execkit-mcp 0.8.0

execkit MCP server - stateful, structured, safe shell sessions for AI agents over local shells, SSH, and Docker.

execkit-mcp

An MCP server (stdio) that exposes execkit shell sessions to any MCP-capable agent - Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and others.

Tools

Tool	Args	Returns
session_create	transport ("local"/"ssh"/"docker"); for ssh: host, user, password or key_path, optional port, fingerprint (pin host key); for docker: container (running name/id); optional allow/deny command lists	{ "session_id": "..." }
session_exec	session_id, command, optional budget (shape output: grep/tail/head/head_tail + max_chars)	structured ExecResult JSON: stdout, stderr (split!), exit_code, duration_ms, cwd, truncated
session_destroy	session_id	{ "destroyed": true }
session_checkpoint	session_id, optional label	{ "checkpoint_id": "..." }
session_checkpoints	session_id	[{ id, label, created }]
session_restore	session_id, optional checkpoint_id	{ restored_to, files_changed }

Sessions are stateful - cd/env persist across session_exec calls. Output is ANSI-stripped, secret-redacted, and bounded; commands pass the optional policy fence before running.

Checkpoints (remote only)

On SSH/Docker sessions execkit can snapshot the workspace before changing commands and restore it on demand - a filesystem "undo." It undoes FILES only, never side effects (DB writes, network, installs).

Two requirements: git on the remote host, and an explicit workspace. Without a workspace, checkpoints and auto-snapshot are disabled - execkit will not default to the cwd or home directory (snapshotting $HOME is slow and would capture secrets). Set workspace to the project dir you want undo for (use $HOME explicitly if you really mean it).

Control it via session_create:

• workspace (root - REQUIRED to enable checkpoints)
• auto_snapshot (default true; effective only with a workspace)
• paths (sub-dirs under the root)
• checkpoint_ignores (extra gitignore-style patterns; added to the built-in defaults: .git, node_modules, build dirs, caches, .ssh, .aws, ...)

If git is absent, auto-snapshot disables itself and checkpoint calls return a clear "install git on the remote" error.

WARNING: session_restore is destructive. It reverts tracked files AND deletes ALL untracked files and directories anywhere under the workspace (via git clean), not only files created since the checkpoint. Do not restore if untracked files in the workspace must be preserved.

Output budgets

Pass budget to session_exec (or output_budget to session_create for a session default) to shape output and protect the agent's context window:

// keep the last 200 lines of a noisy build
{ "session_id": "...", "command": "npm run build",
  "budget": { "keep": { "mode": "tail", "n": 200 } } }

// grep a 50k-line log for errors, with 2 lines of context
{ "session_id": "...", "command": "cat big.log",
  "budget": { "grep": { "pattern": "error|fail", "context": 2 } } }

Shaping is line-based, client-side, and runs AFTER secret redaction; it never changes the exit code or side effects. When applied, the result includes a budget report: per-stream mode, lines_total, lines_kept.

Install

pip install execkit-mcp          # the server binary, shipped as a wheel (no Rust toolchain)
cargo install execkit-mcp        # ...or via cargo (or build from source: cargo build -p execkit-mcp)

Then check the install and your environment:

execkit-mcp --version
execkit-mcp doctor               # reports audit, SSH, and Docker readiness

Wire it into an agent

execkit-mcp is a stdio MCP server - register the installed binary with your client. The fastest way is to let it print the config with the right binary path already filled in:

execkit-mcp setup claude         # or: cursor | gemini

(cargo install puts the binary at ~/.cargo/bin/execkit-mcp; use the full path if it isn't on the client's PATH.)

Claude Code - one command:

claude mcp add execkit -- execkit-mcp        # add `-s user` to enable it everywhere

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json) and Gemini CLI (~/.gemini/settings.json) - add the same block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "execkit": { "command": "execkit-mcp" }
  }
}

To turn on auditing or other operator settings, add an env block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "execkit": {
      "command": "execkit-mcp",
      "env": { "EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT": "/var/log/execkit.jsonl" }
    }
  }
}

Then the agent can call session_create -> session_exec -> session_destroy.

