Sshmcp

@nl4ever/sshmcp

[中文文档](./README.zh-CN.md)

Let AI manage your remote servers. A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI assistants full SSH access — execute commands, transfer files, manage multiple servers simultaneously, all through natural conversation.

You:   "Deploy the latest build to production server"

AI: connects → uploads build → restarts service → verifies status

Features

• 21 Tools — Connect, execute, upload, download, write files, and more
• Connection Pool — Operate multiple servers simultaneously, each command tagged with server_id
• Zero-Token File Transfer — SFTP path-based transfer, file content never enters AI context
• Directory Upload — Auto tar.gz compress → upload → remote decompress (fast for many small files)
• Async Transfer + Progress — Background transfer for large files with real-time progress tracking
• Quick Connect — Temporary connections without saving config, returns host:port as temp ID
• SOCKS4/5 Proxy — Per-connection proxy support
• Jump Host — SSH ProxyJump for bastion/gateway access
• Multi-Auth — Password, private key, ssh-agent, keyboard-interactive (OTP/2FA)

Quick Start

Install globally

npm install -g @nl4ever/sshmcp

Add to Claude Code

claude mcp add sshmcp sshmcp

Add to Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json:

{

"mcpServers": { "sshmcp": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@nl4ever/sshmcp"] } } }

Add to Cursor

Go to Settings → MCP Servers → Add:

{

"sshmcp": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@nl4ever/sshmcp"] } }

Tools Overview

Connection Management

Command Execution

File Operations

Proxy Management

Connection Pool: Multi-Server Operations

All operation tools take a server_id parameter. The connection pool auto-manages connections — no manual connect/disconnect needed:

AI: execute(server_id="prod", command="nginx -s reload")         ← auto-connects to prod

AI: execute(server_id="dev", command="tail -f /var/log/app.log") ← auto-connects to dev, prod stays AI: execute(server_id="prod", command="curl localhost") ← reuses prod connection

For temporary servers, use quick_connect which returns host:port as the ID:

AI: quick_connect(host="1.2.3.4", username="root", password="***")

→ "Connected: root@1.2.3.4:22, use server_id="1.2.3.4:22""

AI: execute(server_id="1.2.3.4:22", command="df -h") AI: disconnect(server_id="1.2.3.4:22")

Async Transfer (Large Files)

For large files, enable background transfer mode to avoid blocking:

AI: upload_file(server_id="prod", local_path="big.tar.gz", remote_path="/data/", async_transfer=true)

→ "Background upload started: tf_1"

AI: transfer_status("tf_1") → "🔄 Uploading: 638.2 MB / 1.2 GB (53.2%) — 12.4 MB/s, ETA 46s"

AI: transfer_status("tf_1") → "✅ Upload complete: 1.2 GB, 98s, 12.3 MB/s"

Small files use synchronous mode by default — no config needed.

Connection Examples

Password authentication

AI: add_server(server_id="prod", name="Production", host="10.0.0.1", username="deploy", password="***")

AI: execute(server_id="prod", command="systemctl status nginx")

Private key authentication

AI: add_server(server_id="aws", name="AWS EC2", host="ec2-xx.compute.amazonaws.com", username="ubuntu", private_key="~/.ssh/id_rsa")

Quick connect (no config saved)

AI: quick_connect(host="192.168.1.100", username="root", password="***")

→ server_id="192.168.1.100:22"

AI: execute(server_id="192.168.1.100:22", command="df -h") AI: disconnect(server_id="192.168.1.100:22")

Via SOCKS5 proxy

AI: add_proxy(proxy_id="tunnel", name="SSH Tunnel", host="127.0.0.1", port=1080, type="5")

AI: add_server(server_id="internal", ..., proxy="tunnel")

Via jump host

AI: add_server(server_id="bastion", name="Bastion", host="bastion.example.com", username="admin", private_key="~/.ssh/id_rsa")

AI: add_server(server_id="internal", name="Internal DB", host="10.0.0.5", username="dbadmin", password="***", jump_host="bastion")

Config Location

Server and proxy configurations are stored in:

~/.ssh-mcp/config.json

Passwords are stored in plaintext. For production use, prefer private key authentication.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18
• An MCP-compatible client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)
• Remote server with SSH access

License

MIT