FTP SSH MCP server

ftp-ssh-mcp

An MCP server for working with a single remote host over FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and SSH — the kind of host a typical shared-hosting plan or a plain VPS gives you, not a cloud provider's API. It groups its tools into three capability classes: file transfer (list, upload, download, mkdir, delete), shell execution over SSH, and a MySQL query wrapper that also runs over SSH. File transfer is the only capability enabled by default — shell execution and database access are both opt-in and stay off until you explicitly turn them on. Treat those two as equally dangerous: mysql_query runs arbitrary SQL on a production database and can escape to a shell, so it is not the milder of the pair.

Install

Published to npm and run with npx — there is nothing to clone or build. Requires Node 20 or newer. Works on Windows, macOS and Linux.

1. Add it to your MCP client

On Windows, use the cmd /c form shown for each client below. Most clients spawn command directly rather than through a shell, and npx on Windows is a .cmd shim that cannot be executed that way — the server simply fails to start, usually with no useful error. Treat this as the rule on Windows, not an edge case.

Claude Code — .mcp.json in the project root

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "ftp-ssh-mcp@1"] }
  }
}

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote": { "command": "cmd", "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "ftp-ssh-mcp@1"] }
  }
}

Claude Desktop — claudedesktopconfig.json

Same mcpServers shape as Claude Code. Claude Desktop has no project directory, so set MCPENVFILE to an absolute path — see step 2.

Cursor — .cursor/mcp.json (project) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global)

Same mcpServers shape as Claude Code.

VS Code — .vscode/mcp.json (workspace), or MCP: Open User Configuration for global

VS Code uses servers, not mcpServers:

{
  "servers": {
    "remote": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "ftp-ssh-mcp@1"] }
  }
}

Codex CLI — ~/.codex/config.toml, or .codex/config.toml in a trusted project

Codex uses TOML with a snakecase mcpservers table:

[mcp_servers.remote]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "ftp-ssh-mcp@1"]

Windows:

[mcp_servers.remote]
command = "cmd"
args = ["/c", "npx", "-y", "ftp-ssh-mcp@1"]

Or add it from the shell: codex mcp add remote -- npx -y ftp-ssh-mcp@1

2. Point it at a host

Create a .env file in your project root. The server reads it from the working directory, which is the project root for project-scoped clients:

REMOTE_HOST=ftp.example.com
REMOTE_USER=deploy
REMOTE_PASSWORD=your-password
REMOTE_BASE_DIR=/home/deploy/public_html

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.