rclone — Claude Code MCP server: drive cloud remotes from an agent
Hooks an AI assistant up to a running rclone RC daemon so it can list remotes, copy and sync files, and browse directories. Handy when storage work should happen through chat instead of typed commands.
claude mcp add --env RCLONE_URL=<RCLONE_URL> --env RCLONE_USER=<RCLONE_USER> --env RCLONE_PASS=<RCLONE_PASS> --env RCLONE_TOOLSETS=<RCLONE_TOOLSETS> --env RCLONE_READ_ONLY=<RCLONE_READ_ONLY> --transport stdio rclone -- npx -y rclone-mcpWhat rclone does
The server sits on top of the rclone RC API. Its 98 endpoints come from the rclone-openapi spec through the rclone-sdk client, grouped into toolsets by path prefix: core, config, operations, sync, jobs, mount, serve and more. You pick which groups to expose, which keeps the tool list an agent sees reasonably small. Nothing runs until the daemon is up — start it with rclone rcd --rc-no-auth, or add --rc-user and --rc-pass if you want auth.
Point it at the daemon with RCLONE_URL (falls back to http://localhost:5572) and supply credentials through RCLONE_USER and RCLONE_PASS. RCLONE_TOOLSETS takes a list, plus the shortcuts default for core, config, operations and sync, and all for everything. Setting --read-only or RCLONE_READ_ONLY=1 registers only tools that leave data alone. Copy, move, delete, sync and mount disappear from the list, so that flag is what you want if an agent touches a live remote.
stdio fits Cursor, Claude and Claude Desktop; for remote hosting there is Streamable HTTP via rclone-mcp http --port 3000. Running the daemon without auth means anyone who can reach port 5572 controls your remotes, so bind it carefully.
What it helps with
- see which remotes are configured and how they are set up
- copy a folder from one cloud remote to another
- sync a local directory to remote storage from chat
- list a bucket's contents and its directory tree
- let an agent browse storage without delete rights
Example prompts for the agent
- List the rclone remotes and tell me which ones are currently mounted
- Copy the
photosfolder from thegdriveremote intos3-backup - Sync
~/projects/siteto theyadiskremote and summarize what changed
How to install rclone
Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env RCLONE_URL=<RCLONE_URL> --env RCLONE_USER=<RCLONE_USER> --env RCLONE_PASS=<RCLONE_PASS> --env RCLONE_TOOLSETS=<RCLONE_TOOLSETS> --env RCLONE_READ_ONLY=<RCLONE_READ_ONLY> --transport stdio rclone -- npx -y rclone-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add rclone --env RCLONE_URL=<RCLONE_URL> --env RCLONE_USER=<RCLONE_USER> --env RCLONE_PASS=<RCLONE_PASS> --env RCLONE_TOOLSETS=<RCLONE_TOOLSETS> --env RCLONE_READ_ONLY=<RCLONE_READ_ONLY> -- npx -y rclone-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"rclone": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"rclone-mcp"
],
"env": {
"RCLONE_URL": "<RCLONE_URL>",
"RCLONE_USER": "<RCLONE_USER>",
"RCLONE_PASS": "<RCLONE_PASS>",
"RCLONE_TOOLSETS": "<RCLONE_TOOLSETS>",
"RCLONE_READ_ONLY": "<RCLONE_READ_ONLY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"rclone": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"rclone-mcp"
],
"env": {
"RCLONE_URL": "<RCLONE_URL>",
"RCLONE_USER": "<RCLONE_USER>",
"RCLONE_PASS": "<RCLONE_PASS>",
"RCLONE_TOOLSETS": "<RCLONE_TOOLSETS>",
"RCLONE_READ_ONLY": "<RCLONE_READ_ONLY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e RCLONE_URL=<RCLONE_URL> -e RCLONE_USER=<RCLONE_USER> -e RCLONE_PASS=<RCLONE_PASS> -e RCLONE_TOOLSETS=<RCLONE_TOOLSETS> -e RCLONE_READ_ONLY=<RCLONE_READ_ONLY> rclone npx -y rclone-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about rclone
How do I install rclone MCP server in Claude Code?
Run `claude mcp add --env RCLONE_URL=<RCLONE_URL> --env RCLONE_USER=<RCLONE_USER> --env RCLONE_PASS=<RCLONE_PASS> --env RCLONE_TOOLSETS=<RCLONE_TOOLSETS> --env RCLONE_READ_ONLY=<RCLONE_READ_ONLY> --transport stdio rclone -- npx -y rclone-mcp. Start the rclone rcd` daemon first.
What does rclone MCP server do?
It exposes the rclone RC API to an AI assistant as callable tools: config handling, file operations, sync and the other endpoint groups you enable.
What changes with --read-only?
Only non-mutating tools get registered. Copy, delete, sync and mount are dropped, which makes the assistant safe around production storage.
