enhanced-terminal-mcp

tsoernes/enhanced-terminal-mcp

3.2

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The Enhanced Terminal MCP Server is a standalone server that provides advanced terminal execution and binary detection capabilities, extracted and reimplemented from the Zed editor project.

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Enhanced Terminal MCP Server

A standalone Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides terminal execution, binary detection, and shell detection capabilities. This server extracts and reimplements key tools from the Zed editor project.

Features

Tools

  1. enhanced_terminal - Execute shell commands with smart async switching

    • Streaming Output: Real-time output notifications in sync mode
    • Automatically switches to background after 50 seconds (configurable)
    • PTY support with proper terminal emulation
    • Configurable working directory, shell, timeout, and output limits
    • Security denylist blocks dangerous commands
    • Returns job ID for tracking background tasks

  2. enhanced_terminal_job_status - Get status and output of background jobs

    • Check progress of long-running commands
    • Retrieve full output when complete
    • View exit codes and duration

  3. enhanced_terminal_job_list - List all jobs (running and completed)

    • See recent command history
    • Filter and limit results
    • Quick overview of job statuses

  4. enhanced_terminal_job_cancel - Cancel running background jobs (Unix only)

    • Send SIGTERM to running processes
    • Graceful termination of long-running commands

  5. detect_binaries - Detect developer tools with 16 concurrent checks

    • Scans PATH for 100+ common development tools
    • Fast parallel version detection
    • Supports filtering by category (rust_tools, python_tools, etc.)
    • Categories include: package managers, build systems, programming language tools, editors, containers, and more

Note: Shell information is automatically detected at server startup and included in the server instructions, so no separate tool call is needed to discover available shells.

Key Features

  • Streaming Output: Real-time output notifications as commands execute (sync mode)
  • Smart Async Switching: Commands automatically move to background after 50 seconds (configurable)
  • Security Denylist: Blocks dangerous commands like rm -rf /, shutdown, fork bombs, etc.
  • Job Management: Track, monitor, and cancel background jobs with rich metadata
  • Job Filtering: Filter jobs by status, tags, or working directory
  • Output Pagination: Seek into specific byte ranges of very long logs
  • Job Tags: Categorize jobs with custom tags for easy filtering
  • 16 Concurrent Checks: Fast parallel binary detection
  • PTY Support: Full terminal emulation for interactive commands

Installation

Prerequisites

  • Rust 1.70 or later
  • Cargo

Build from Source

git clone <repository-url>
# enhanced-terminal-mcp

## Sudo Workflow (Recommended)

This server handles sudo commands automatically to avoid password prompts during tool execution:

1. **First sudo command**: Triggers an askpass dialog (via `sudo -A -v`) to authenticate once
2. **Subsequent sudo commands**: Rewritten to `sudo -n` (non-interactive) and use the cached sudo timestamp
3. **Keepalive**: Background task refreshes the timestamp every 5 minutes to keep it valid

All of this is **enabled by default**. The `sudo_wrapper_applied` field in results shows when the `-n` flag was added.

### Recommended Setup: Sudoers Timestamp Sharing

For the best experience, configure sudo to share timestamps across all your sessions (not just per-TTY):

