Remotify MCP vs SSH MCP Server
A side-by-side look at the Remotify MCP and SSH MCP Server MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Remotify MCP for command line work as a local process; choose SSH MCP Server for command line as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Remotify MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Command Line domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
DOMAIN, SCHEME, PUBLIC_PORT, NGINX_MODE, SESSION_TTL, LONGPOLL_MS, MAX_BODY_SIZE, CERTBOT_EMAIL. - You want tools like
remote_exec, remote_session_info, remote_session_reset.
Choose SSH MCP Server when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Command Line domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
SSH_PROFILES_FILE. - You want tools like
ssh_exec, ssh_file_read, ssh_file_write.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Command Line | Command Line |
| Quality signal | 65/100 · Great | 63/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | DOMAINSCHEMEPUBLIC_PORTNGINX_MODESESSION_TTLLONGPOLL_MSMAX_BODY_SIZECERTBOT_EMAIL | SSH_PROFILES_FILE |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 3 | 6 |
| Directory activity | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 18 |
| Full listing | View Remotify MCP | View SSH MCP Server |
Tools & capabilities
Remotify MCP tools 3
remote_execExecute a shell command on the PROJECT'S REMOTE SERVER via the remotify relay (the deployed/production/staging box, NOT the developer's local machine). Examples: 'check disk usage', 'restart the service', 'tail the app log', 'query the prod DB', 'is port 443 open in prod', 'what version is running in staging'. Chain this tool freely for iterative work - log analysis with grep/awk/sed/head/tail, narrowing a search, cross-checking outputs, diagnosing slow services with ps/vmstat/netstat/iostat. Each call saves a manual copy-paste roundtrip; only surface the meaningful result or synthesis to the user. In supervised mode the operator approves each command on the remote via y/N prompt, so no extra confirmation is needed from the assistant. Returns combined stdout+stderr as plain text on success. HARD RULE: the user connects the remote by pasting a listener one-liner; that is the ONLY execution path. NEVER fall back to ssh, scp, or any other transport, and NEVER try to start the listener yourself. The user chose remotify precisely so that no agent gets shell access. Pending handling: the response text may start with one of these markers. '[pending]' WITH paste one-liners = no remote listener is connected; nothing can run until the user pastes one. STOP: end your turn immediately with a short message that shows BOTH one-liners (supervised and auto) verbatim in a fenced code block. Do not call any tool after that message: hosts collapse text written between tool calls, so the one-liners only reach the user as the final message of the turn. The command stays queued; when the user replies that the listener is running, call remote_exec again with the EXACT SAME arguments to collect the output. It will not execute twice. '[pending]' WITHOUT one-liners = the listener is online but the relay cannot confirm pickup yet. Call remote_exec again with the EXACT SAME arguments; loop silently, do not ask the user anything, and give up only after about 10 consecutive [pending] responses. '[in-flight]' = the command IS already being executed on the remote (cmd was picked up, no output yet). In that case: 1. Do NOT give up. Long operations (mongodump, restic, rsync, big installs, slow restarts) routinely take many minutes. 2. Call remote_exec again with the EXACT SAME arguments; the relay will return the output the moment the command finishes. 3. Do NOT tell the user the listener disconnected; do NOT ask them to re-paste the listener; do NOT switch to a different command. 4. There is no LLM-side retry cap on '[in-flight]'; keep waiting until the result lands or the relay returns something else. '[busy]' = you tried to issue a NEW command while a previous one is still executing on the remote. Each session is single-flight (one command at a time). In that case: 1. If you know the previous command, call remote_exec with ITS exact arguments first to drain its result, then issue the new one. 2. If you do NOT know it (e.g. it was issued by an earlier session), keep calling remote_exec with the NEW command's arguments: stale state left by a dead session is cleared automatically (see '[recovered]'). 3. If the [busy] response contains paste one-liners, the listener is disconnected and the wedge can ONLY clear once the user reconnects it: end your turn with BOTH one-liners verbatim, exactly as for a no-listener [pending]. '[recovered]' = wedged state left by a dead session/listener was cleared automatically. Read the rest of the message: either the command already proceeded, or you are asked to call remote_exec again with the EXACT SAME arguments. '[resumed]' = the returned output was already waiting on the relay and belongs to the most recent run (e.g. you re-issued a command after an interruption). Use it if it matches what you expected; if not, issue the command again. '[unknown-result]' = the session expired while the command was already running on the remote. Its output was lost and it may or may not have completed. A new session was minted; end your turn with BOTH reconnect one-liners verbatim, then decide whether re-running is safe once the user is back. The server will NOT silently re-run it. '[session-renewed]' = the session key changed; the one-liners that follow are for the NEW key. Treat it like a no-listener [pending]: end your turn with both lines verbatim.remote_session_infoReturn the current relay session: key, URLs, and the exact one-liners to paste on the remote machine to start the listener (remote_quickstart = supervised, y/N per command; remote_quickstart_auto = unattended). When you show them to the user, show BOTH verbatim in a fenced code block and make them the final message of your turn.remote_session_resetRecover a wedged remotify session. Default (no arguments): clear stuck relay state in place - drops any queued command/result and the in-flight marker; the session key and a connected listener keep working. With {"rotate": true}: abandon the current session and mint a brand-new key - the old key dies, the remote listener disconnects, and the user must paste the NEW runner one-liner (returned by this tool) on the remote. Normally NOT needed: remote_exec auto-recovers from stale state by itself. Use it only when remote_exec stays wedged (repeated [busy] for a command you never issued) despite same-args retries, or when the user explicitly asks to reset or rotate the session.
