Filesystem MCP Server

Install

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /Users/username/Desktop /path/to/other/allowed/dir

Example config (Cursor / Claude Desktop)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/Users/username/Desktop",
        "/path/to/other/allowed/dir"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses "servers" instead of "mcpServers" (why). On Windows, wrap npx with cmd /c (fix).

At a glance

Common problems

• MCP server not showing in Claude Desktop
• Fix "spawn npx ENOENT" when starting an MCP server
• MCP servers fail on Windows with npx (use cmd /c)
• "MCP error -32000: Connection closed": what it means and how to fix it