🚀 SSH MCP Server (Node.js)

A secure, high-performance Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants like Claude Desktop to execute SSH commands on remote servers. Built with Node.js and the official MCP SDK for maximum compatibility and reliability.

🔄 Version 2.1.0 - Token-Efficient File Operations: Complete rewrite in Node.js with official MCP SDK - eliminates all previous Go compatibility issues!

✨ Features

• 🔐 Secure SSH: Private key authentication with multiple key format support

• 🤖 AI-Ready: Official MCP SDK integration for Claude Desktop and other AI tools

• ⚡ High Performance: Node.js async architecture for fast command execution

• 📦 Zero Setup: One-command installation via NPX - no compilation required

• 🌐 Universal: Pure JavaScript runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux

• 🛡️ Type Safe: Built with modern JavaScript and comprehensive error handling

• 📋 Standards Compliant: Uses official @modelcontextprotocol/sdk

Related MCP server: MCP Server

🚀 Quick Start

Installation & Usage

# Use directly with NPX (recommended)
npx @idletoaster/ssh-mcp-server@latest

# Or install globally
npm install -g @idletoaster/ssh-mcp-server

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ssh": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@idletoaster/ssh-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

That's it! Claude can now execute SSH commands on your remote servers.

💬 Usage Examples

Once configured, Claude can help you with commands like:

"Check disk usage on my production server at 192.168.1.100"

"Restart the nginx service on server.example.com as user admin"

"Show running processes on my Ubuntu server using my SSH key"

Manual Tool Usage

{
  "tool": "remote-ssh",
  "arguments": {
    "host": "192.168.1.100",
    "user": "ubuntu",
    "command": "df -h",
    "privateKeyPath": "/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa"
  }
}

🔧 Configuration

SSH Key Authentication

The server supports multiple authentication methods:

1. Explicit Key Path

{
  "privateKeyPath": "/path/to/your/private/key"
}

2. Environment Variable

export SSH_PRIVATE_KEY="/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa"

3. Auto-Discovery

Automatically searches for keys in:

• ~/.ssh/id_rsa

• ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

• ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa

Supported Key Formats

• ✅ RSA keys (id_rsa)

• ✅ ED25519 keys (id_ed25519)

• ✅ ECDSA keys (id_ecdsa)

• ✅ OpenSSH format

• ✅ PEM format

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (check: node --version)

• NPM 9+ (check: npm --version)

Install Node.js

Windows:

Download from nodejs.org or use Chocolatey:

choco install nodejs

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Linux (CentOS/RHEL):

curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo bash -
sudo yum install -y nodejs

macOS:

brew install node

Build from Source

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/idletoaster/ssh-mcp-server.git
cd ssh-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run locally
npm start

# Development with auto-reload
npm run dev

🏗️ Architecture

ssh-mcp-server/
├── package.json          # NPM configuration & dependencies
├── index.js              # Main MCP server (Official SDK)
├── lib/
│   └── ssh-client.js     # SSH connection management
├── README.md             # Documentation
├── LICENSE               # MIT license
└── .gitignore           # Node.js gitignore

Technology Stack

• Runtime: Node.js 18+ with ES Modules

• MCP SDK: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk (Official)

• SSH: ssh2 library for Node.js

• Distribution: NPM with direct NPX execution

🔒 Security

Best Practices

• ✅ Private key authentication only (no passwords)

• ✅ Configurable SSH algorithms and timeouts

• ✅ No persistent connections (session-based)

• ✅ Input validation and sanitization

• ✅ Comprehensive error handling

Security Guidelines

• 🔐 Store private keys with restrictive permissions (chmod 600)

• 🌐 Use SSH key passphrases when possible

• 🛡️ Restrict SSH keys to specific hosts in ~/.ssh/config

• 📝 Monitor SSH access logs

• 🚫 Never run as root unless absolutely necessary

Network Security

# Example SSH config for restricted access
Host production-server
    HostName 192.168.1.100
    User deploy
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/production_key
    IdentitiesOnly yes
    StrictHostKeyChecking yes

🧪 Testing

Local Testing

# Test the MCP server
echo '{"host":"test.server.com","user":"testuser","command":"whoami"}' | npm start

Integration Testing

# Verify Node.js installation
node --version  # Should be 18+
npm --version   # Should be 9+

# Test NPX execution
npx @idletoaster/ssh-mcp-server@latest --help

🌍 Compatibility

Operating Systems

• ✅ Windows 10/11 (x64, ARM64)

• ✅ macOS 12+ (Intel & Apple Silicon)

• ✅ Linux (x64, ARM64) - All major distributions

AI Platforms

• 🤖 Claude Desktop (Primary target)

• 🤖 Cursor IDE

• 🤖 Any MCP-compatible application

Node.js Compatibility

• ✅ Node.js 18.x (LTS)

• ✅ Node.js 20.x (LTS)

• ✅ Node.js 22.x (Current)

📊 Migration from v1.x (Go)

Upgrading from the Go version? The Node.js version offers:

✅ Improvements

• Zero compilation - No more binary builds

• Better compatibility - Official MCP SDK

• Faster development - Direct code changes

• Simpler deployment - Pure NPX distribution

• No protocol issues - Official Anthropic SDK

🔄 Migration Steps

1. Uninstall old version: Remove Go-based installation

2. Install new version: npx @idletoaster/ssh-mcp-server@latest

3. Update Claude config: Same configuration works!

4. Test connection: Verify SSH functionality

🤝 Contributing

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository

2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

3. Make your changes

4. Test thoroughly: npm test

5. Submit a pull request

Code Style

• Use ES6+ modern JavaScript

• Follow Node.js best practices

• Add JSDoc comments for functions

• Validate with existing patterns

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• @modelcontextprotocol/sdk - Official MCP SDK

• ssh2 - Node.js SSH client

• Claude Desktop - Primary target platform

• Model Context Protocol - Standard specification

📞 Support

• 📋 Issues: GitHub Issues

• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Built with ❤️ for the AI development community using Node.js and official MCP SDK

🆕 NEW in v2.1.0: Token-Efficient File Operations

Enhanced with 4 powerful tools inspired by Desktop Commander for optimal token usage:

🎯 Token-Efficient Tools

1. ssh-edit-block - Edit specific text blocks (80-90% token reduction vs full rewrites)

2. ssh-read-lines - Read file sections by line numbers (massive savings for large files)

3. ssh-search-code - Pattern search without reading full files

4. ssh-write-chunk - Efficient content writing with append/rewrite modes

💡 Benefits

• 80-90% fewer tokens for file operations

• No more full file rewrites for small changes

• Partial file reading for large codebases

• Pattern searching without token overhead

📖 New Tool Usage

// Edit specific text blocks
{
  "name": "ssh-edit-block",
  "arguments": {
    "host": "server.com",
    "user": "username", 
    "filePath": "/path/to/file.js",
    "oldText": "version: '2.0.0'",
    "newText": "version: '2.1.0'"
  }
}

// Read specific lines only
{
  "name": "ssh-read-lines", 
  "arguments": {
    "host": "server.com",
    "user": "username",
    "filePath": "/path/to/large-file.js",
    "startLine": 100,
    "endLine": 150
  }
}

// Search patterns efficiently
{
  "name": "ssh-search-code",
  "arguments": {
    "host": "server.com", 
    "user": "username",
    "path": "/project",
    "pattern": "function.*export",
    "filePattern": "*.js"
  }
}