SSH MCP Server tools 18
ssh_execRuns one command or a list of them on a server, each with its own exit code, stdout and stderr. Work measured in minutes belongs in detach, not in a longer timeout. Reach for it last — files, logs, transfers, health and jobs each have a tool that batches the round trips and parses the answer.ssh_file_readReads text files from a server, several of them in one call. A file it could not read is named with the reason, never returned empty or cut short as if that were the content. To look for something inside logs rather than read them, ssh_log_search greps on the server.ssh_file_writeWrites text files on a server, several in one call, each with its own path, permissions, owner and sudo. A file is replaced whole and never appears half-written; there is no append. For something that already exists on this machine, use ssh_upload.ssh_file_listLists a directory on a server: every entry with its size, mode, owner and modification time, as fields. A directory it was not allowed to enter is named rather than left out, and a listing cut short by the output limit says so. To see what is inside a file, use ssh_file_read.ssh_job_statusReports the state of a detached job, with the last lines it wrote so you can see where it got to. lost means no exit code was left behind, not that the work failed — ssh_job_output still has the output.ssh_job_outputReturns what a detached job has written so far, stdout and stderr together, from a byte offset you choose. For whether the job is still running rather than what it printed, ssh_job_status answers in one line.ssh_job_listLists the detached jobs on a machine with their state, jobs started with sudo included — for when an id was not kept. Ids and states only; for what a job printed, use ssh_job_output.ssh_job_killStops a detached job and everything it started — the signal reaches the whole process group. A job that had already finished is reported as gone, not as a refusal.ssh_log_tailReturns the last lines of one or more log files, whatever their size — nothing is shipped here to be trimmed locally. A container is read by name instead of by path, through the file its driver writes. To look for something rather than read the end, use ssh_log_search.ssh_log_searchGreps log files on the server and returns the matching lines with their paths, or the paths alone when line bodies are not wanted. An empty answer means no match, never a failed search — files that could not be read are listed apart. For the tail of a file rather than a search through it, ssh_log_tail is cheaper. A container is searched by name instead of by path.ssh_snapshotReports how a machine is doing right now: cpu, memory, disk, containers, listening ports, services and recent errors, in one round trip. Whatever could not be measured comes back null and marked unavailable, never as a zero that reads like an idle machine. For how the machine is set up rather than how it is running, use ssh_audit_baseline.ssh_monitorLooks after the SSH connections themselves, not the machines behind them: lists the configured profiles, tests one, reports pool statistics, closes a connection or reloads the profile file. Start here on a machine you have not used yet — test names the state before anything else runs.- +6 more on 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.
Remotify MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"remotify-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"remotify-mcp@latest"
],
"env": {
"DOMAIN": "YOUR_DOMAIN_HERE",
"SCHEME": "YOUR_SCHEME_HERE",
"PUBLIC_PORT": "YOUR_PUBLIC_PORT_HERE",
"NGINX_MODE": "YOUR_NGINX_MODE_HERE",
"SESSION_TTL": "YOUR_SESSION_TTL_HERE",
"LONGPOLL_MS": "YOUR_LONGPOLL_MS_HERE",
"MAX_BODY_SIZE": "YOUR_MAX_BODY_SIZE_HERE",
"CERTBOT_EMAIL": "YOUR_CERTBOT_EMAIL_HERE"
}
}
}
}
SSH MCP Server
{
"mcpServers": {
"ssh-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@hypnosis/ssh-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"SSH_PROFILES_FILE": "YOUR_SSH_PROFILES_FILE_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Remotify MCP is categorized under Command Line and uses a local stdio subprocess. SSH MCP Server belongs to Command Line and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Remotify MCP for command line work and SSH MCP Server 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.
Remotify MCP is listed as free. SSH MCP Server 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 remotify-mcp and ssh-mcp-server as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Remotify MCP has a quality signal of 65/100 (Great) with 4 views, 0 installs and 3 GitHub stars. SSH MCP Server has 63/100 (Good) with 3 views, 0 installs and 6 GitHub stars.