Desktop Commander

Desktop Commander MCP

Search, update, manage files and run terminal commands with AI

Work with code and text, run processes, and automate tasks, going far beyond other AI editors - while using host client subscriptions instead of API token costs.

Table of Contents

• Features
• How to install
• Getting Started
• Usage
• File Preview UI & Markdown Editor
• Handling Long-Running Commands
• Work in Progress and TODOs
• Sponsors and Supporters
• Website
• Media
• Testimonials
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Contributing
• License

All of your AI development tools in one place. Desktop Commander puts all dev tools in one chat. Execute long-running terminal commands on your computer and manage processes through Model Context Protocol (MCP). Built on top of MCP Filesystem Server to provide additional search and replace file editing capabilities.

Features

• Remote AI Control - Use Desktop Commander from ChatGPT, Claude web, and other AI services via Remote MCP
• File Preview UI - Visual file previews in Claude Desktop with rendered markdown, inline images, expandable content, built-in markdown editor, and quick "Open in folder" access
• Enhanced terminal commands with interactive process control
• Execute code in memory (Python, Node.js, R) without saving files
• Instant data analysis - just ask to analyze CSV/JSON/Excel files
• Native Excel file support - Read, write, edit, and search Excel files (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm) without external tools
• PDF support - Read PDFs with text extraction, create new PDFs from markdown, modify existing PDFs
• DOCX support - Read, create, edit, and search Word documents (.docx) with surgical XML editing and markdown-to-DOCX conversion
• Interact with running processes (SSH, databases, development servers)
• Execute terminal commands with output streaming
• Command timeout and background execution support
• Process management (list and kill processes)
• Session management for long-running commands
• Process output pagination - Read terminal output with offset/length controls to prevent context overflow
• Server configuration management:
• Get/set configuration values
• Update multiple settings at once
• Dynamic configuration changes without server restart
• Full filesystem operations:
• Read/write files (text, Excel, PDF, DOCX)
• Create/list directories
• Recursive directory listing with configurable depth and context overflow protection for large folders
• Move files/directories
• Search files and content (including Excel content)
• Get file metadata
• Negative offset file reading: Read from end of files using negative offset values (like Unix tail)
• Code editing capabilities:
• Surgical text replacements for small changes
• Full file rewrites for major changes
• Multiple file support
• Pattern-based replacements
• vscode-ripgrep based recursive code or text search in folders
• Local tool-call history and audit logs:
• Tool calls and arguments are recorded locally on the machine running Desktop Commander
• Recent call history with bounded output previews is available through get_recent_tool_calls
• Size-based rotation/trimming keeps the active history files bounded
• Safety guardrails (not a sandbox — see SECURITY.md):
• Symlink traversal prevention on file operations
• Command blocklist for accidental execution
• Docker isolation for complete isolation

How to install

For ChatGPT, Claude web, and other remote clients, see the Remote device launchers. They install Node.js when missing and run Desktop Commander Remote on macOS, Linux, or Windows.

Install in Claude Desktop

Desktop Commander offers multiple installation methods for Claude Desktop.

📋 Update & Uninstall Information: Options 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 have automatic updates. Option 5 requires manual updates. See below for details.

Option 1: Install through npx ⭐ Auto-Updates (Requires Node.js)

Just run this in terminal:

npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest setup

For debugging mode (allows Node.js inspector connection):

npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest setup --debug

Command line options during setup:

• --debug: Enable debugging mode for Node.js inspector
• --no-onboarding: Disable onboarding prompts for new users

Restart Claude if running.

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - automatically updates when you restart Claude 🔄 Manual Update: Run the setup command again 🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest remove

Option 2: Using bash script installer (macOS) ⭐ Auto-Updates (Installs Node.js if needed)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install.sh | bash

This script handles all dependencies and configuration automatically.

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes 🔄 Manual Update: Re-run the bash installer command above 🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest remove

Option 3: Installing via Smithery ⭐ Auto-Updates (Requires Node.js)

1. Visit: https://smithery.ai/server/@wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander
2. Login to Smithery if you haven't already
3. Select your client (Claude Desktop) on the right side
4. Install with the provided key that appears after selecting your client
5. Restart Claude Desktop

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - automatically updates when you restart Claude 🔄 Manual Update: Visit the Smithery page and reinstall

Option 4: Add to claude_desktop_config manually ⭐ Auto-Updates (Requires Node.js)

Add this entry to your claude_desktop_config.json:

• On Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• On Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{

"mcpServers": { "desktop-commander": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest" ] } } }

Restart Claude if running.

✅ Auto-Updates: Yes - automatically updates when you restart Claude 🔄 Manual Update: Run the setup command again 🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest remove or remove the entry from your claude_desktop_config.json

Option 5: Checkout locally ❌ Manual Updates (Requires Node.js)

git clone https://github.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP.git

cd DesktopCommanderMCP npm run setup

Restart Claude if running.

The setup command will install dependencies, build the server, and configure Claude's desktop app.

❌ Auto-Updates: No - requires manual git updates 🔄 Manual Update: cd DesktopCommanderMCP && git pull && npm run setup 🗑️ Uninstall: Run npx @wonderwhy-er/desktop-commander@latest remove or remove the cloned directory and MCP server entry from Claude config

Option 6: Docker Installation 🐳 ⭐ Auto-Updates (No Node.js Required)

Perfect for users who want isolation or don't have Node.js installed. Runs in a sandboxed Docker container with a persistent work environment.

Prerequisites: Docker Desktop installed and running, Claude Desktop app installed.

macOS/Linux:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.sh)

Windows PowerShell:

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'))

The installer will check Docker, pull the image, prompt for folder mounting, and configure Claude Desktop.

Docker persistence: Your tools, configs, work files, and package caches all survive restarts.

Manual Docker Configuration

Basic setup (no file access):

{

"mcpServers": { "desktop-commander-in-docker": { "command": "docker", "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "mcp/desktop-commander:latest"] } } }

With folder mounting:

{

"mcpServers": { "desktop-commander-in-docker": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "-i", "--rm", "-v", "/Users/username/Desktop:/mnt/desktop", "-v", "/Users/username/Documents:/mnt/documents", "mcp/desktop-commander:latest" ] } } }

Advanced folder mounting:

{

"mcpServers": { "desktop-commander-in-docker": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "-i", "--rm", "-v", "dc-system:/usr", "-v", "dc-home:/root", "-v", "dc-workspace:/workspace", "-v", "dc-packages:/var", "-v", "/Users/username/Projects:/mnt/Projects", "-v", "/Users/username/Downloads:/mnt/Downloads", "mcp/desktop-commander:latest" ] } } }

Docker Management Commands

macOS/Linux:

# Check status

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.sh) --status

Reset all persistent data

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.sh) --reset

Windows PowerShell:

# Check status

$script = (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'); & ([ScriptBlock]::Create("$script")) -Status

Reset all data

$script = (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'); & ([ScriptBlock]::Create("$script")) -Reset

Show help

$script = (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-docker.ps1'); & ([ScriptBlock]::Create("$script")) -Help

Troubleshooting: Reset and reinstall from scratch:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wonderwhy-er/DesktopCommanderMCP/refs/heads/main/install-