tumf/mcp-text-editor

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides line-oriented text file editing capabilities through a standardized API. Optimized for LLM tools with efficient partial file access to minimize token usage.
Quick Start for Claude.app Users
To use this editor with Claude.app, add the following configuration to your prompt:
Overview
MCP Text Editor Server is designed to facilitate safe and efficient line-based text file operations in a client-server architecture. It implements the Model Context Protocol, ensuring reliable file editing with robust conflict detection and resolution. The line-oriented approach makes it ideal for applications requiring synchronized file access, such as collaborative editing tools, automated text processing systems, or any scenario where multiple processes need to modify text files safely. The partial file access capability is particularly valuable for LLM-based tools, as it helps reduce token consumption by loading only the necessary portions of files.
Key Benefits
- Line-based editing operations
- Token-efficient partial file access with line-range specifications
- Optimized for LLM tool integration
- Safe concurrent editing with hash-based validation
- Atomic multi-file operations
- Robust error handling with custom error types
- Comprehensive encoding support (utf-8, shift_jis, latin1, etc.)
Features
- Line-oriented text file editing and reading
- Smart partial file access to minimize token usage in LLM applications
- Get text file contents with line range specification
- Read multiple ranges from multiple files in a single operation
- Line-based patch application with correct handling of line number shifts
- Edit text file contents with conflict detection
- Flexible character encoding support (utf-8, shift_jis, latin1, etc.)
- Support for multiple file operations
- Proper handling of concurrent edits with hash-based validation
- Memory-efficient processing of large files
Requirements
- Python 3.11 or higher
- POSIX-compliant operating system (Linux, macOS, etc.) or Windows
- Sufficient disk space for text file operations
- File system permissions for read/write operations
1. Install Python 3.11+
2. Install uv (recommended) or pip
3. Create virtual environment and install dependencies
Requirements
- Python 3.13+
- POSIX-compliant operating system (Linux, macOS, etc.) or Windows
- File system permissions for read/write operations
Installation
Run via uvx
Installing via Smithery
To install Text Editor Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:
Manual Installation
1. Install Python 3.13+
2. Install uv (recommended) or pip
3. Create virtual environment and install dependencies
Usage
Start the server:
MCP Tools
The server provides several tools for text file manipulation:
get_text_file_contents
Get the contents of one or more text files with line range specification.
**Request:**
The tool accepts a files array. Each file contains one or more line ranges using
start and end. File paths must be absolute.
Parameters:
- file_path: Absolute path to the text file
- start: First line to read (1-based)
- end: Last line to read (inclusive); null reads through end of file
- encoding: File encoding for all requested files (default: utf-8)
**Response:**
The top-level object is keyed by absolute file path. file_hash protects the
whole-file state; each range_hash protects the corresponding range.