Files.com MCP Server

The files-com-mcp Python package lets your AI application interact with Files.com. It is for local use only and supports STDIO only: your MCP client starts the package as a subprocess on the same machine.

For MCP connections over a network, use the Files.com hosted MCP service.

Set FILES_COM_API_KEY in the environment your client passes to the subprocess. The local package makes outbound requests to the Files.com API to perform site operations.

Files.com is the cloud-native, next-gen MFT, SFTP, and secure file-sharing platform that replaces brittle legacy servers with one always-on, secure fabric. Automate mission-critical file flows—across any cloud, protocol, or partner—while supporting human collaboration and eliminating manual work.

With universal SFTP, AS2, HTTPS, and 50+ native connectors backed by military-grade encryption, Files.com unifies governance, visibility, and compliance in a single pane of glass.

Introduction

The Files.com Python MCP package lets Claude Desktop and other local MCP clients upload and download files, query folders, manage users, and run automations on your Files.com site. It uses the permissions of your API key, and its actions are logged like those of any other API client.

The Python package supports local use over STDIO (standard input and output) only. Your MCP client starts it on the same machine and communicates directly with that process, without a network listener. The package still needs outbound access to the Files.com API.

What MCP Is

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standard interface through which a Large Language Model calls real APIs as part of its work. An MCP server hands the model a set of tools, and each Files.com tool is an authenticated operation in your site. With the server connected, the model can:

• Transfer files between cloud and on-premises systems
• Query folders and file metadata
• Create and manage users
• Automate workflows such as archiving or sharing

Common Use Cases

Assistants for operations teams. An internal chatbot fetches or archives files on request.

Automated workflows. An agent reacts to an incoming support request, then retrieves or uploads the files the case needs.

Developer copilots. A development-focused LLM creates users, provisions folders, or reads files while debugging.

Local vs. Hosted MCP

Use the local Python package with clients that launch STDIO servers, including Claude Desktop.

For clients that connect to MCP over a network, use the Files.com hosted MCP service. Files.com operates the server, so you do not need to install the Python package. Running the Python package as an HTTP or SSE service is unsupported, including during development.

Install uv, register uvx files-com-mcp as an MCP server in your LLM client, and give it a Files.com API key in the FILES_COM_API_KEY environment variable.

https://pypi.org/project/files-com-mcp/

Installation

The files-com-mcp Python package lets your MCP client call the Files.com API through a process running on your machine. It supports local use over STDIO (standard input and output) only. For clients that connect to MCP over a network, use the Files.com hosted MCP service.

Requirements

Your MCP client must be able to start a local STDIO server. Your machine needs outbound access to the Files.com API.

The examples run the server with uvx, which is part of uv. It runs a Python tool in an isolated environment of its own, so there is nothing to install or configure by hand beyond uv itself. Install uv first.

Registering The Server

Set your client's local STDIO server command to uvx with files-com-mcp as the argument. uvx downloads the package on first use and starts it each time your client launches the server.

The Claude Desktop configuration shows these settings in JSON. For other clients, follow their instructions for adding a local STDIO server.

Authentication

The server authenticates to Files.com with an API key, read from the FILES_COM_API_KEY environment variable that your client passes to it. The model can do exactly what the key's user can do, so create a key for this purpose with the permissions the agent needs and no more.

Restricting Local File Transfers

Optionally set FILES_COM_LOCAL_ROOT in your client's server environment to an existing absolute directory path, such as /home/user/Documents. Uploads can only read files within that directory and its children, and downloads can only write there. When the variable is omitted or empty, transfers can use any local path accessible to the server.

The server resolves .. and symbolic links before checking each path. Relative transfer paths are resolved from the server's working directory and must still stay inside the configured directory. A download can create a new file in an existing directory within the boundary. A nonempty value must name an existing absolute directory; otherwise, the server will not start.

