Remote Agents vs Shell Use
A side-by-side look at the Remote Agents and Shell Use MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Remote Agents for command line work as a local process; choose Shell Use for command line. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Remote Agents when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Command Line domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
exec, read_file, get_info.
Choose Shell Use when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Command Line domain.
- You have the keys it needs:
SHELL_USE_SESSIONS, SHELL_USE_SOCKET.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Command Line | Command Line |
| Quality signal | 56/100 · Good | 25/100 · Emerging |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | SHELL_USE_SESSIONSSHELL_USE_SOCKET |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 15 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Remote Agents | View Shell Use |
Tools & capabilities
Remote Agents tools 15
execRun a shell command (locally or on a remote agent via `agent_id`)read_fileFile operations (write requires Edit/Bypass)get_infoInspect / change an agent's mode at runtimegit_statusGit operationsschedule_addCron-style tasks on a hosttask_dispatchAutonomous AI tasks run with the host's own credentialssession_listBrowse the host's AI-chat history (claude / opencode / codex / cline / roo / kilo / zed / cursor / gemini / qwen / goose / continue); `session_get` fetches a transcript or a window around one messagesession_searchFull-text search over the host's AI-chat history — a local Tantivy (BM25) index of every provider transcript, returning ranked cited snippets with `session_id` + message position (follow up with `session_get { around_seq }` for the context)list_agentsList agents connected to the relay roomfleet_execRun an operation across the fleet — `target = all \fleet_session_searchSearch the AI-chat history across the whole fleet: every matched host queries its local index, hits merge by score with host labelsfile_searchFind files on a host, and move a file host→host (UDP, SHA-256 verified)- +3 more on the listing page
Shell Use tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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.
Remote Agents
{
"mcpServers": {
"remote-agents": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"remote-agents"
]
}
}
}
Shell Use
No confirmed install command for Shell Use yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Frequently asked questions
Remote Agents is categorized under Command Line and uses a local stdio subprocess. Shell Use belongs to Command Line and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick Remote Agents for command line work and Shell Use for command line.
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. Shell Use has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Remote Agents has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Shell Use has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. 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 remote-agents and shell-use as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Remote Agents has a quality signal of 56/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. Shell Use has 25/100 (Emerging) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.