Example session (what the agent sees)

// session_create {"transport":"local"}              -> {"session_id":"1_local"}
// session_exec   {"session_id":"1_local","command":"npm run build"}
//   -> {"stdout":"...","stderr":"Error: Cannot find module 'webpack'",
//       "exit_code":1,"duration_ms":3420,"cwd":"/home/u/app","truncated":false}

Security model

The agent driving these tools can be prompt-injected, so tool arguments are untrusted. Anything dangerous to the host/filesystem is therefore controlled by the operator at startup (env vars), not by per-call agent arguments:

Env var	Purpose	Default
EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT	append a JSONL audit log of every command here	off
EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT_DIR	write one JSONL file per session into this directory (<session_id>-<open_ms>.jsonl); takes precedence over EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT when both are set	off
EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT_RETENTION_DAYS	delete per-session log files older than this many days at startup (dir mode only); 0 disables	14
EXECKIT_MCP_KEY_DIR	SSH key_path must canonicalize to inside this dir	~/.ssh
EXECKIT_MCP_KNOWN_HOSTS	SSH host-key verification file (TOFU; rejects changed keys)	~/.ssh/known_hosts
EXECKIT_MCP_INSECURE_ACCEPT_ANY_HOSTKEY	DANGEROUS - disable host-key checks	unset
EXECKIT_MCP_MAX_SESSIONS	soft cap on concurrent live sessions	64
EXECKIT_MCP_SESSION_TTL	reap sessions idle longer than this many seconds (frees the process + cap slot); 0 disables	1800 (30 min)
EXECKIT_MCP_POLICY_FILE	JSON allow/deny (program names) + deny_patterns (regex) the agent cannot edit; advisory	off
EXECKIT_MCP_WATCH_WEB	Start the read-only browser viewer (loopback + URL token) and surface its URL via an MCP notification; the URL is stable across restarts so an open tab reconnects	off
EXECKIT_MCP_WATCH_PORT	Port for the viewer (the URL must stay stable for reconnect); falls back to a random port if taken	7878
EXECKIT_MCP_WATCH_OPEN	Also auto-open the browser at the viewer URL (default: just show the link)	off

• Host keys are verified by default (TOFU against known_hosts; a changed key is rejected as a likely MITM). Pass a fingerprint to require an exact key, or set the insecure env var only for throwaway/test hosts.
• key_path is sandboxed to EXECKIT_MCP_KEY_DIR; out-of-bounds/traversal paths are rejected with a generic error (no path-existence leak).
• Audit destination is operator-chosen, never a tool argument (prevents an injected agent from writing to arbitrary files).
• Docker sessions run docker exec against any container the daemon can see, so the agent reaches whatever your docker context exposes. Grant the server Docker access only when you want that, and scope the daemon/context accordingly.
• The server speaks MCP on stdout; all diagnostics go to stderr.
• Use allow/deny for a command fence, and run the agent + SSH user with least privilege. The fence is advisory - defense in depth, not a sandbox.

Watch live activity (read-only)

Point EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT at a file, then watch it from another terminal:

execkit-mcp watch /var/log/execkit.jsonl   # or just: execkit-mcp watch  (uses $EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT)

watch also accepts a directory - it tails every *.jsonl file in it and picks up new session files as they appear:

execkit-mcp watch /var/log/execkit/        # or: execkit-mcp watch  (uses $EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT_DIR)

watch is a live, read-only TUI: the agent's sessions on the left, the selected session's shell transcript on the right (prompt, command, stdout, stderr in red, exit status) - rendered like a normal shell, not JSON. Switch sessions with 1-9 or the arrow keys, scroll with PgUp/PgDn, quit with q. It only ever reads the log and never touches a session. Because the data comes from the server (not the client), it works the same under any MCP client (Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini, ...).

For a headless or background view - no terminal required, pipeable - use --follow instead of the TUI. It prints each command and its output as a line, prefixed with the session id, as it happens:

execkit-mcp watch --follow /var/log/execkit/
# [1_local]              /home/u $ npm run build
# [1_local]              x exit 1  (3420ms)
# [2_ssh_deploy@web-01]  /srv $ systemctl restart app

Session ids are self-identifying - <n>_local, <n>_ssh_<user>@<host>[:port], or <n>_docker_<container> - so the audit filenames and the stream read clearly at a glance.