1. Create `/etc/sudoers.d/enhanced-terminal-mcp` using `visudo`:

```bash
sudo visudo -f /etc/sudoers.d/enhanced-terminal-mcp
  1. Add these lines:
Defaults !tty_tickets
Defaults timestamp_timeout=10
Defaults use_pty

  1. Benefits:

    • Prime sudo once in any terminal: sudo -v
    • The MCP server will reuse that timestamp automatically
    • No askpass dialog needed (unless timestamp expires)
    • Works across all your terminal sessions and the MCP server

  2. Security note: !tty_tickets means any process running as your user can reuse your sudo timestamp while it's valid. Keep timestamp_timeout reasonable (e.g., 10 minutes).

Alternative: Askpass-based Workflow (Default Behavior)

If you prefer not to change sudoers, the server defaults will work:

  • Default askpass path: ~/scripts/askpass-zenity.sh
  • First sudo command → askpass dialog
  • Server keeps timestamp alive → no more prompts

The server will automatically pass through these env vars for GUI askpass:

  • DISPLAY (defaults to :0)
  • WAYLAND_DISPLAY (defaults to wayland-0)
  • XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
  • DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

Configuration (Optional)

These environment variables control sudo behavior (all default to ON):

# Enable/disable sudo wrapping and keepalive (default: 1)
ENHANCED_TERMINAL_SUDO_WRAP=1
ENHANCED_TERMINAL_SUDO_KEEPALIVE=1
ENHANCED_TERMINAL_SUDO_KEEPALIVE_PRIME=1

# Custom askpass path (default: ~/scripts/askpass-zenity.sh)
ENHANCED_TERMINAL_SUDO_ASKPASS=/path/to/your/askpass.sh

# Keepalive refresh interval in seconds (default: 300, min: 30)
ENHANCED_TERMINAL_SUDO_KEEPALIVE_REFRESH_SECS=300

Debugging

Enable detailed logging to see sudo priming/wrapping behavior:

RUST_LOG=debug enhanced-terminal-mcp

Look for log lines about sudo -A -v (priming) and sudo -n (wrapping). cargo build --release


The binary will be located at `target/release/enhanced-terminal-mcp`.

## Usage

### Running the Server

The server uses stdio transport for MCP communication:

```bash
./enhanced-terminal-mcp

Configuration

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop, Zed):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "enhanced-terminal": {
      "command": "/path/to/enhanced-terminal-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Tool Examples

enhanced_terminal

Basic synchronous execution (completes quickly):

{
  "command": "ls -la",
  "cwd": ".",
  "shell": "bash"
}

Long-running command (auto-switches to background after 50 seconds):

{
  "command": "npm install",
  "cwd": "./my-project",
  "shell": "bash",
  "async_threshold_secs": 50
}

With environment variables:

{
  "command": "npm run build",
  "env_vars": {
    "NODE_ENV": "production",
    "API_KEY": "secret123"
  }
}

Force synchronous execution (wait for completion):

{
  "command": "cargo build --release",
  "force_sync": true
}

With timeout and custom denylist:

{
  "command": "docker run myimage",
  "timeout_secs": 600,
  "custom_denylist": ["docker rm", "docker system prune"]
}

With tags for job categorization:

{
  "command": "cargo build --release",
  "tags": ["build", "release"]
}
enhanced_terminal_job_status

Get full output:

{
  "job_id": "job-123",
  "incremental": false
}

Get incremental output (only new since last check):

{
  "job_id": "job-123",
  "incremental": true
}

Get paginated output (first 1000 bytes):

{
  "job_id": "job-123",
  "offset": 0,
  "limit": 1000
}

Get paginated output (next 1000 bytes):

{
  "job_id": "job-123",
  "offset": 1000,
  "limit": 1000
}
enhanced_terminal_job_list

List all jobs:

{
  "max_jobs": 50
}

Filter by status:

{
  "max_jobs": 50,
  "status_filter": ["Running", "Completed"]
}

Filter by tag:

{
  "max_jobs": 50,
  "tag_filter": "build"
}

Filter by working directory:

{
  "max_jobs": 50,
  "cwd_filter": "/home/user/project"
}

Combined filters with sort order:

{
  "max_jobs": 50,
  "status_filter": ["Completed"],
  "tag_filter": "test",
  "sort_order": "oldest"
}
enhanced_terminal_job_cancel
{
  "job_id": "job-123"
}
detect_binaries
{
  "filter_categories": ["rust_tools", "python_tools"],
  "max_concurrency": 16,
  "version_timeout_ms": 1500,
  "include_missing": false
}

Binary Categories

The detect_binaries tool supports filtering by these categories:

  • package_managers - npm, pip, cargo, dnf, apt, etc.
  • rust_tools - cargo, rustc, rustfmt, clippy
  • python_tools - python, pip, pytest, black, ruff
  • build_systems - make, cmake, ninja
  • c_cpp_tools - gcc, g++, clang, gdb
  • java_jvm_tools - java, javac
  • node_js_tools - node, deno, bun
  • go_tools - go, gofmt
  • editors_dev - vim, nvim, emacs, code
  • search_productivity - rg, fd, fzf, jq, bat, tree
  • system_perf - htop, ps, top, df, du
  • containers - docker, podman, kubectl
  • networking - curl, wget, dig
  • security - openssl, gpg, ssh-keygen
  • databases - sqlite3, psql, mysql
  • vcs - git, gh

