remote-terminal-mcp
Advanced tools
Full SSH terminal for Linux servers with AI/user control and dual-stream visibility
AI-Powered Remote Linux Server Management via MCP
Remote Terminal lets Claude (the AI assistant) execute commands on your remote Linux servers through a natural chat interface. Watch full output in your browser in real-time while Claude receives smart-filtered summaries optimized for token efficiency.
Imagine telling Claude:
"Install nginx on my server and configure it with SSL"
"Run complete system diagnostics and tell me if anything looks wrong"
"Find all log errors from the last hour and summarize them"
"Save this batch script and run it again next week"
And Claude does it - executing commands, analyzing output, saving useful scripts, and taking action on your behalf.
That's Remote Terminal.
Remote Terminal provides a fully interactive terminal window in your browser at http://localhost:8080 - it looks and feels just like WSL, PuTTY, or any standard terminal:
You can:
Claude can:
The key advantage: You maintain complete visibility and control. Every command Claude runs appears in your terminal window in real-time. You're never in the dark about what's happening on your server - it's like sitting side-by-side with an assistant who types commands for you while you watch the screen.
Multi-Terminal Support: Open multiple browser windows at http://localhost:8080 - they all stay perfectly synchronized via WebSocket broadcast. Type in one terminal, see it in all terminals instantly. Perfect for multi-monitor setups or sharing your view with others.
⚠️ Best Practice: Close unused terminal tabs when done. While the system handles multiple connections efficiently, keeping many old tabs open can consume unnecessary resources and may cause connection issues.
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/98a6fa41-ec4f-410b-8d4a-a2422d8ac7c9
Watch the interactive web terminal in action - see Claude execute commands while you maintain full visibility and control
Behind the scenes, Remote Terminal uses a smart two-stream approach:
SSH Output from Remote Server
↓
[Raw Output]
↓
┌────┴────┐
│ │
↓ ↓
[FULL] [FILTERED]
│ │
↓ ↓
Web Terminal Claude
(You see all) (Smart summary)
Result:
Step 1: Create Installation Directory
# Choose a location for your installation (example: C:\RemoteTerminal)
mkdir C:\RemoteTerminal
cd C:\RemoteTerminal
Step 2: Install Package
# Create dedicated virtual environment
python -m venv remote-terminal-env
remote-terminal-env\Scripts\activate
pip install remote-terminal-mcp
Step 3: Configure Claude Desktop
Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"remote-terminal": {
"command": "C:\\RemoteTerminal\\remote-terminal-env\\Scripts\\remote-terminal-mcp.exe",
"env": {
"REMOTE_TERMINAL_ROOT": "C:\\RemoteTerminal"
}
}
}
}
Important: Replace C:\RemoteTerminal with your actual installation path from Step 1.
Step 4: First Run - Auto Setup
Restart Claude Desktop. On first use, configuration files will automatically copy to C:\RemoteTerminal:
config.yaml - Default settings (auto-created from package defaults)hosts.yaml - Server list (auto-created from template)Step 5: Configure Your Servers
You have two options to configure your servers:
Option A: Manual Configuration (Recommended for first server)
Edit C:\RemoteTerminal\hosts.yaml:
servers:
- name: My Server
host: 192.168.1.100
user: username
password: your_password
port: 22
description: My development server
tags:
- development
# Optional: Set default server for auto-connect
# Use list_servers to see which server is marked as [DEFAULT]
default_server: My Server
Option B: AI-Assisted Configuration
Ask Claude to help you add a new server:
Claude, add a new server to my configuration:
- Name: Production Server
- Host: 192.168.1.100
- User: admin
- Password: mypassword
- Port: 22
Claude will use the add_server tool to update your hosts.yaml file automatically.
Restart Claude Desktop and test:
List my configured servers
Step 6: (Optional) Run Standalone Web Interface
cd C:\RemoteTerminal
remote-terminal-env\Scripts\activate
remote-terminal-standalone
Access at:
Complete guides for every use case:
"Check disk space and memory usage"
"What processes are using the most CPU?"
