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MCP Shell Server

MCP Shell Server

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A secure server for executing shell commands that implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This server allows remote execution of authorized shell commands with support for input via stdin.

Features

  • Secure Command Execution : Only authorized commands can be executed

  • Standard Input Support : Passes input to commands via stdin

  • Comprehensive Output : Returns stdout, stderr, exit code and execution time

  • Security with Shell Operators : Validates commands after shell operators (;, &&, ||, |)

  • Timeout Control : Sets maximum execution time for commands

Configuring the MCP client in your Claude.app

Published version

code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{ "mcpServers": { "shell": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "mcp-shell-server" ], "env": { "ALLOW_COMMANDS": "ls,cat,pwd,grep,wc,touch,find" } }, } }

Local version

Settings

code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{ "mcpServers": { "shell": { "command": "uv", "args": [ "--directory", ".", "run", "mcp-shell-server" ], "env": { "ALLOW_COMMANDS": "ls,cat,pwd,grep,wc,touch,find" } }, } }

Installation

pip install mcp-shell-server

Use

Starting the Server

ALLOW_COMMANDS="ls,cat,echo" uvx mcp-shell-server # Ou usando o alias ALLOWED_COMMANDS="ls,cat,echo" uvx mcp-shell-server

The ALLOW_COMMANDS environment variable (or its alias ALLOWED_COMMANDS ) specifies which commands can be executed. Commands can be separated by commas with optional spaces around them.

Valid formats for ALLOW_COMMANDS or ALLOWED_COMMANDS:

ALLOW_COMMANDS="ls,cat,echo" # Formato básico ALLOWED_COMMANDS="ls ,echo, cat" # Com espaços (usando alias) ALLOW_COMMANDS="ls, cat , echo" # Múltiplos espaços

Request Format

# Execução básica de comando { "command": ["ls", "-l", "/tmp"] } # Comando com entrada stdin { "command": ["cat"], "stdin": "Hello, World!" } # Comando com timeout { "command": ["long-running-process"], "timeout": 30 # Tempo máximo de execução em segundos } # Comando com diretório de trabalho e timeout { "command": ["grep", "-r", "pattern"], "directory": "/path/to/search", "timeout": 60 }

Response Format

Successful response:

{ "stdout": "saída do comando", "stderr": "", "status": 0, "execution_time": 0.123 }

Error response:

{ "error": "Comando não permitido: rm", "status": 1, "stdout": "", "stderr": "Comando não permitido: rm", "execution_time": 0 }

Security

The server implements several security measures:

  1. Command Whitelist : Only explicitly allowed commands can be executed

  2. Shell Operator Validation : Commands after shell operators (;, &&, ||, |) are also validated against the whitelist

  3. No Shell Injection : Commands are executed directly without shell interpretation

Development

Setting Up the Development Environment

  1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/mcp-shell-server.git cd mcp-shell-server
  1. Install dependencies including test requirements

pip install -e ".[test]"

Running Tests

pytest

API Reference

Request Arguments

Field

Type

Mandatory

Description

command

string[]

Yes

Command and its arguments as array elements

stdin

string

No

Input to be passed to the command

directory

string

No

Working directory for executing the command

timeout

whole

No

Maximum execution time in seconds

Response Fields

Field

Type

Description

stdout

string

Standard output of the command

stderr

string

Command error output

status

whole

Exit status code

execution_time

float

Time taken to execute (in seconds)

error

string

Error message (present only if failed)

Requirements

  • Python 3.11 or higher

  • mcp>=1.1.0

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Deploy Server
A
security – no known vulnerabilities
F
license - not found
A
quality - confirmed to work

remote-capable server

The server can be hosted and run remotely because it primarily relies on remote services or has no dependency on the local environment.

A secure server that implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enable controlled execution of authorized shell commands with stdin support.

  1. Features
    1. Configuring the MCP client in your Claude.app
      1. Published version
      2. Local version
    2. Use
      1. Starting the Server
      2. Request Format
      3. Response Format
    3. Security
      1. Development
        1. Setting Up the Development Environment
        2. Running Tests
      2. API Reference
        1. Request Arguments
        2. Response Fields
      3. Requirements
        1. License

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