Claude into a versatile assistant for coding, automation, codebase exploration, and more.

How is this different from Cursor/Windsurf?

Unlike IDE-focused tools, Claude Desktop Commander provides a solution-centric approach that works with your entire OS, not just within a coding environment. Claude reads files in full rather than chunking them, can work across multiple projects simultaneously, and executes changes in one go rather than requiring constant review.

Do I need to pay for API credits?

No. This tool works with Claude Desktop's standard Pro subscription ($20/month), not with API calls, so you won't incur additional costs beyond the subscription fee.

Does Desktop Commander automatically update?

Yes, when installed through npx or Smithery, Desktop Commander automatically updates to the latest version when you restart Claude. No manual update process is needed.

What are the most common use cases?

I'm having trouble installing or using the tool. Where can I get help?

Join our Discord server for community support, check the GitHub issues for known problems, or review the full FAQ for troubleshooting tips. You can also visit our website FAQ section for a more user-friendly experience. If you encounter a new issue, please consider opening a GitHub issue with details about your problem.

Data Collection & Privacy

Desktop Commander collects limited anonymous telemetry data to help improve the tool. No personal information, file contents, file paths, or command arguments are collected.

Telemetry is enabled by default. To opt out:

  1. Open the chat and simply ask:"Disable telemetry"
  2. The chatbot will update your settings automatically.

For complete details about data collection, please see our Privacy Policy.

License

MIT