"Is nginx running? If not, start it"
"Show me the last 50 lines of the system log"
"Install htop and verify it works"
"Update all packages"
"Check if docker is installed and what version"
"Run complete network diagnostics"
"Find all errors in the last hour of logs"
"Check why nginx won't start"
"Analyze disk usage by directory"
"Upload my local config.json to /etc/app/"
"Download all log files from /var/log/myapp/"
"List files in /var/log modified today"
"Find all files larger than 100MB"
"Create a recipe from our successful nginx installation"
"Execute the network diagnostics recipe"
"Start a conversation to configure WiFi"
"List my saved batch scripts"
"Execute script 5"
"Load script 3 for editing"
You:
Install nginx on my production server
Claude:
I'll install nginx. This will create a package installation...
Interactive terminal opens automatically at http://localhost:8080
Web Terminal shows (real-time):
$ sudo apt install nginx
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
[... 500+ lines of installation output ...]
Setting up nginx (1.18.0-0ubuntu1) ...
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nginx.service
Processing triggers for systemd (245.4-4ubuntu3.23) ...
Claude receives (filtered summary):
nginx installed successfully in 45s
12 packages installed
Service: nginx.service is active
Claude responds:
nginx has been successfully installed and is now running. The service is active. Would you like me to configure it or show you the default page?
Token savings: 96% (15,000 tokens → 600 tokens)
remote_terminal/
├── config/ # Default configuration templates
│ ├── config.yaml # Default settings (packaged)
│ └── hosts.yaml.example # Server template (packaged)
├── data/ # SQLite database (user directory)
│ └── remote_terminal.db # Command history, conversations, recipes, scripts
├── docs/ # Documentation
│ ├── DATABASE_SCHEMA.md
│ ├── FEATURE_REFERENCE.md
│ ├── INDEX.md
│ ├── INSTALLATION.md
│ ├── QUICK_START.md
│ ├── RELEASE_NOTES_v3.1.md
│ ├── TROUBLESHOOTING.md
│ ├── USER_GUIDE.md
│ └── WEBSOCKET_BROADCAST.md
├── recipes/ # Example automation recipes
├── src/ # Source code (modular architecture)
│ ├── batch/ # Batch execution system
│ │ ├── batch_executor.py
│ │ ├── batch_helpers.py
│ │ └── batch_parser.py
│ ├── config/ # Configuration management
│ │ ├── config.py
│ │ ├── config_dataclasses.py
│ │ ├── config_init.py
│ │ └── config_loader.py
│ ├── database/ # Database operations (SQLite)
│ │ ├── database_manager.py # Core database manager
│ │ ├── database_batch.py # Batch script storage
│ │ ├── database_batch_execution.py
│ │ ├── database_batch_queries.py
│ │ ├── database_batch_scripts.py
│ │ ├── database_commands.py # Command history
│ │ ├── database_conversations.py
│ │ ├── database_recipes.py # Recipe storage
│ │ └── database_servers.py # Machine identity tracking
│ ├── output/ # Output filtering & formatting
│ │ ├── output_buffer.py
│ │ ├── output_buffer_base.py
│ │ ├── output_buffer_filtered.py
│ │ ├── output_filter.py # Smart filtering (95% token savings)
│ │ ├── output_filter_commands.py
│ │ ├── output_filter_decision.py
│ │ └── output_formatter.py
│ ├── prompt/ # Command completion detection
│ │ ├── prompt_detector.py
│ │ ├── prompt_detector_checks.py
│ │ ├── prompt_detector_pager.py
│ │ └── prompt_detector_patterns.py
│ ├── ssh/ # SSH/SFTP operations
│ │ ├── ssh_manager.py # High-level SSH manager
│ │ ├── ssh_connection.py # Connection lifecycle
│ │ ├── ssh_commands.py # Command execution
