Installation¶

Requirements¶

Python 3.10 or higher
pip or uv package manager

Install from PyPI¶

pip install cygnus-ssh-mcp

Or with uv:

uv pip install cygnus-ssh-mcp

Run without Installing¶

Use uvx to run directly without permanent installation:

uvx cygnus-ssh-mcp --config ~/.mcp_ssh_hosts.toml

This downloads and runs the latest version each time.

Verify Installation¶

cygnus-ssh-mcp --help

Expected output:

usage: cygnus-ssh-mcp [-h] [--config CONFIG]

SSH MCP Server - Remote server management via SSH

options:
  -h, --help       show this help message and exit
  --config CONFIG  Path to TOML host configuration file

Uninstalling / Upgrading¶

pip uninstall cygnus-ssh-mcp
pip install --upgrade cygnus-ssh-mcp

If you installed with uv tool install cygnus-ssh-mcp instead of pip, use uv tool uninstall cygnus-ssh-mcp / uv tool upgrade cygnus-ssh-mcp. uvx doesn't persist an install at all - it re-fetches the latest version on every run, so there's nothing to uninstall and no separate upgrade step.

Uninstalling only removes the Python package - your host config file (~/.mcp_ssh_hosts.toml) and any Claude Desktop config changes are left in place, since they may contain saved credentials or configuration you want to keep. Remove them yourself if you no longer need them.

Claude Desktop Configuration¶

After installation, add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

Using pip install:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ssh": {
      "command": "cygnus-ssh-mcp",
      "args": ["--config", "/path/to/.mcp_ssh_hosts.toml"]
    }
  }
}

Using uvx (no permanent install):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ssh": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["cygnus-ssh-mcp", "--config", "/path/to/.mcp_ssh_hosts.toml"]
    }
  }
}

See Claude Desktop Setup for detailed configuration options.

Note: none of the --config paths above need to already exist - the server creates an empty host configuration file at that path (with secure 0o600 permissions) the first time it starts if nothing is there yet. See Host Configuration for the exact lookup order and auto-creation behavior.