This setting applies to local transfer paths. Files.com paths continue to follow the API key's permissions.

uvx files-com-mcp

FILES_COM_API_KEY=your-api-key uvx files-com-mcp

FILES_COM_API_KEY=your-api-key FILES_COM_LOCAL_ROOT=/home/user/Documents uvx files-com-mcp

Using With Claude

Claude Desktop uses the Files.com Python MCP package to call the Files.com API from your machine. This setup supports local use over STDIO (standard input and output) only. For a network connection to MCP, use the Files.com hosted MCP service.

Claude Desktop reads its MCP servers from claude_desktop_config.json. Add the entry on the right under mcpServers, replace the FILES_COM_API_KEY value with a Files.com API key, and restart Claude Desktop. The MCP quickstart shows where the file lives on each operating system, walking through the same steps for another server.

The entry starts the server with uvx, so uv has to be installed first; see Installation.

Once Claude has restarted, the Files.com tools appear in its tool list. Tools lists them by category and explains why it pays to enable only the ones a task needs.

To restrict local uploads and downloads, optionally add "FILES_COM_LOCAL_ROOT": "/home/user/Documents" alongside FILES_COM_API_KEY in the env object, using an existing absolute directory on your machine. Restart Claude Desktop after changing it. See Restricting Local File Transfers for details.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Files.com": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "files-com-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FILES_COM_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

The Files.com MCP server exposes the tools below, grouped by category: files, folders, sharing, users, logs, automations and the other Files.com resources. Each tool is one operation in your site, run with the permissions of the API key the server holds.

Keep The Toolset Focused

A model picks the right tool more reliably from a short list. If the LLM uses Files.com tools inconsistently, it is most likely choosing among too many. Most clients let you enable and disable an MCP server's tools one by one; enable only the ones the agent's task needs.

Automations

Tool	Description
Find_Automation	Show Automation
List_Automation	List Automations

File System

Tool	Description
Copy_File	Copy File/Folder
Create_Folder	Create Folder
Delete_File	Delete File/Folder
Find_File	Find File/Folder by Path
Gpg_Decrypt_File	Decrypt a GPG-encrypted file and save it to a destination path.
Gpg_Encrypt_File	Encrypt a file with GPG and save it to a destination path.
List_For_Folder	List Folders by Path
Move_File	Move File/Folder
Transform_File	Transform a file and save the output to a destination path.
Unzip_File	Extract a ZIP file to a destination folder.
Zip_File	Create a ZIP from one or more paths and save it to a destination path.
Zip_List_Contents_File	List the contents of a ZIP file.

Integrations

Tool	Description
Find_Remote_Server	Show Remote Server
List_Remote_Server	List Remote Servers

Logging

Tool	Description
List_Action_Log	List Action Logs
List_Api_Request_Log	List API Request Logs
List_Automation_Log	List Automation Logs
List_Email_Log	List Email Logs
List_Exavault_Api_Request_Log	List Exavault API Request Logs
List_External_Event	List External Events
List_File_Migration_Log	List File Migration Logs
List_For_File_History	List history for specific file.
List_For_Folder_History	List history for specific folder.
List_For_User_History	List history for specific user.
List_Ftp_Action_Log	List FTP Action Logs
List_History	List site full action history.
List_Inbound_S3_Log	List Inbound S3 Logs
List_Logins_History	List site login history.
List_Outbound_Connection_Log	List Outbound Connection Logs
List_Public_Hosting_Request_Log	List Public Hosting Request Logs
List_Scim_Log	List Scim Logs
List_Settings_Change	List Settings Changes
List_Sftp_Action_Log	List SFTP Action Logs
List_Sync_Log	List Sync Logs
List_Web_Dav_Action_Log	List WebDAV Action Logs

