git-mcp-server

A secure, git-aware MCP server for working with local repositories inside LM Studio (or any MCP host).

Features

Full file access — read, write, edit, create, delete, move, search
Shell execution — run commands in allowed directories with blocked dangerous patterns
Complete git workflow — status, diff, log, branch, checkout, add, commit, push, pull, stash
Path sandboxing — every operation is validated against your allowed directories; path traversal is blocked
No network calls — inference stays local, this server never phones home

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
npm
git

Installation

# 1. Clone or copy this folder somewhere permanent
cd ~/tools
git clone <this-repo> git-mcp-server  # or just copy the folder

# 2. Install dependencies
cd git-mcp-server
npm install

# 3. Build
npm run build

After build, the server binary is at dist/index.js.

Configure LM Studio

Open Developer tab → Install → Edit mcp.json in LM Studio and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "git-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/git-mcp-server/dist/index.js",
        "--allow-dir", "/path/to/your/repo"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Multiple repos

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "git-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/git-mcp-server/dist/index.js",
        "--allow-dir", "/home/user/projects/repo-one",
        "--allow-dir", "/home/user/projects/repo-two"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Using environment variable instead

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "git-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/git-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "ALLOWED_DIRS": "/home/user/projects/repo-one:/home/user/projects/repo-two"
      }
    }
  }
}

On Windows use ; as the separator in ALLOWED_DIRS.

Security model

| Layer | What it does | |---|---| | Path sandboxing | Every file/shell operation resolves the absolute path and checks it starts with an allowed dir. Path traversal (../) is blocked. | | Shell blocklist | rm -rf, sudo, mkfs, dd of=, curl \| sh, eval, and similar patterns are rejected before execution. | | No root directories | You must explicitly list allowed dirs — there is no "allow everything" mode. | | Delete is file-only | delete_file refuses to delete directories; use run_command for that explicitly. | | LM Studio confirmation | LM Studio shows a confirmation dialog for every tool call, so you review before anything executes. |

Available tools

File tools

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | read_file | Read a single file | | read_multiple_files | Read several files in one call | | list_directory | List entries in a directory | | directory_tree | Recursive tree view (depth-limited) | | write_file | Write / overwrite a file | | edit_file | Targeted search-and-replace (returns diff) | | create_directory | Create directory with parents | | delete_file | Delete a file (not directories) | | move_file | Move or rename within allowed dirs | | search_files | Regex search across a directory |

Shell

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | run_command | Run a shell command in an allowed directory |

Git

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | git_status | Working tree status | | git_diff | Diff working tree, index, or refs | | git_log | Commit history | | git_branch | List, create, delete, rename branches | | git_checkout | Switch branches / create new ones | | git_add | Stage files | | git_commit | Commit staged changes | | git_push | Push to remote | | git_pull | Pull from remote (merge or rebase) | | git_stash | Save, pop, list, or drop stashes |

Example prompts

Once connected in LM Studio:

"Show me the status of the repo at ~/projects/myapp"
"List all branches and tell me which has the most recent commit"
"Read src/index.ts and refactor the error handling"
"Stage all modified files and commit with the message 'fix: handle null case'"
"Search for all usages of fetchUser across the repo"
"Create a new branch called feature/auth and switch to it"

Recommended models for code work

Good tool-calling support is required. These work well locally:

Qwen3 8B / 14B — excellent function calling, strong at code
Llama 4 Scout — solid tool use, good multilingual support
Mistral 7B Instruct — fast, reliable for single-tool workflows

Q4_K_M quantization is the recommended starting point.

MCP Servers