Set up Filesystem MCP in Claude Code
Read, write, search, and manage files on your local filesystem with secure directory-scoped access for your AI editor.
1
Locate the config file
Claude Code reads MCP server configuration from the following file:
~/.claude.jsonCreate this file if it does not already exist.
2
Add the configuration
You can configure Filesystem MCP using the CLI command or by editing the config file directly.
Option A: CLI command
bash
claude mcp add filesystem-mcp -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /path/to/allowed/directoryOption B: Config file
json
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
"/path/to/allowed/directory"
]
}
}
}3
Set up environment variables
No environment variables needed. Filesystem MCP works out of the box without any API keys or tokens.
4
Verify it works
Restart Claude Code. Filesystem MCP should appear in your MCP server list with 11 tools available.
This server adds approximately 5,665 tokens to your context window for tool definitions.