Sharing / Share Links

Tool	Description
Create_Bundle	Create Share Link
Create_Bundle_Notification	Create Share Link Notification
Create_Bundle_Recipient	Create Share Link Recipient
Delete_Bundle	Delete Share Link
Delete_Bundle_Notification	Delete Share Link Notification
Find_Bundle	Show Share Link
Find_Bundle_Notification	Show Share Link Notification
List_Bundle	List Share Links
List_Bundle_Download	List Share Link Downloads
List_Bundle_Notification	List Share Link Notifications
List_Bundle_Recipient	List Share Link Recipients
List_Bundle_Registration	List Share Link Registrations
Update_Bundle	Update Share Link
Update_Bundle_Notification	Update Share Link Notification

User Accounts

Tool	Description
Create_Group	Create Group
Create_Permission	Create Permission
Create_User	Create User
Delete_Group	Delete Group
Delete_Permission	Delete Permission
Delete_User	Delete User
Find_Group	Show Group
Find_User	Show User
List_Group	List Groups
List_Permission	List Permissions
List_User	List Users
Update_Group	Update Group
Update_User	Update User

Authentication

The Files.com MCP uses API key authentication.

Authenticate with an API Key

Authenticating with an API key is the recommended authentication method for most scenarios, and is the method used in the examples on this site.

To use an API Key, first generate an API key from the web interface or via the API or an SDK.

Note that when using a user-specific API key, if the user is an administrator, you will have full access to the entire API. If the user is not an administrator, you will only be able to access files that user can access, and no access will be granted to site administration functions in the API.

Don't forget to replace the placeholder, YOUR_API_KEY, with your actual API key.

Sort and Filter

Several of the Files.com API resources have list operations that return multiple instances of the resource. The List operations can be sorted and filtered.

Sorting

To sort the returned data, pass in the sort_by method argument.

Each resource supports a unique set of valid sort fields and can only be sorted by one field at a time.

Special note about the List Folder Endpoint

For historical reasons, and to maintain compatibility with a variety of other cloud-based MFT and EFSS services, Folders will always be listed before Files when listing a Folder. This applies regardless of the sorting parameters you provide. These will be used, after the initial sort application of Folders before Files.

Filtering

Filters apply selection criteria to the underlying query that returns the results. They can be applied individually or combined with other filters, and the resulting data can be sorted by a single field.

Each resource supports a unique set of valid filter fields, filter combinations, and combinations of filters and sort fields.

Filter Types

Filter	Type	Description
filter	Exact	Find resources that have an exact field value match to a passed in value. (i.e., FIELD_VALUE = PASS_IN_VALUE).
filter_prefix	Pattern	Find resources where the specified field is prefixed by the supplied value. This is applicable to values that are strings.
filter_gt	Range	Find resources that have a field value that is greater than the passed in value. (i.e., FIELD_VALUE > PASS_IN_VALUE).
filter_gteq	Range	Find resources that have a field value that is greater than or equal to the passed in value. (i.e., FIELD_VALUE >= PASS_IN_VALUE).
filter_lt	Range	Find resources that have a field value that is less than the passed in value. (i.e., FIELD_VALUE < PASS_IN_VALUE).
filter_lteq	Range	Find resources that have a field value that is less than or equal to the passed in value. (i.e., FIELD_VALUE <= PASS_IN_VALUE).

Paths

Files.com preserves the spelling of file and folder paths while comparing them using shared case and Unicode rules. Use the SDK comparison helpers when matching paths locally.

Capitalization

Files.com uses case-insensitive path matching based on its fixed Unicode comparison map.

For example, the following paths have the same comparison key:

Path Variant	Comparison Key
Documents/Reports/Q1.pdf	documents/reports/q1.pdf
documents/reports/q1.PDF	documents/reports/q1.pdf
DOCUMENTS/REPORTS/Q1.PDF	documents/reports/q1.pdf

This behavior applies across:

• API requests
• Folder and file lookup operations
• Automations and workflows

See also: Case Sensitivity Documentation

Slashes

Use / between folder and file names, without leading or trailing slashes. SDK normalization helpers convert backslashes to /, remove duplicate separators, and discard exact . and .. components. Discarding .. leaves the preceding folder name intact.