Live viewer in your browser

execkit-mcp watch --serve [--open] <audit-file-or-dir> serves the transcript as a local web page (127.0.0.1 only, single-use URL token in the link). Add --open to launch your browser at it. The MCP server also starts it automatically when EXECKIT_MCP_WATCH_WEB is set (it prints the link and pushes it as a notification; the link is stable across restarts so an open tab reconnects).

Reading the page:

• Sidebar - sessions grouped by transport (local, ssh, docker) in collapsible accordions. The number on a group header is the count of sessions in it (ssh (2)); the number on a session row is its command count - how many commands ran (deploy@web-01 (7)), with the exact count on hover. The active session is highlighted with a dot.
• Transcript colors (legend in the header): the prompt line cwd $ command is cyan (cmd), stdout is default (out), stderr and failing exits are red (err), a clean exit is green (ok), and session/markers are dimmed. Each command shows its exit code and duration. Click a legend item to show/hide that line type (e.g. click out to hide stdout and skim just the commands and errors).
• Search - press / to find within the current transcript; matches are highlighted with a running n / m count, Enter / Shift+Enter (or the next/prev buttons) step through them, and Esc clears. Press e (or "next err") to jump to the next error/blocked line.
• Bottom status bar - the connection state (connected / disconnected - retrying) on the left. On the right it shows details of the currently selected session - its id, transport, command count, live/closed state, and absolute last-activity time - and stays there as you browse. Click it to copy the session id. An action (e.g. Exported 1_local.md, Renamed to ..., Pinned to top) flashes briefly, then the bar reverts to the session's details.
• History - past sessions from EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT_DIR (one file per session) appear under "History", newest first, each with a relative time (5m ago; hover for the absolute last-activity timestamp); click one to view its transcript read-only. The list and last-activity times refresh automatically. Requires dir-mode auditing; with a single EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT file there is no per-session history.
• Per-session actions (the 3-dots menu on a row): Rename (inline edit; a display alias only), Pin to the top, Keep (retain in history past the trim limit), Export to .txt / .log / .md / .json, and Screenshot to .png.

Renames, pins, keeps, and the sidebar width persist in ~/.execkit/viewer-state.json (mode 0600). That file is the viewer's only write surface: it holds display metadata only and can never affect a session, command, or the audit log. The page itself is read-only - it only reads the audit stream and that one metadata file.

In the agent's client (no terminal, no audit log)

The server also pushes each command to your MCP client as it runs, as standard MCP notifications - so a host agent can show its own shell activity live without anyone opening a watch terminal. Every session_exec emits:

• a log notification (notifications/message) carrying the full shell transcript - info on success, warning on a non-zero exit; and
• a progress notification (notifications/progress) with a one-line summary, when the client supplied a progressToken for the call.

This needs no EXECKIT_MCP_AUDIT* setup - the server advertises the logging capability and streams unconditionally. It reveals nothing new: the client already receives the same stdout/stderr in the tool result, redacted and bounded. How (or whether) the activity is surfaced is up to the client.

Operator command policy (advisory)

Point EXECKIT_MCP_POLICY_FILE at a JSON file to set an allow/deny fence the agent cannot edit (unlike the per-call allow/deny, which the agent supplies):

{
  "allow": ["git", "ls", "npm"],
  "deny": ["rm", "dd", "shutdown"],
  "deny_patterns": ["\\brm\\b", "kubectl\\s+delete", "git\\s+push\\s+.*--force"]
}

• allow (program names): if non-empty, only these may run. Empty/absent = all.
• deny (program names): always blocked; deny wins over allow.
• deny_patterns (regex over the whole command): for what names cannot express.

Prefer a deny_pattern over a name deny for anything that matters: name matching only sees the program name per pipeline segment, so deny: ["rm"] misses sudo rm and xargs rm, while deny_patterns: ["\\brm\\b"] catches them. In JSON the regex backslashes double up (\\b); use (?i) for case-insensitive matching.

A blocked command never runs; it is recorded in the audit log, shown in watch, and pushed to the client as a warning. This is an ADVISORY guardrail, not a sandbox: string matching is trivially bypassable (/bin/rm, base64, bash -c). The real boundary is a least-privilege user, a container, or a scoped SSH account.

Apache-2.0.