Development

Building

cargo build

Testing

cargo test

Running Tests for Denylist

cargo test --lib denylist

Running Locally

cargo run

Security

Command Denylist

The server includes a comprehensive denylist that blocks dangerous commands:

Destructive Operations:

  • rm -rf /, rm -rf /*, rm --no-preserve-root
  • mkfs, dd if=/dev/zero, filesystem formatting
  • Writes to /dev/sda, /dev/hda

System Manipulation:

  • shutdown, reboot, halt, poweroff
  • init 0, init 6, systemctl power commands

Fork Bombs:

  • :(){:|:&};: and variants

Dangerous Permission Changes:

  • chmod 777 /, chmod -R 777 /
  • chown -R root, chown root /

Package Manager Risks:

  • Force uninstall commands across apt, yum, dnf, pacman

Other Risks:

  • Kernel module manipulation
  • Cron deletion (crontab -r)
  • Moving system directories

Custom Denylist

You can add custom patterns via the custom_denylist parameter:

{
  "command": "docker run myimage",
  "custom_denylist": ["docker rm -f", "kubectl delete"]
}

Async Threshold

Commands that exceed async_threshold_secs (default: 50 seconds) automatically switch to background execution. This prevents:

  • Long-running commands from blocking the MCP server
  • Timeout issues with package installations
  • Slow build processes hanging the interface

Set force_sync: true to disable this behavior for specific commands.

Incremental Output

Use enhanced_terminal_job_status with incremental: true for efficient polling of long-running jobs:

  • First call returns all output accumulated so far
  • Subsequent calls return only new output since last check
  • Read position tracked per job_id
  • Reset by calling with incremental: false

This enables streaming-like behavior without actual streaming infrastructure.

Output Pagination

For very long outputs, use pagination mode in enhanced_terminal_job_status:

  • Set offset to starting byte position
  • Set limit to number of bytes to return (0 = all remaining)
  • Returns has_more flag and total_length
  • Allows seeking into specific segments without retrieving full output

Example workflow:

// Get first 1000 bytes
{"job_id": "job-123", "offset": 0, "limit": 1000}
// Get next 1000 bytes
{"job_id": "job-123", "offset": 1000, "limit": 1000}
// Get all remaining
{"job_id": "job-123", "offset": 2000, "limit": 0}

Job Tags and Filtering

Tag jobs when creating them for easier organization:

{
  "command": "cargo test",
  "tags": ["test", "ci"]
}

Filter jobs by various criteria in enhanced_terminal_job_list:

  • status_filter: Match specific statuses (e.g., ["Running", "Completed"])
  • tag_filter: Show only jobs with a specific tag
  • cwd_filter: Show only jobs from a specific directory
  • sort_order: "newest" (default) or "oldest"

All filters can be combined for powerful queries.

Architecture

This server uses a modular structure with Rust 2024 edition:

  • src/main.rs - Entry point and server initialization
  • src/server.rs - MCP server implementation with tool handlers
  • src/detection/ - Binary and shell detection logic
  • src/tools/ - Terminal execution, job management, security denylist

Dependencies

  • rmcp 0.8 - Official Rust SDK for Model Context Protocol
  • tokio 1.x - Async runtime
  • portable-pty 0.8 - Cross-platform PTY support for terminal emulation
  • serde/serde_json 1.x - Serialization
  • schemars 1.0 - JSON Schema generation for tool inputs
  • anyhow 1.x - Error handling
  • nix 0.29 - Unix signal handling (Unix only)

Performance

  • 16 concurrent binary checks - Fast parallel tool detection (configurable)
  • Smart async switching - Auto-background after 50s (configurable)
  • Thread-based job execution - Efficient background task management
  • Incremental output capture - Memory-efficient streaming with read position tracking
  • No timeout by default - Set timeout_secs to enable (0 or None = no timeout)

Configuration

Default Values

  • Shell: bash (was: sh)
  • Async Threshold: 50 seconds (was: 5)
  • Timeout: None (no timeout by default, was: 300)
  • Output Limit: 16384 bytes (16KB)
  • Max Concurrency: 16 (was: 12)
  • Version Timeout: 1500 ms

License

MIT License - see file for details

Credits

Tools extracted and adapted from the Zed editor project.