File Manager MCP Server

title: "File Manager MCP Server" description: "Intelligent file system operations via MCP. Browse directories, read files, search content, and manage project structures through natural language with AI assistants." order: 4 featured: true category: "Productivity" tags: ["files", "filesystem", "search", "mcp-framework"] keywords: ["MCP file manager", "file system MCP server", "AI file management", "mcp-framework files"] date: "2025-02-28" author: "Community"

Overview

The File Manager MCP Server gives AI assistants safe, controlled access to your local file system through the Model Context Protocol. Built with mcp-framework, it supports directory browsing, file reading, content searching, and project structure analysis.

Perfect for code exploration, documentation lookup, and project management workflows.

Key Features

• Directory Browsing — List files and folders with metadata (size, modified date, type)
• File Reading — Read text files with syntax detection and line numbers
• Content Search — Regex and full-text search across directory trees
• Project Analysis — Understand project structure, detect frameworks, count LOC
• Sandboxed Access — Configurable root directories and ignore patterns

MCP Tools Exposed

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | list_directory | Browse directory contents with metadata | | read_file | Read file contents with optional line ranges | | search_files | Search file names matching a pattern | | search_content | Search inside files with regex support | | get_file_info | Get file size, type, encoding, and last modified | | analyze_project | Detect project type, dependencies, and structure |

Quick Start

npm install -g mcp-framework
mcp create file-manager
cd file-manager

Example Conversations

"Show me the directory structure of my project."

"Find all TypeScript files that import from the utils folder."

"What's in the README of this project?"

"How many lines of code are in the src directory?"

Security Model

The server enforces strict boundaries:

• Root directory restriction — Only access files under configured paths
• Ignore patterns — Automatically skip node_modules, .git, .env, etc.
• Read-only by default — No write operations unless explicitly enabled
• Size limits — Configurable max file size to prevent reading binary blobs

Use Cases

1. Code Exploration — Navigate unfamiliar codebases with AI guidance
2. Documentation — Ask the AI to find and summarize docs
3. Refactoring — Find all files that reference a specific function or variable
4. Onboarding — Help new team members understand project structure

See also: Developer Tools | Database Explorer | Submit Your Server