ops MCP Server

Windows operations MCP server: file I/O, persistent sessions, build/deploy, breadcrumb tracking, reminders, and dead-drop coordination. The powershell and session_run tools enforce a 4-tier safety blocklist for destructive commands.

Version 0.3.0 · Apache 2.0 · GitHub

Part of CPC (Copy Paste Compute) - a multi-agent AI orchestration platform. Related repos: local · manager · hands · workflow · cpc-paths · cpc-breadcrumbs

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What's New in v0.3.0

v0.3.0 highlights

Feature	Detail
bash tool	Execute commands via Git Bash — mirrors powershell with allow_destructive and confirm flags
Extended blocklist	Unix-shaped T4/T3/T2 patterns: dd-to-device, fork bombs, rm -rf root, curl|sh, chmod 777, mkfs/shred, systemctl, iptables, apt
Path resolution	OPS_BASH_PATH env override → standard Git Bash locations → PATH fallback
69 tools total	+1 from v0.2.1

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Installation

Two binary artifacts ship with each release (installer is manually attached by maintainer after CI):

File	Platform	Use
ops-x64.exe	Windows x64	Main server binary
ops-aarch64.exe	Windows ARM64	Main server binary
install-ops-x64.exe	Windows x64	Companion installer (recommended for x64)

Recommended: x64 Windows - use the installer

1. Download ops-x64.exe and install-ops-x64.exe from the latest release.
2. Place both files in the same directory.
3. Run from a terminal: install-ops-x64.exe --binary ops-x64.exe
4. Follow the prompts - choose Program Files (admin) or LocalAppData (no admin).
5. Restart Claude Desktop.

The installer:

• Backs up your claude_desktop_config.json with a timestamp before touching it
• Copies ops.exe to the chosen location
• Adds (or updates) only the ops entry in mcpServers - touches nothing else
• Prints the backup path to stdout so you can revert if needed

Manual: ARM64 Windows (or x64 without the installer)

1. Download ops-aarch64.exe (or ops-x64.exe) and rename it to ops.exe.

2. Place it somewhere permanent, e.g. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Ops\ops.exe.

3. Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json and add:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "ops": {
         "command": "C:\\Users\\YourName\\AppData\\Local\\Ops\\ops.exe"
       }
     }
   }

4. Restart Claude Desktop.

ARM64 installer not yet available; it will ship in a v0.2.x patch release.

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 (x64 or ARM64)
• Claude Desktop or any MCP-compatible client

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/AIWander/ops.git
cd ops
cargo build --release

Binary appears at target/release/ops.exe. Requires Rust stable toolchain - nightly is not required.

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Configuration

Environment Variable	Default	Purpose
OPS_BREADCRUMB_PATH	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Ops\breadcrumbs\	Breadcrumb storage directory
OPS_SCRIPTS_DIR	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Ops\scripts\	Scripts directory
OPS_STATE_FILE	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Ops\state.json	State file path
RUST_MCP_DIR	(none)	Override workspace root for git/build tools

All env vars are optional. Defaults work without any configuration. See claude_desktop_config.example.json for a ready-to-paste config block.

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Tool Inventory

File I/O

Tool	Description
read_file	Read file with smart options: search for pattern, get specific lines, or auto-truncate large files
write_file	Write file, return confirmation only
append_file	Append to file, return confirmation only
list_dir	List directory contents as tree
tail_file	Return last N lines of a file plus current byte offset
search_file	Search files by name or content

Transforms

Tool	Description
transform_grep	Search files for pattern, return matching lines with context
transform_extract_lines	Extract specific line range from file
transform_diff_file	Compare two files, return diff
transform_find_replace	Find/replace in file
transform_json_format	Pretty-print JSON with proper indentation
transform_hash_file	Compute file checksum (SHA256 via PowerShell)
transform_file_stats	Get file/directory stats without reading content

Sessions

Tool	Description
session_create	Create a persistent shell session
session_run	Run command in persistent session
session_cd	Change directory in session
session_set_env	Set environment variable in session
session_get_env	Get environment variable(s) from session
session_list	List all active sessions with their state
session_destroy	Destroy a session and kill its PowerShell process

Breadcrumbs

Tool	Description
breadcrumb_start	Start tracked operation with planned steps
breadcrumb_step	Log step completion, auto-advances to next
breadcrumb_complete	Mark operation complete, trigger extraction review
breadcrumb_abort	Abort current operation with reason
breadcrumb_status	Get current operation status and progress
breadcrumb_backup	Snapshot breadcrumb state before irreversible ops

