CrossFTP Commander MCP

CrossFTP Commander MCP - AI Deploy Service

CrossFTP Commander MCP is a Model Context Protocol server built on the same engine as CrossFTP Commander. It lets AI clients such as Cursor call CrossFTP tools over stdio to validate and run uploads, deletes, and syncs — without putting passwords in tool arguments.

MCP is a component of CrossFTP Enterprise. With an Enterprise (or Site / Eval Enterprise) license on your machine, you can use CrossFTP GUI, Commander CLI, or Commander MCP from the same portable package.

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On this page:

• What Commander MCP does
• Requirements
• Onboard in five steps
• Recommended deploy workflow
• Available tools
• Security defaults
• Commander CLI vs MCP

What Commander MCP does

Your MCP client starts commander-mcp as a local stdio server. One JVM stays up for the session and exposes tools that:

• List deploy profiles and bookmark sites (no secrets)
• Validate or upload selected files under a profile
• Validate or delete remotes for removed paths
• Preview or run a full-tree sync when you explicitly need it
• Continue or abort a long-running execute after a timeout

Credentials stay in CrossFTP's bookmark store (sites.xml). Deploy profiles live in a workspace crossftp-deploy.json that maps a profile name to a site ID and optional blocklist — no passwords.

Supported protocols are the same as Commander: FTP, SFTP, FTPS, WebDav, Amazon S3, Google Storage, and related cloud protocols configured in your sites.

Requirements

• Java 17+ on the PATH (or set JAVA_HOME) for commander-mcp
• Portable package (crossftp-all-bin) that includes commander-mcp.sh / commander-mcp.bat and the mcp/ runtime libraries
• CrossFTP Enterprise license registered on that machine (GUI, Commander, or MCP share the same license home)
• At least one site bookmark whose remote path is the deploy root
• An MCP-capable client (for example Cursor) that can launch a local stdio server

Onboard in five steps

Setup video: CrossFTP Commander MCP setup guide

1. Install the portable package and Java 17+

Download the portable package, extract it, and confirm Java 17+ is available. On Windows use commander-mcp.bat; on Mac/Linux make the script executable and use commander-mcp.sh.

chmod +x ./commander-mcp.sh
java -version

Register your Enterprise license in CrossFTP GUI (Help → Register) or with Commander's registerLicense action if you have not already.

2. Create or pick a site bookmark

MCP does not add sites or edit passwords. Create the site in CrossFTP Site Manager or with Commander addSite, then copy the site ID.

Set the bookmark's remote path to the directory that should receive deploys. Prefer overwrite rules (not Ask) for headless transfers.

If your bookmarks use a custom master password, set this environment variable for the MCP process only (never put it in tool args or deploy JSON):

CROSSFTP_BOOKMARKS_MASTER_PASSWORD=your-master-password

3. Add crossftp-deploy.json in the website root

Place crossftp-deploy.json in the folder you want to deploy from (the website root). Paths the agent uploads are relative to that folder. A starter file ships as crossftp-deploy.example.json in the portable package:

{
  "version": 1,
  "profiles": {
    "website-prod": {
      "description": "Website → production",
      "site_id": "change-to-your-website-id",
      "blocklist_globs": ["**/vendor/**", "**/.env"]
    }
  }
}

Replace site_id with your site ID. Optional blocklist_globs are merged with built-in skips (for example **/.env, **/.git/**, key material).

Pass this file to MCP with --deployConfig. That path must end with crossftp-deploy.json; its parent directory becomes the workspace website root.

4. Register the server in your MCP client

Example Cursor mcp.json entry (adjust the absolute path to your portable package):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossftp-commander": {
      "command": "D:/CrossFTP/commander-mcp.bat",
      "args": [
        "--deployConfig",
        "${workspaceFolder}/crossftp-deploy.json"
      ]
    }
  }
}

On Mac/Linux, point command at commander-mcp.sh instead. Optional flags and env:

• --configDir — absolute CrossFTP config home (default ~/.crossftp)
• CROSSFTP_CONFIG_DIR / CROSSFTP_MCP_DEPLOY_CONFIG — same as the CLI flags when set in the environment
• CROSSFTP_BOOKMARKS_MASTER_PASSWORD — only when using a custom bookmark master password

Custom master password example:

"env": {
  "CROSSFTP_BOOKMARKS_MASTER_PASSWORD": "…"
}

Restart or reload MCP servers in the client after saving the config.

5. Verify the connection

From the client, call commander_show_info. You should see product, license (enterprise_capable), runtime, config paths, and a deploy summary. Then call commander_list_profiles and commander_list_sites to confirm the profile's site_id matches a site.

Recommended deploy workflow

1. Let the agent gather changed paths locally (for example git diff --name-only). MCP does not run git.
2. Call commander_upload_files or commander_delete_files with dry_run: true (default) to validate paths and remotes.
3. Review the preview. Confirm deletes carefully (each remote path).
4. Call the same tool again with dry_run: false to execute.
5. Use commander_sync only for an explicit full-tree realign — not for routine git deploys. Sync never deletes remotes missing locally (deleteUnnessary stays false); use delete for removals.

If execute times out, the transfer may still be running. Use commander_control_task with continue or abort and the returned task_id.

Available tools

commander_show_info	Product, license, runtime, paths, deploy summary
commander_list_profiles	Profiles from crossftp-deploy.json
commander_list_sites / commander_get_site	Site IDs and non-secret metadata
commander_update_site	Update non-secret fields (remote_root, host, port, username)
commander_upload_files	Validate or upload files[] under a profile
commander_delete_files	Validate or delete remotes for removed paths
commander_sync	Preview or run full workspace → remote root sync
commander_control_task	After task_timeout: continue waiting or abort

Tool responses are JSON. Validate mode returns a preview; execute mode adds transfer status and logs. Passwords and file contents are never returned.

Security defaults

• No credentials in tool arguments or MCP responses
• Paths must stay relative to the website root that contains crossftp-deploy.json
• Server-enforced blocklist plus profile blocklist_globs
• Default dry_run: true — validate before execute
• Stdio transport only; audit lines go under the CrossFTP config home (mcp/mcp-audit-*.log)

Commander CLI vs MCP

Both share the same JAR and transfer engine. Use Commander CLI for scripts, schedulers, and full site CRUD (including passwords). Use MCP when an AI client should drive validate-then-deploy from a workspace profile. Backup and scheduling scripts are covered in Commander backup.