Claude Desktop Setup

Configuration File Location

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Recommended Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem-ultra": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\filesystem-ultra-v4.exe",
      "args": [
        "--compact-mode",
        "--max-response-size", "5MB",
        "--max-search-results", "50",
        "--max-list-items", "100",
        "--log-level", "error",
        "--cache-size", "200MB",
        "--parallel-ops", "8",
        "C:\\your\\project\\path\\"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Parameter Reference

Token Optimization Parameters

Parameter	Value	Description	Token Savings
`--compact-mode`	-	Enables minimal responses	shorter responses
`--max-response-size`	`5MB`	Limits response size	Prevents massive responses
`--max-search-results`	`50`	Limits search results	smaller search output
`--max-list-items`	`100`	Limits directory listings	smaller listing output

Performance Parameters

Parameter	Value	Description
`--cache-size`	`200MB`	Memory cache size (larger = better performance)
`--parallel-ops`	`8`	Concurrent operations (balance for most systems)
`--log-level`	`error`	Only log errors (reduces overhead)

Security Parameters

The final positional arguments are allowed paths:

C:\\your\\project\\path\\ - Your project directory
Add multiple paths as needed

Configuration Profiles

Profile A: Minimal Token Usage (Recommended)

{
  "args": [
    "--compact-mode",
    "--max-response-size", "5MB",
    "--max-search-results", "50",
    "--max-list-items", "100",
    "--log-level", "error",
    "--cache-size", "200MB",
    "--parallel-ops", "8"
  ]
}

Result:

Minimal token usage
Faster responses (less serialization overhead)
Compact responses
Less visual detail

Profile B: Balanced

{
  "args": [
    "--compact-mode",
    "--max-response-size", "10MB",
    "--max-search-results", "200",
    "--max-list-items", "300",
    "--log-level", "info",
    "--cache-size", "200MB",
    "--parallel-ops", "8"
  ]
}

Result:

Good token savings
More search results
Balance between detail and efficiency

Profile C: Verbose (Original Mode)

{
  "args": [
    "--max-response-size", "20MB",
    "--max-search-results", "1000",
    "--max-list-items", "500",
    "--log-level", "info",
    "--cache-size", "200MB",
    "--parallel-ops", "8"
  ]
}

Result:

Maximum visual detail
Complete responses
Higher token usage

Usage Scenarios

Active Development (Many Operations)

Use: Profile A (Minimal Token Usage)

When performing many file operations, edits, and searches:

100+ operations per session
Frequent searches
Large directory listings
Priority: Minimize tokens

Debugging / Deep Analysis

Use: Profile C (Verbose)

When you need all details:

Debugging issues
Detailed file analysis
Full statistics
Priority: Maximum information

General Use

Use: Profile B (Balanced)

For typical daily work:

Mixed operations
Balance between tokens and detail
Priority: Balance

Token Savings

--compact-mode returns one-line summaries for directory listings, status checks, and search results. It is especially effective for large directories and broad searches, because it avoids rendering file URLs, full context blocks, and verbose headers. The exact savings depend on your project structure and query patterns, so measure with your own workload rather than assuming a fixed percentage.

Test Commands

After configuring, test these commands in Claude:

1. Verify Configuration

Show server_info with action stats

Expected (compact-mode):

ops/s:2016.0 hit:98.9% mem:40.3MB ops:2547

2. Test Listing

List the contents of [your folder]

Expected (compact-mode):

[path]: file1.txt, file2(5KB), folder/, ...

3. Test Writing

Write 'test' to C:\temp\test.txt

Expected (compact-mode):

OK: 4B written

Troubleshooting

Problem: Claude still shows long responses

Solution: Verify --compact-mode is in the args without JSON syntax errors.

Problem: Executable not found

Solution: Verify the full path in command. Use double backslashes \\ on Windows.

Problem: Access denied to files

Solution: Add the necessary paths as individual arguments at the end of args.

Problem: Responses too short, missing information

Solution: Remove --compact-mode to return to verbose mode with full details.

Backup System Configuration

Basic Configuration

To enable automatic backups, add the backup directory to allowed paths:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem-ultra": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\filesystem-ultra-v4.exe",
      "args": [
        "--compact-mode",
        "--max-response-size", "5MB",
        "--backup-dir", "C:\\Backups\\MCP",
        "C:\\your\\project\\",
        "C:\\Backups\\MCP"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Important: The backup directory MUST be in allowed paths.

Available Backup Parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
`--backup-dir`	`%TEMP%\mcp-batch-backups`	Directory for backups
`--backup-max-age`	`7`	Days to retain backups
`--backup-max-count`	`100`	Maximum backups to keep
`--risk-threshold-medium`	`20.0`	% change for MEDIUM risk
`--risk-threshold-high`	`75.0`	% change for HIGH risk
`--risk-occurrences-medium`	`50`	Occurrences for MEDIUM risk
`--risk-occurrences-high`	`100`	Occurrences for HIGH risk

Advanced Backup Configuration

{
  "args": [
    "--compact-mode",
    "--backup-dir", "C:\\Backups\\MCP",
    "--backup-max-age", "14",
    "--backup-max-count", "200",
    "--risk-threshold-medium", "40.0",
    "--risk-threshold-high", "60.0",
    "C:\\your\\project\\",
    "C:\\Backups\\MCP"
  ]
}

Benefits:

Automatic protection against code loss
Risk validation before massive changes
Quick recovery with backup (action: “restore”)
Complete audit trail of changes

See Backups and Recovery Guide for more information.

Trash / Soft-Delete Recovery (v4.5.11+)

When --backup-dir is configured, soft-deleted files (the default behaviour of delete_file without permanent:true) are stored under <backup-dir>/filesdelete/<sd-id>/<basename> with a metadata.json sidecar. You can recover them through the backup tool:

backup({action: "list_trash"})
backup({action: "restore_trash", sd_id: "sd-..."})
backup({action: "purge_trash", older_than_days: 30})

The Trash tab of the dashboard (v4.5.12+) shows the same entries through a web UI.

Recommended Settings for Intensive Use

For Claude Desktop with high operation volume:

--compact-mode
--max-search-results 50
--max-list-items 100
--log-level error

This reduces token usage without losing essential functionality.

Last updated: 2026-07-11 Version: 4.5.29