Balmas MCP vs Anymd
A side-by-side look at the Balmas MCP and Anymd MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Balmas MCP for file systems work as a local process; choose Anymd for file systems as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Balmas MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
BALMAS_API_KEY. - You want tools like
list_files, read_clean_file, restore_text.
Choose Anymd when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
inspect, outline, read.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Systems | File Systems |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 72/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | BALMAS_API_KEY | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 1,046 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 4 |
| Full listing | View Balmas MCP | View Anymd |
Tools & capabilities
Balmas MCP tools 3
list_filesNames, sizes, types inside allowed folders — never contentsread_clean_fileThe file's text after local anonymizationrestore_textReal values back into its output (session tokens only)
Anymd tools 4
inspectDocument and media evidence when Markdown is not enough. video_timeline (bounded scene/cue timeline) and render_frame (actual decoded frames), and cite_check (quote/location support, not semantic truth), are anymd Pro; PDF operations: inspect (page facts, metadata), render_page (PNG images), extract_regions (crop bounding boxes), ocr_pages / analyze_regions (configured OCR or vision provider), structure (JSON with document map, elements, geometry; profile quality|research adds trust and accessibility reports), compare (page-level diff of sources[0] vs sources[1]).outlineReturn a document heading tree with stable node ids, title paths, page/slide/chapter ranges and Markdown byte ranges. PDF bookmarks or detected headings, Word headings, PowerPoint slides, EPUB chapters and headings, HTML and Markdown. format json (default) or tree. Pass a node id to read to fetch that section.readRead any document as clean Markdown: PDF, Word (DOCX), PowerPoint (PPTX), Excel (XLSX/XLS/ODS), CSV, EPUB, HTML or a web URL, Markdown/text, images (metadata + OCR), audio/video (metadata, chapters, subtitles). Pages/slides/sheets carry <!-- page N --> style markers for citation. Long documents stop at max_tokens (default 20000) and end with a cursor to continue; choose pages with pages: "1-5,8". A directory returns its readable files.searchSearch documents for text: one file, many files, whole directories (recursive, .gitignore aware), or URLs, across every format read supports. Returns each hit as file + page/slide/sheet + a snippet with the match in bold. mode auto (default) finds the exact phrase and falls back to BM25-ranked passages when there is none; literal or ranked force one. Narrow directories with glob, e.g. "*.pdf".
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Balmas MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"balmas-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"balmas-mcp"
],
"env": {
"BALMAS_API_KEY": "YOUR_BALMAS_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Anymd
{
"mcpServers": {
"anymd": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@sylphx/anymd"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Balmas MCP is categorized under File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. Anymd belongs to File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Balmas MCP for file systems work and Anymd for file systems.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Balmas MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Anymd is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add balmas-mcp and anymd as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Balmas MCP has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Anymd has 72/100 (Great) with 3 views, 0 installs and 1,046 GitHub stars.
