# rclone [Health: Active]

**Category:** 📂 File Systems  
**Repository:** https://github.com/rclone-ui/rclone-mcp  
**GitHub Stars:** 13  
**npm Downloads (last month):** 268  
**Views:** 1  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/rclone

## Description
MCP server for the Rclone RC API, with selectable toolsets.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "rclone": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y","rclone-mcp"],
    "env": {
      "RCLONE_URL": "",
      "RCLONE_USER": "",
      "RCLONE_PASS": "",
      "RCLONE_TOOLSETS": "",
      "RCLONE_READ_ONLY": ""
    }
  }
}
```

**Requires environment variables:** `RCLONE_URL`, `RCLONE_USER`, `RCLONE_PASS`, `RCLONE_TOOLSETS`, `RCLONE_READ_ONLY` — the values above are empty placeholders; fill in real credentials before running (see the repository for what each one is for).

## Documentation

## What the rclone MCP server does

The rclone MCP server connects MCP-compatible AI assistants to a running rclone Remote Control (RC) daemon. It turns the RC API into MCP tools that an assistant can call for cloud storage administration and file operations. Supported tasks include managing remotes, listing directories, copying and synchronizing files, and accessing additional rclone API areas when their toolsets are enabled.

The implementation generates its tools from the rclone OpenAPI specification and uses the rclone SDK client. The API contains 98 endpoints in total, although the default configuration exposes 55 tools from four toolsets. This makes the rclone MCP server suitable when an assistant needs structured access to an existing rclone setup rather than direct filesystem-only operations.

## How it works

First, start the rclone RC daemon. It can run without authentication or with an HTTP Basic Auth username and password. The MCP process then sends requests to the daemon at the configured URL and presents the corresponding capabilities to the connected assistant.

The server supports two transports. Stdio is the default and is appropriate for local MCP client configurations. Streamable HTTP can be started on a selected port for remote hosting or web-based MCP clients. Toolsets are grouped by API path, so the exposed tool list can be kept focused instead of enabling every endpoint.

## Setup and configuration

Install and run the package with `npx rclone-mcp`, or build and run the supplied Docker image. Set `RCLONE_URL` when the RC daemon is not at its default address of `http://localhost:5572`. For an authenticated daemon, provide `RCLONE_USER` and `RCLONE_PASS`.

Use `RCLONE_TOOLSETS` or `--toolsets` with comma-separated values such as `operations,config`. The `default` value enables core, config, operations, and sync; `all` enables every listed toolset. Start the HTTP transport with `rclone-mcp http --port 3000`. The server can be added to Cursor or Claude Desktop as a stdio MCP entry.

## Tools and capabilities

Default toolsets cover core and RC endpoints, configuration, operations, and synchronization. Optional groups add jobs, VFS, mounts, serving, cache, debugging, backend operations, options, plugins, and filesystem cache functions. The exact tools available depend on the selected groups.

Read-only mode is enabled with `--read-only` or `RCLONE_READ_ONLY=1`. It registers only non-mutating tools, excluding actions such as copying, moving, deleting, synchronizing, creating configuration, mounting, and unmounting. This mode is useful when an assistant should inspect storage without changing it.

## Limitations and notes

The rclone MCP server requires a running rclone RC daemon; it does not replace that daemon or configure its underlying storage providers by itself. Write-capable toolsets can perform destructive or state-changing operations, so read-only mode should be considered when changes are not intended. Optional toolsets are disabled by default, and enabling `all` exposes a larger set of 98 endpoint-backed tools.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/rclone/readme_