FileSystem MCP Server

Local MCP server for Visual Studio 2022+ that provides code-workspace functionality by giving AI agents selective access to project folders and files

Table of Contents

• 🎯 Target Environment
• Features
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Configuration Options
  • Option 1: Config.json File (Simplest - Recommended for Beginners)
  • Option 2: Command-Line Arguments (Advanced - For MCP Clients)
  • Option 3: Hybrid Approach (Best of Both Worlds)
• Usage
  • Command Line Examples
  • Available Tools
• Why This Hybrid Approach is Perfect
• Visual Studio 2022+ Debugging
• Visual Studio 2022+ Usage Examples
• Editing Your mcp.json File via GitHub Copilot Chat
• Security
• Error Handling
• Troubleshooting
  • MCP Configuration Issues
  • Visual Studio 2022+ Debugging
  • Common Issues
• Command Line Reference
• Cross-Platform Path Support
• Advanced & Real-World MCP Configuration Examples

🎯 Target Environment

This MCP server is optimized for:

• Visual Studio 2022+ development workflows
• Local development environments without complex workspace setups
• Direct folder access scenarios where you need filesystem operations
• Development environments that don't use .code-workspace files
• Individual project directories rather than multi-root workspaces

Features

• Directory Traversal: List contents of allowed directories
• File Reading: Read contents of files with allowed extensions
• File Writing: Write text/binary content to files — opt-in via --allow-write (disabled by default)
• Directory Validation: Check accessibility of configured directories
• Hybrid Configuration: Command-line arguments (MCP) + config.json fallback (debugging)
• Visual Studio 2022+ Debugging: No-argument startup support
• Cross-Platform Path Support: Automatically handles both Windows (\) and Unix (/) path separators
• Security: Access restricted to explicitly specified directories and file types
• Local Development Focus: Perfect for Visual Studio 2022+ and similar environments

Installation

From PyPI (Recommended for Users)

pip install vs-filesystem-mcp-server

From Source (For Development)

1. Ensure you have Python 3.10+ installed

2. Clone the repository

3. Navigate to the project directory

4. Install dependencies using uv:

   uv sync
   

Quick Start

1. For MCP usage: Add the corrected configuration to your .mcp.json
2. For debugging: Just press F5 in Visual Studio 2022+ - uses config.json automatically
3. Test your configuration by calling the init() tool first
4. If init() returns errors, check your directory paths and permissions

Configuration Options

Option 1: Config.json File (Simplest - Recommended for Beginners)

The easiest way to get started! Create a config.json file:

For MCP server usage:

• Place config.json in the same folder as your .mcp.json file (usually C:\Users\YourUsername\)

For debugging from source (Visual Studio 2022+):

• Place config.json in the same directory as app.py (D:/Projects/filesystem_server/)

{
  "allowed_dirs": [
  

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/oncorporation/filesystem_server#readme)