terminal-reader-mcp

An MCP server that gives Claude Desktop read-only access to your terminal output. No more copy-pasting errors — just ask Claude to check your terminal.

Quickstart

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/chrisvin-jabamani/terminal-reader-mcp.git
cd terminal-reader-mcp
npm install

2. Add the cap function to your shell

The MCP server can only read files — it can't see your terminal directly. The cap function wraps your commands and saves their output to a log file that Claude can read.

Open your shell config:

open ~/.zshrc

Paste this at the bottom:

# Capture terminal output for Claude
cap() {
  local log_file="$HOME/.terminal_history.log"
  local exit_code
  
  echo "---CMD---" >> "$log_file"
  echo "$ $*" >> "$log_file"
  echo "---OUTPUT---" >> "$log_file"
  
  "$@" 2>&1 | tee -a "$log_file"
  exit_code=${pipestatus[1]}
  
  echo "" >> "$log_file"
  echo "---EXIT:$exit_code---" >> "$log_file"
  echo "---END---" >> "$log_file"
  
  return $exit_code
}

Save, then reload:

source ~/.zshrc

3. Configure Claude Desktop

Open the config:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the terminal-reader server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "terminal-reader": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/FULL/PATH/TO/terminal-reader-mcp/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Replace /FULL/PATH/TO/ with where you cloned the repo.

4. Restart Claude Desktop

Quit completely (Cmd+Q) and reopen.

5. Test it

cap echo "hello from terminal"

Ask Claude: "what was my last terminal command?"

---

Usage

Prefix commands with cap when you want Claude to see them:

cap npm run dev
cap python script.py
cap cargo build

Commands without cap are not captured.