mcpField
S
Shell Exec

Shell Exec

Local
github.comDeveloper Tools9Updated 3d ago
RepositoryVisit website

About Shell Exec

Shell Exec is an MCP server for running bash commands, aimed at developers who need command execution and background job handling through an MCP client. It provides command execution and job-status checks.

Key features

  1. 01Run bash commands
  2. 02Set timeouts and background mode
  3. 03Check background job status

Use cases

  1. 01Run builds and inspect their output
  2. 02Manage files with shell commands
  3. 03Start and check long-running processes

MCP support

As an MCP server, it provides MCP clients with `execute` and `get_job_status` tools for running bash commands and checking background jobs.

Configuration

Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.

mcp.json · Universal config
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "domdomegg-shell-exec": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "shell-exec-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT": "<MCP_TRANSPORT>"
      }
    }
  }
}
Run commandnpx -y shell-exec-mcp
Environment variables to set
MCP_TRANSPORTTransport type.

Local servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.

Packages
npmshell-exec-mcp1.2.0

Tools

No tool list yet

Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.

Details

From the project README

shell-exec-mcp

MCP server for executing bash commands with background job support.

Use Cases

Run build commands: Execute npm run build, make, or other build tools and get the output.

File operations: Use find, grep, mv, rm, mkdir -p, stat etc. for file management.

Long-running tasks: Start servers or watch processes in background mode, check on them later.

System info: Run df -h, ps aux, env etc. to inspect the system state.

Setup

Follow the instructions on install-mcp, which generates the right config for your MCP client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, VS Code, and more).

Tools

ToolDescription
executeRun a bash command (with optional timeout and background mode)
get_job_statusCheck status of a background job

Contributing

Pull requests are welcomed on GitHub! To get started:

  1. Install Git and Node.js
  2. Clone the repository
  3. Install dependencies with npm install
  4. Run npm run test to run tests
  5. Build with npm run build

Releases

Versions follow the semantic versioning spec.

To release:

  1. Use npm version <major | minor | patch> to bump the version
  2. Run git push --follow-tags to push with tags
  3. Wait for GitHub Actions to publish to the NPM registry.

Comments

Markdown supported

New to MCP?

From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.

An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.