Name: DesktopCommanderMCP
Author: wonderwhy-er

Desktop Commander MCP

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

Work with code and text, run processes, and automate tasks, going far beyond other AI editors - while using host client subscriptions instead of API token costs.

🖥️ Try the Desktop Commander App (Beta)

Want a better experience? The Desktop Commander App gives you everything the MCP server does, plus:

Use any AI model — Claude, GPT-4.5, Gemini 2.5, or any model you prefer
See file changes live — visual file previews as AI edits your files
Add custom MCPs and context — extend with your own tools, no config files
Coming soon — skills system, dictation, background scheduled tasks, and more

👉 Download the App (macOS & Windows)

The MCP server below still works great with Claude Desktop and other MCP clients — the app is for those who want a dedicated, polished experience.

Features
How to install
Getting Started
Usage
File Preview UI & Markdown Editor
Handling Long-Running Commands
Work in Progress and TODOs
Sponsors and Supporters
Website
Media
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
Contributing
License

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

Remote AI Control - Use Desktop Commander from ChatGPT, Claude web, and other AI services via Remote MCP
File Preview UI - Visual file previews in Claude Desktop with rendered markdown, inline images, expandable content, built-in markdown editor, and quick "Open in folder" access
Enhanced terminal commands with interactive process control
Execute code in memory (Python, Node.js, R) without saving files
Instant data analysis - just ask to analyze CSV/JSON/Excel files
Native Excel file support - Read, write, edit, and search Excel files (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm) without external tools
PDF support - Read PDFs with text extraction, create new PDFs from markdown, modify existing PDFs
DOCX support - Read, create, edit, and search Word documents (.docx) with surgical XML editing and markdown-to-DOCX conversion
Interact with running processes (SSH, databases, development servers)
Execute terminal commands with output streaming
Command timeout and background execution support
Process management (list and kill processes)
Session management for long-running commands
Process output pagination - Read terminal output with offset/length controls to prevent context overflow
Server configuration management:
- Get/set configuration values
- Update multiple settings at once
- Dynamic configuration changes without server restart
Full filesystem operations:
- Read/write files (text, Excel, PDF, DOCX)
- Create/list directories
- Recursive directory listing with configurable depth and context overflow protection for large folders
- Move files/directories
- Search files and content (including Excel content)
- Get file metadata
- Negative offset file reading: Read from end of files using negative offset values (like Unix tail)
Code editing capabilities:
- Surgical text replacements for small changes
- Full file rewrites for major changes
- Multiple file support
- Pattern-based replacements
- vscode-ripgrep based recursive code or text search in folders
Comprehensive audit logging:
- All tool calls are automatically logged
- Log rotation with 10MB size limit
- Detailed timestamps and arguments
Security hardening:
- Symlink traversal prevention on file operations
- Command blocklist with bypass protection
- Docker isolation for full sandboxing
- See SECURITY.md for details

How to install

Install in Claude Desktop

Desktop Commander offers multiple installation methods for Claude Desktop.

📋 Update & Uninstall Information: Options 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 have automatic updates. Option 5 requires manual updates. See below for details.

<details> <summary>Option 1: Install through npx ⭐ Auto-Updates (Requires Node.js)</summary>

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

Command line options during setup:

--debug: Enable debugging mode for Node.js inspector
--no-onboarding: Disable onboarding prompts for new users

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 remove

</details> <details> <summary>Option 2: Using bash script installer (macOS) ⭐ Auto-Updates (Installs Node.js if needed)</summary>

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

This script handles all dependencies and configuration automatically.

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes
🔄 Manual Update: Re-run the bash installer command above
🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest remove

</details> <details> <summary>Option 3: Installing via Smithery ⭐ Auto-Updates (Requires Node.js)</summary>

Visit: https://smithery.ai/server/@wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander
Login to Smithery if you haven't already
Select your client (Claude Desktop) on the right side
Install with the provided key that appears after selecting your client
Restart Claude Desktop

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - automatically updates when you restart Claude
🔄 Manual Update: Visit the Smithery page and reinstall

</details> <details> <summary>Option 4: Add to claude_desktop_config manually ⭐ Auto-Updates (Requires Node.js)</summary>

Add this entry to your claude_desktop_config.json:

On Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
On Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

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

Restart Claude if running.

</details> <details> <summary>Option 5: Checkout locally ❌ Manual Updates (Requires Node.js)</summary>

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

Restart Claude if running.

The setup command will install dependencies, build the server, and configure Claude's desktop app.

❌ Auto-Updates: No - requires manual git updates
🔄 Manual Update: cd DesktopCommanderMCP && git pull && npm run setup
🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest remove or remove the cloned directory and MCP server entry from Claude config

</details> <details> <summary>Option 6: Docker Installation 🐳 ⭐ Auto-Updates (No Node.js Required)</summary>

Perfect for users who want isolation or don't have Node.js installed. Runs in a sandboxed Docker container with a persistent work environment.

Prerequisites: Docker Desktop installed and running, Claude Desktop app installed.

macOS/Linux:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.sh)

Windows PowerShell:

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'))

The installer will check Docker, pull the image, prompt for folder mounting, and configure Claude Desktop.

Docker persistence: Your tools, configs, work files, and package caches all survive restarts.

<details> <summary>Manual Docker Configuration</summary>

Basic setup (no file access):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-commander-in-docker": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "mcp/desktop-commander:latest"]
    }
  }
}

With folder mounting:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-commander-in-docker": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-v", "/Users/username/Desktop:/mnt/desktop",
        "-v", "/Users/username/Documents:/mnt/documents",
        "mcp/desktop-commander:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Advanced folder mounting:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-commander-in-docker": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-v", "dc-system:/usr",
        "-v", "dc-home:/root", 
        "-v", "dc-workspace:/workspace",
        "-v", "dc-packages:/var",
        "-v", "/Users/username/Projects:/mnt/Projects",
        "-v", "/Users/username/Downloads:/mnt/Downloads",
        "mcp/desktop-commander:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

</details> <details> <summary>Docker Management Commands</summary>

macOS/Linux:

# Check status
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.sh) --status

# Reset all persistent data
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.sh) --reset

Windows PowerShell:

# Check status
$script = (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'); & ([ScriptBlock]::Create("$script")) -Status

# Reset all data
$script = (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'); & ([ScriptBlock]::Create("$script")) -Reset

# Show help
$script = (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).Downloa

…

DesktopCommanderMCP

Installation

Configuration

How to use

README