Mcp File Tools

by dimitar-grigorov

18 335 downloads Not rated yet GPL-3.0

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About

MCP server for file operations with non-UTF-8/Unicode encoding: Cyrillic, CP1251, CP1252, ISO-8859, KOI8 auto-detection

Details

License: GPL-3.0

Explore

- 21 file operation tools including read, write, edit, copy, move, delete, search, grep, and encoding conversion
- Auto-detection and conversion of 24 encodings (Unicode, Cyrillic, Western/Central European, Greek, Turkish, and others)
- Automatic encoding detection with confidence score
- Recursive directory tree view using 85% fewer tokens than JSON
- Security: all operations restricted to explicitly allowed directories only
- Automatic update checks and notification via tool responses

Setting up with Highlight

This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:

Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
Configure the plugin with the settings below

Plugin Name Mcp File Tools

Command (node, npx, python, etc.)

Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches

Setting up with Cursor

Open Cursor's settings
Navigate to the MCP section
Click "Add new Global MCP server"
Copy and paste the configuration below based on your operating system

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Setting up with Claude Desktop

Open Claude Desktop's settings
Go to the Integrations tab
Click "Add MCP Server"
Use the configuration below based on your operating system

Note: Make sure Claude Desktop is running before attempting to connect.

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Setting up with Windsurf

Open Windsurf's preferences
Go to the Integrations section
Click "Add MCP Integration"
Use the configuration below based on your operating system

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Setting up with Cline

Open Cline's settings
Navigate to the Integrations section
Click "Add MCP Server"
Copy and paste the configuration below based on your operating system

Note: Make sure to restart Cline after adding the configuration.

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Setting up with Goose

Open Goose's preferences
Go to the Integrations tab
Select "MCP Servers"
Click "Add New Server"
Use the configuration below based on your operating system

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

JSON

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

From the repository

Once installed, just ask Claude:
- "List all .pas files in this directory"
- "Read config.ini and detect its encoding"
- "Show all supported encodings"
- "Read MainForm.dfm using CP1251 encoding"

Security: The server only accesses directories you explicitly allow:
- Automatic: Claude Desktop/Code provide workspace directories automatically
- Manual: Specify directories in config args: ["/path/to/project"]

Download the binary for your platform, then register it with the directories it may access.

| Platform | Release asset | Suggested path |
|----------|---------------|----------------|
| Windows x64 | mcp-file-tools_windows_amd64.exe | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\mcp-file-tools\mcp-file-tools.exe |
| Linux x64 | mcp-file-tools_linux_amd64 | ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools |
| macOS ARM64 | mcp-file-tools_darwin_arm64 | ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools |

Windows (PowerShell, not CMD):

mkdir -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mcp-file-tools"
iwr "https://github.com/dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools/releases/latest/download/mcp-file-tools_windows_amd64.exe" -OutFile "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mcp-file-tools\mcp-file-tools.exe"
claude mcp add --scope user file-tools -- "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mcp-file-tools\mcp-file-tools.exe" "D:\Projects"

Linux / macOS (swap the asset name from the table for your platform):

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
curl -L "https://github.com/dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools/releases/latest/download/mcp-file-tools_linux_amd64" -o ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools
claude mcp add --scope user file-tools -- ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools ~/Projects

bash

claude mcp remove file-tools

Claude sees Настройки — not ???? or Íàñòðîéêè.

MCP server for file operations with non-UTF-8 encoding support. Auto-detects and converts 24 encodings (Cyrillic, Windows-125x, ISO-8859, KOI8, UTF-16, GBK/GB18030) so AI assistants can read and write legacy files without corrupting data.

Perfect for: Delphi/Pascal projects, legacy VB6 apps, old PHP/HTML sites, config files with non-UTF-8 text.

To skip permission prompts for all file-tools commands, create .claude/settings.local.json in your project root:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Bash(ls )",
      "Bash(grep )",
      "Bash(sort )",
      "Bash(wc )",
      "Bash(find )",
      "Bash(echo )",
      "Grep",
      "Glob",
      "WebSearch",
      "mcp__file-tools__read_text_file",
      "mcp__file-tools__read_multiple_files",
      "mcp__file-tools__write_file",
      "mcp__file-tools__edit_file",
      "mcp__file-tools__copy_file",
      "mcp__file-tools__list_directory",
      "mcp__file-tools__tree",
      "mcp__file-tools__directory_tree",
      "mcp__file-tools__search_files",
      "mcp__file-tools__grep_text_files",
      "mcp__file-tools__detect_encoding",
      "mcp__file-tools__convert_encoding",
      "mcp__file-tools__detect_line_endings",
      "mcp__file-tools__change_line_endings",
      "mcp__file-tools__manage_bom",
      "mcp__file-tools__list_encodings",
      "mcp__file-tools__get_file_info",
      "mcp__file-tools__create_directory",
      "mcp__file-tools__list_allowed_directories",
      "mcp__file-tools__check_for_updates"
    ]
  }
}

This auto-approves safe read-only and editing file-tools operations plus common shell commands and web search. Destructive operations (delete_file, move_file) and WebFetch are intentionally excluded — Claude will ask before using them. Adjust to your needs.

