Filesystem Mcpignore

What is Filesystem Mcpignore about?

Filesystem Mcpignore adds .mcpignore support to the Model Context Protocol (MCP) filesystem server, allowing you to define ignore patterns (same syntax as .gitignore) that control which files and directories an MCP client can read, write, or manipulate.

How to use Filesystem Mcpignore?

1. Create .mcpignore files in each allowed directory and list patterns to hide files or sub‑folders.
2. Add the server to your MCP client configuration (Claude, Cline, Cursor, etc.) by referencing the server name mcpignore-filesystem.
3. Run the server via NPX:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpignore-filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyberhaven/mcpignore-filesystem", "/path/to/allowed/dir1", "/path/to/allowed/dir2"]
    }
  }
}

4. The server will read the supplied directories, apply .mcpignore rules, and expose the permitted API endpoints.

Key features of Filesystem Mcpignore

• Pattern‑based access control using .gitignore‑style syntax.
• Full file operations: read, write, edit, create, delete, move, and metadata retrieval.
• Directory management: create, list, delete, and tree view.
• Search capability (allowed) for discovering file names while respecting ignore rules.
• Compatibility with existing MCP filesystem API spec.
• Simple NPX‑based deployment, no manual build steps.

Use cases of Filesystem Mcpignore

• Secure code‑generation pipelines where LLMs need read/write access to a project but must not see secrets like .env or proprietary assets.
• Data‑sensitive research environments that expose only sanitized datasets to generative agents.
• Multi‑tenant development sandboxes where each tenant’s allowed directories are isolated by ignore rules.
• Compliance‑driven workflows ensuring that regulated files are never exposed to AI assistants.

FAQ from the Filesystem Mcpignore

Q: Can I still list a directory that contains ignored files? A: Yes. list_directory is blocked for ignored paths, but directory_tree and search_files are allowed to return names of non‑ignored files.

Q: How do ignore patterns propagate to sub‑directories? A: Each directory can have its own .mcpignore. Patterns are applied relative to the directory containing the file.

Q: What happens if a client tries to write to an ignored file? A: The operation is blocked and the client receives an access‑denied error.

Q: Do I need to install any additional dependencies? A: No. The server runs directly with npx and pulls the @cyberhaven/mcpignore-filesystem package from npm.

Q: Is the server compatible with other MCP servers? A: It builds on the official Model Context Protocol filesystem server, so it can replace or sit alongside other MCP filesystem implementations.

Filesystem MCP Server with .mcpignore support

Protect your most sensitive data by using this data security first filesystem. This node.js server builds on top of Filesystem MCP Server and lets you control which files your MCP Client can access using .mcpignore file.

Features

• Control MCP client's access to your filesystem based on .mcpignore
• Read/write files
• Create/list/delete directories
• Move files/directories
• Search files
• Get file metadata

Note: Create an .mcpignore file for each direcoties specified via args

Configuring .mcpignore

The .mcpignore file uses the same patterns as .gitignore

Patterns Examples

# Ignore specific file `.env`
.env

# Ignore all files with a `.safetensor` extension
*.safetensors

# Ignore specific directory, 'assets/logos' and its files
assets/logos/

API

For details, refer to Filesystem MCP Server API Spec

Tool behavior with ignore paths

Tool	Behavior
read_file	Block
read_multiple_files	Block
write_file	Block
edit_file	Block
create_directory	Block
list_directory	Block
directory_tree	Allow
move_file	Block
search_files	Allow
get_file_info	Block
list_allowed_directories	N/A

Note: directory_tree and search_files are allowed only to retrieve the file names

Usage with MCP Clients

• Claude: Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json
• Cline: Add this to your cline_mcp_settings.json
• Cursor: Add this to your mcp.json

Note: .mcpingore applies to the list of allowed directories that you provide as args

NPX

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcpignore-filesystem": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@cyberhaven/mcpignore-filesystem",
                "/Users/<username>/Desktop",
                "/path/to/other/allowed/dir"
            ]
        }
    }
}

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for information on contributing to this repository.

Security

See SECURITY.md for information on security.