Reminders

Tool	Description
reminder_add	Create reminder with natural language time parsing
reminder_list	List reminders with optional filter
reminder_complete	Mark reminder completed
reminder_delete	Permanently remove a reminder
reminder_check_due	Return all reminders that are due now or overdue
reminder_add_recurring	Add recurring reminder (daily/weekly/monthly)
reminder_add_scheduled	Create Windows Task Scheduler reminder
reminder_list_scheduled	List Windows Task Scheduler CPC reminders
reminder_delete_scheduled	Delete Windows Task Scheduler reminder by name
system_time_check	Check elapsed time and re-surface reminders if 3+ hours passed

Health

Tool	Description
system_health_check	Check server health and update dashboard
system_health_report	Get current health dashboard
server_health	Check which MCP servers are alive

Config

Tool	Description
config_backup	Backup claude_desktop_config.json with a timestamp before editing
config_validate	Validate claude_desktop_config.json: parse JSON and check structure
mcp_rebuild	Rebuild an MCP server with backup

Build/Deploy

Tool	Description
deploy_preflight	Pre-kill safety checks before deploying/rebuilding an MCP server
deploy_smoke_test	Validate MCP server binaries before packaging
git_rollback	Rollback rust-mcp repo to a previous commit

Archives

Tool	Description
archive_create	Create zip/tar/tar.gz archive
archive_extract	Extract zip/tar/tar.gz archive
md2docx	Convert Markdown to DOCX via pandoc

Shell

Tool	Description
powershell	Execute PowerShell (4-tier blocklist enforced)

Cross-AI

Tool	Description
dead_drop_leave	Leave message in dead drop for other AI agents to find at boot
dead_drop_check	Check dead drop for unread messages
dead_drop_clear	Mark dead drop messages as read
bag_tag	Tag items into the in-memory bag for later retrieval
bag_read	Read current bag contents
bag_clear	Clear the bag

Recovery

Tool	Description
checkpoint_save	Save working memory state (survives context compaction)
checkpoint_load	Load last checkpoint
checkpoint_clear	Clear checkpoint after task completion

Utility

Tool	Description
clipboard_read	Read from Windows clipboard
clipboard_write	Write to Windows clipboard
notify	Show a Windows toast notification
kill_process	Kill process by PID
list_process	List processes, optionally filtered by name
port_check	Test TCP connectivity to a host:port
sqlite_query	Execute a read-only SQL query against a SQLite database
system_info	Get OS, CPU, RAM, disk info

Misc

Tool	Description
status	Check system or topic status
tool_fallback	Look up fallback tool when primary is unavailable

68 tools across 14 categories.

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Safety: Command Blocklist

ops enforces a 4-tier safety system on powershell and session_run. All other tools (file I/O, breadcrumbs, reminders, archives, etc.) are unrestricted.

Tier numbering: 4 is strictest (always blocked), 1 is loosest (allowed by default).

Tier	Trigger	Required flag
4 - Catastrophic	Remove-Item C:\, shadow copy deletion, boot config destruction, LOLBin execution, etc.	Always blocked
3 - Destructive	Drive format, account deletion, bulk system-path deletion	allow_destructive: true
2 - System config	Firewall rules, service management, registry writes outside HKCU	confirm: true
1 - Everything else	All other commands	Unrestricted

Full pattern list: src/security/blocklist.rs. See SECURITY.md for tier descriptions.

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Failure Modes

ops is a thin layer over real OS operations, so failures map directly to what the OS would tell you:

• Blocked command - powershell and session_run return an explicit blocklist-tier error with the matched pattern. Adjust the call or pass the appropriate flag.
• Command not found / non-zero exit - tools surface the real exit code and captured stderr. Read the error rather than retrying blindly.
• State directory not writable - occurs if %LOCALAPPDATA%\Ops\ is missing or permissions are wrong. Run doctor.ps1 to diagnose.
• Long-running process hangs - use session_* for commands that need interactive state; powershell is best for short one-shots with a hard timeout.

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Compatible With

ops is designed to work standalone - one binary, pointed at by one MCP client, and you have shell + filesystem + breadcrumbs + reminders. Pair it with other CPC servers for broader capabilities:

• local - if you need a public, stable server that ships with hooks and a dashboard
• manager - multi-backend orchestration on top of ops's execution tools
• hands - when a script needs to reach into a browser or Windows UI layer
• workflow - when scripts call APIs you've graduated from browser discovery to stored HTTP patterns

Host clients: Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json), Claude Code (~/.claude/mcp.json), OpenAI Codex CLI, or Gemini CLI.

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Contributing

Issues welcome; PRs considered but this is primarily maintained as part of the CPC stack. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

Apache License 2.0 - see LICENSE.

Copyright 2026 Joseph Wander.

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Contact

• GitHub: github.com/AIWander
• Email: josephwander@gmail.com
• Issues: github.com/AIWander/ops/issues