Claude Desktop / Cursor

Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp file tools": {
            "file-tools": {
                "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
                "args": [
                    "D:\\Projects"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

McpServers

{
    "file-tools": {
        "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_NAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\mcp-file-tools\\mcp-file-tools.exe",
        "args": [
            "D:\\Projects"
        ]
    }
}

Claude sees Настройки — not ???? or Íàñòðîéêè.

Perfect for: Delphi/Pascal projects, legacy VB6 apps, old PHP/HTML sites, config files with non-UTF-8 text.

What It Does

Provides 21 tools for file operations with automatic encoding conversion:
- read_text_file - Read files with encoding auto-detection and conversion
- read_multiple_files - Read multiple files concurrently with encoding support
- write_file - Write files in specific encodings
- edit_file - Line-based edits with diff preview and whitespace-flexible matching
- copy_file - Copy a file to a new location
- delete_file - Delete a file
- list_directory - Browse directories with pattern filtering
- tree - Compact indented tree view (85% fewer tokens than JSON)
- directory_tree - Get recursive tree view as JSON (deprecated, use tree)
- search_files - Recursively search for files matching glob patterns
- grep_text_files - Regex search in file contents with encoding support
- detect_encoding - Auto-detect file encoding with confidence score
- convert_encoding - Convert file between encodings
- detect_line_endings - Detect line ending style (CRLF/LF/mixed)
- change_line_endings - Convert line endings to LF or CRLF
- manage_bom - Detect, strip, or add Unicode BOM
- list_encodings - Show all supported encodings
- get_file_info - Get file/directory metadata
- create_directory - Create directories recursively (mkdir -p)
- move_file - Move or rename files and directories
- list_allowed_directories - Show accessible directories

Supported encodings (22 total):
- Unicode: UTF-8, UTF-16 LE, UTF-16 BE (with BOM detection for UTF-16 and UTF-32)
- Cyrillic: Windows-1251, KOI8-R, KOI8-U, CP866, ISO-8859-5
- Western European: Windows-1252, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-15
- Central European: Windows-1250, ISO-8859-2
- Greek: Windows-1253, ISO-8859-7
- Turkish: Windows-1254, ISO-8859-9
- Other: Hebrew (1255), Arabic (1256), Baltic (1257), Vietnamese (1258), Thai (874)

See TOOLS.md for detailed parameters and examples.

Security: All operations restricted to allowed directories only.

Installation

Claude Code plugin (recommended)

The simplest way to use this with Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools
/plugin install mcp-file-tools

On first launch the plugin downloads the right binary for your OS, verifies its
SHA-256, caches it, and keeps it pinned to a known version. The server is
automatically scoped to the folder you have open (via the MCP roots protocol), so
there is nothing to configure. It needs nothing beyond Claude Code itself; the
launcher runs on Node, which Claude Code already uses, so it works the same on
Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The plugin only accesses your current workspace. To grant access to directories
outside it, use a manual install (below).

Already added the server the manual way? Remove the old claude mcp add entry so
you are not running two copies:

claude mcp remove file-tools

MCP Registry

This server is listed in the Official MCP Registry for discovery by any MCP client.

Manual install (other MCP clients, or access outside your workspace)

Download the binary for your platform, then register it with the directories it may access.

Windows (PowerShell, not CMD):

mkdir -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mcp-file-tools"
iwr "https://github.com/dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools/releases/latest/download/mcp-file-tools_windows_amd64.exe" -OutFile "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mcp-file-tools\mcp-file-tools.exe"
claude mcp add --scope user file-tools -- "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mcp-file-tools\mcp-file-tools.exe" "D:\Projects"

Linux / macOS (swap the asset name from the table for your platform):

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
curl -L "https://github.com/dimitar-grigorov/mcp-file-tools/releases/latest/download/mcp-file-tools_linux_amd64" -o ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools
claude mcp add --scope user file-tools -- ~/.local/bin/mcp-file-tools ~/Projects

Go install (all platforms)

```bash

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About

Details

Explore

Setting up with Highlight

From the repository

Claude Desktop / Cursor

McpServers

What It Does

Installation

Claude Code plugin (recommended)

MCP Registry

Manual install (other MCP clients, or access outside your workspace)

Go install (all platforms)

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