Local Dev Bridge

Local Dev Bridge MCP lets Claude Desktop access your local file system for development tasks, enabling reading, writing, editing files, running commands, and searching your codebase from a connected MCP client.

How to use

After you configure the MCP server, you can interact with it through your MCP client (Claude Desktop). You can perform practical tasks such as reading and editing files, listing directories, running project-related commands, and searching across your codebase. All operations are scoped to the base directory you specify (PROJECTS_DIR) and its subdirectories.

Key actions you can perform include: read a file to view contents, write a new or updated file, edit specific text in a file, list files and folders, run shell commands like npm or git, and search for text across the project.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installing: Node.js 16 or higher, npm or yarn, and Claude Desktop.

Step 1: Clone the repository and enter the project directory.

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/local-dev-bridge-mcp.git
cd local-dev-bridge-mcp

Step 2: Install dependencies.

npm install

Step 3: Add the MCP server configuration to Claude Desktop. Open Claude Desktop settings, go to Developer, and edit the Claude desktop config to include the local-dev-bridge MCP. The configuration references the full path to where you cloned the project and sets PROJECTS_DIR to your projects directory.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-dev-bridge": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/local-dev-bridge-mcp/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PROJECTS_DIR": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Desktop/Projects"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Restart Claude Desktop to apply the new MCP server configuration.

Additional sections

Configuration details You can customize the base directory used for file operations by setting the PROJECTS_DIR environment variable in Claude's MCP configuration.

Security considerations Remember that this MCP server provides Claude with direct access to your file system within the configured base directory. Use a dedicated projects folder and avoid exposing sensitive credentials or private keys within that directory.

Troubleshooting If the MCP server does not appear in Claude Desktop, ensure the path to index.js is absolute, Node.js is installed, the JSON config is valid, and that Claude Desktop has been fully restarted. For permission errors, make the index.js script executable and confirm Claude Desktop has access to your projects directory.

Development notes You can test the MCP server locally by running it directly, and you can extend functionality by modifying the tool handling logic and adding new capabilities in the index.js implementation.

Available tools

read_file

Read the contents of a file at a given path.

write_file

Create a new file or overwrite an existing one with specified content.

edit_text

Replace specific text within a file to apply precise edits.

list_directory

List the contents of a directory to browse the project structure.

run_command

Execute shell commands such as npm, git, tests, and other project tasks.

search_text

Search for text across the entire codebase.