│ │ └── ssh_io.py # Input/output streaming
│ ├── state/ # Shared state management
│ │ ├── shared_state_conversation.py
│ │ ├── shared_state_monitor.py
│ │ └── shared_state_transfer.py
│ ├── static/ # Web terminal static assets
│ │ ├── fragments/ # HTML fragments
│ │ ├── vendor/ # xterm.js library
│ │ ├── terminal.css
│ │ ├── terminal.js
│ │ └── transfer-panel.js
│ ├── tools/ # MCP tool modules (modular)
│ │ ├── decorators.py # Tool decorators
│ │ ├── tools_hosts.py # Server management (main)
│ │ ├── tools_hosts_crud.py # Add/remove/update servers
│ │ ├── tools_hosts_select.py # Server selection & connection
│ │ ├── tools_commands.py # Command execution (main)
│ │ ├── tools_commands_database.py
│ │ ├── tools_commands_execution.py
│ │ ├── tools_commands_status.py
│ │ ├── tools_commands_system.py
│ │ ├── tools_conversations.py # Conversation tracking (main)
│ │ ├── tools_conversations_lifecycle.py
│ │ ├── tools_conversations_query.py
│ │ ├── tools_batch.py # Batch script execution (main)
│ │ ├── tools_batch_execution.py
│ │ ├── tools_batch_helpers.py
│ │ ├── tools_batch_management.py
│ │ ├── tools_recipes.py # Recipe automation (main)
│ │ ├── tools_recipes_create.py
│ │ ├── tools_recipes_crud.py
│ │ ├── tools_recipes_execution.py
│ │ ├── tools_recipes_helpers.py
│ │ ├── tools_recipes_modify.py
│ │ ├── tools_recipes_query.py
│ │ ├── tools_sftp.py # File transfer (main)
│ │ ├── tools_sftp_single.py # Single file transfer
│ │ ├── tools_sftp_directory.py # Directory transfer
│ │ ├── tools_sftp_directory_download.py
│ │ ├── tools_sftp_directory_upload.py
│ │ ├── tools_sftp_exceptions.py
│ │ ├── tools_sftp_utils.py
│ │ ├── sftp_compression.py # Compression logic
│ │ ├── sftp_compression_download.py
│ │ ├── sftp_compression_tar.py
│ │ ├── sftp_compression_upload.py
│ │ ├── sftp_decisions.py # Auto/manual compression decisions
│ │ ├── sftp_progress.py # Progress tracking
│ │ ├── sftp_transfer_compressed.py
│ │ ├── sftp_transfer_download.py
│ │ ├── sftp_transfer_scan.py
│ │ ├── sftp_transfer_standard.py
│ │ ├── sftp_transfer_upload.py
│ │ └── tools_info.py # System information
│ ├── utils/ # Utility functions
│ │ ├── utils.py
│ │ ├── utils_format.py
│ │ ├── utils_machine_id.py # Hardware/OS fingerprinting
│ │ ├── utils_output.py
│ │ └── utils_text.py
│ ├── web/ # Web terminal (WebSocket-enabled)
│ │ ├── web_terminal.py # Main web server
│ │ ├── web_terminal_ui.py # UI components
│ │ └── web_terminal_websocket.py # Multi-terminal sync
│ ├── mcp_server.py # MCP server entry point
│ ├── shared_state.py # Global shared state
│ ├── command_state.py # Command registry & tracking
│ ├── hosts_manager.py # Multi-server configuration
│ └── error_check_helper.py # Error detection
└── standalone/ # Standalone web UI (no Claude)
├── static/
│ ├── css/ # Standalone UI styles
│ │ ├── control-forms.css
│ │ ├── control-layout.css
│ │ ├── control-response.css
│ │ └── control-styles.css # Bash syntax highlighting
│ ├── js/ # Standalone UI scripts
│ │ ├── control-forms.js
│ │ ├── control-forms-fields.js
│ │ ├── control-forms-generation.js
│ │ ├── control-forms-utils.js
│ │ ├── control-main.js
│ │ └── control-response.js
│ └── tool-schemas/ # MCP tool schemas
│ ├── batch.json
│ ├── commands.json
│ ├── file-transfer.json
│ ├── servers.json
│ └── workflows.json
├── mcp_control.html # Control panel HTML
├── standalone_mcp.py # Standalone server entry point
├── standalone_mcp_endpoints.py # API endpoints
└── standalone_mcp_startup.py # Initialization & connection