Input	Normalized path
folder/subfolder/file.txt	folder/subfolder/file.txt
/folder/subfolder/file.txt	folder/subfolder/file.txt
folder/subfolder/file.txt/	folder/subfolder/file.txt
//folder//file.txt	folder/file.txt
folder/../file.txt	folder/file.txt

Unicode and Path Comparison

Files.com compares paths using a fixed mapping shared by the server and SDKs. It treats case and many accent differences as equivalent: Résumé.txt and resume.txt identify the same file, as do q followed by a combining acute accent and q. The mapping also handles other equivalences, such as Hiragana and Katakana. Lowercasing or applying a standard Unicode normalization form alone does not reproduce these rules.

SDK comparison helpers normalize path separators and dot segments, then apply the bundled versioned comparison map. The shared examples give exact comparison results for integrations that implement their own matching. The map uses hexadecimal Unicode scalar values as keys: a missing entry preserves the character, an empty replacement removes it, and other replacements may contain several characters. Apply each replacement once without normalizing or lowercasing the result again.

Use comparison results only for matching. Send the original path spelling in API requests and preserve it for display and local filenames; comparison results can have a different spelling or length.

Trailing whitespace is significant for comparison. report.txt and report.txt are different file paths, and SDK helpers preserve spaces, tabs, and newlines. Folder names cannot end in whitespace. See Unicode Normalization for the complete path rules.

Workspaces

A Workspace is a lightweight way to organize related resources inside a single Files.com Site.

Customers commonly group resources by project, department, client, or region. Workspaces provide a built-in structure for that grouping, so the UI can operate within a clear "workspace context" and admins can delegate management for a subset of resources without requiring full site-level isolation.

Every Site has an implicit Default workspace (ID 0). Resources that are not explicitly assigned to a named workspace are considered part of the Default workspace.

Using Workspaces with the REST API

To use Workspaces with the REST API, send the following request header:

X-Files-Workspace-Id: <workspace_id>

This changes path mapping and "what you're looking at."

When the X-Files-Workspace-Id header is provided:

• List, show, update, and delete operations are constrained to that workspace for workspace-scoped models.
• Create operations default workspace_id to the scoped workspace when not explicitly provided.
• Attempts to provide a mismatching workspace_id are rejected with not-authorized/insufficient-permission-for-params.

This header only works for sitewide keys, or keys related to users with permissions to more than one workspace.

Foreign Language Support

The Files.com MCP will soon be updated to support localized responses by using a configuration method. When available, it can be used to guide the API in selecting a preferred language for applicable response content.

Language support currently applies to select human-facing fields only, such as notification messages and error descriptions.

If the specified language is not supported or the value is omitted, the API defaults to English.

Errors

Mock Server

Files.com publishes a Files.com API server, which is useful for testing your use of the Files.com SDKs and other direct integrations against the Files.com API in an integration test environment.

It is a Ruby app that operates as a minimal server for the purpose of testing basic network operations and JSON encoding for your SDK or API client. It does not maintain state and it does not deeply inspect your submissions for correctness.

Eventually we will add more features intended for integration testing, such as the ability to intentionally provoke errors.

Download the server as a Docker image via Docker Hub.

The Source Code is also available on GitHub.

A README is available on the GitHub link.

Development

Run the Python MCP package locally over STDIO when developing or modifying tools. Upload and Download tools rely on the file system where the MCP is running. For network connections, use the Files.com hosted MCP service.

To test LLM tools we recommend a popular command-line program called inspector. This will start a WebUI on a local port, the output of the command will give you the link to the inspector GUI. Ex: http://127.0.0.1:6274

Development - STDIO

FILES_COM_API_KEY="dummyKey" npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv run -m files_com_mcp

Development Claude Config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Files.com": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/folder-containing-files_com_mcp",
        "run",
        "-m",
        "files_com_mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FILES_COM_API_KEY": "CHangeME"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Registry Metadata

mcp-name: com.files/python-mcp