Filesystem MCP

Out of the box, the Claude desktop app can't see your files. This official reference server fixes that. You list the folders Claude is allowed into, and inside them it can read, write, edit, move and search files, from tidying a messy Downloads folder to rewriting a batch of documents.

Paste the JSON into Claude Desktop's settings (Settings > Developer > Edit Config), swap in your own folder paths and restart the app. Anything outside those folders stays off limits.

You don't need it in Claude Code, which already reads and edits files on its own. This one is for Claude Desktop users. It needs Node.js installed.

• Read documents, text files and images on your computer
• Write new files and edit existing ones, showing the change first
• Create, move and rename files and folders
• Search a folder for files by name or pattern
• Stay inside only the folders you allowed

Open your terminal in the project folder and run:

claude mcp add filesystem -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Documents ~/Desktop

Or add this to your project's .mcp.json:

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

Claude Desktop users who want Claude to work with the files on their computer.

• Organising folders
• Editing documents in bulk
• Summarising local files
• Claude Desktop setups