Source: securityboulevard.com – Author: Ashur Kanoon
AI and LLMs have proven to useful in many ways. However, this usually means using a website that was trained on unknown, publicly available data.
What if you want to use local files and make changes locally?
That’s where the filesystem functionality in Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standardized protocol for linking AI agents to backend systems and data sources, comes in.
This is a quick guide on how to enable Claude Desktop on macOS to access your local filesystem using the MCP.
Prerequisites
1) Install Claude Desktop
Download and install the latest version of Claude Desktop for macOS from Anthropic’s official website.
2) Install Node.js
Ensure Node.js is installed on your system. Open Terminal and run:
node –version
If Node.js is not installed, the easiest way to do it is to download the installer from https://nodejs.org/. Node.js allows the ‘npx’ command below.
Configure the Filesystem MCP Server
Open Claude Settings
1) Launch the Claude Desktop app.
2) Click on the Claude menu in the top-left corner and select ‘Settings.’
3) Navigate to the ‘Developer’ tab.
4) Click ‘Edit Config’ to open the configuration file.
(Note: If the “claude_desktop_config.json” file doesn’t exist. Create one under `/Users/your_username/Library/Application Support/Claude/`)
Edit the Configuration File
1) In the opened `claude_desktop_config.json` file, replace its contents with the following, adjusting the paths to the directories you want Claude to access:
Original Post URL: https://securityboulevard.com/2025/04/how-to-enable-filesystem-support-in-model-context-protocol-mcp/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-enable-filesystem-support-in-model-context-protocol-mcp
Category & Tags: Security Bloggers Network,Best Practices,Engineering – Security Bloggers Network,Best Practices,Engineering
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