Configuration files are automatically copied to your working directory on first run:
For PyPI users:
REMOTE_TERMINAL_ROOT in Claude Desktop config%REMOTE_TERMINAL_ROOT%\config.yaml and hosts.yamlDefault template files packaged with installation:
config/config.yaml - Default settings templateconfig/hosts.yaml.example - Server configuration templateDefine your servers:
servers:
- name: production
host: 192.168.1.100
user: admin
password: secure_pass
port: 22
description: Production server
tags: production, critical
- name: development
host: 192.168.1.101
user: dev
password: dev_pass
tags: development
default_server: production
hosts.yamlAverage token savings on verbose commands:
| Command Type | Full Output | Filtered | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| apt install | ~15,000 | ~600 | 96% |
| ls -la /var | ~8,000 | ~400 | 95% |
| Log search | ~12,000 | ~500 | 96% |
| find / | ~30,000 | ~800 | 97% |
Average: 95-98% token reduction on verbose commands
Batch execution vs sequential:
Save batch scripts for reuse:
1. Run diagnostics → Script auto-saved with deduplication
2. Browse library → "List my batch scripts"
3. Execute saved script → "Execute script 5"
4. Edit existing → "Load script 3 for editing"
5. Track usage → times_used, last_used_at
Features:
Group related commands by goal:
Start conversation: "Configure nginx with SSL"
→ [Execute multiple commands]
→ End conversation: success
→ Create recipe from conversation
Benefits:
Save successful workflows:
# Recipe: wifi_diagnostics
1. lspci | grep -i network
2. iwconfig
3. ip link show
4. dmesg | grep -i wifi
5. systemctl status NetworkManager
Reuse on any compatible server:
Execute wifi_diagnostics recipe on my new server
Each server tracked by unique machine_id (hardware + OS fingerprint):
Designed for Windows local machine
SSH Key Support not implemented
Works with only one remote server at a time
This is Tim's personal project. If you'd like to contribute:
Web Terminal Lifecycle Management & Socket Leak Fix:
open_terminal MCP tool - closes existing tabs, opens fresh terminal on demandSLIM_MODE for Reduced Tool Footprint:
Prompt Detection Logging Overhaul:
prompt_detection.debug_logging: true in config.yamlStartup Config Dump:
Auto-Default Server:
Buffer Overflow Fix:
Virtual Environment Prompt Support:
(\(.+\)\s+)?Standalone Import Fix:
Code Modularization:
PyPI Package Distribution:
Standalone Web UI - Help System:
Recipe Management (3 new tools):
delete_recipe - Permanent deletion with two-step confirmationcreate_recipe_from_commands - Manual recipe creation without executionupdate_recipe - In-place recipe modification (preserves ID/stats)WebSocket Multi-Terminal Sync:
Batch Script Management (5 new tools):
list_batch_scripts, get_batch_script, save_batch_script, execute_script_content_by_id, delete_batch_scriptcreate_diagnostic_script → build_script_from_commands, execute_batch_script → execute_script_contentCore Features:
For issues or questions:
Check Documentation
Review Logs
Test Components
This project is for personal use by Tim. Not currently open source.
Ready to let Claude manage your servers? Check out QUICK_START.md to get started in 5 minutes!
Version: 1.3.3
Last Updated: June 3, 2026
Maintainer: Tim
FAQs
Full SSH terminal for Linux servers with AI/user control and dual-stream visibility
We found that remote-terminal-mcp demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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