What is Chisel?
Chisel is a MCP server by ckanthony that token-efficient file access: unified-diff edits, targeted grep/sed reads of large files and kernel-enforced confinement to a configured root. It is listed under Productivity and has 26 GitHub stars.
| Type | Mcp server |
|---|---|
| Author | ckanthony |
| Repository | ckanthony/Chisel |
| Popularity | 26 GitHub stars |
| Category | Productivity |
| Security | Review before installing (68/100) |
| Rank | #1,160 of 4,418 MCP servers; #39 in Productivity |
| Last commit | 2026-03-07 |
| Stars this week | +2 |
| Runs | Locally and in the cloud |
| Language | Rust |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux |
Is Chisel safe to install?
Chisel scores 68/100 on the MCPMods security check: Review before installing. Things to review: sends your data to a cloud service; can take actions such as send, write or deploy. It passed 2 of 6 checks.
MCP server results come from listing signals: who publishes it, where your data goes and what it can do. The code itself is not scanned yet.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Community-built server | Note |
| Sends your data to a cloud service | Review |
| Needs an API key or account login | Note |
| Can take actions such as send, write or deploy | Review |
| No code execution | Pass |
| Source on GitHub | Pass |
How do I install Chisel?
- Find the launch command. The README says how the server starts (npx, uvx, docker or a remote URL) and which API keys it needs.
https://github.com/ckanthony/Chisel
- Add it to Claude Code. Replace the part after -- with the command from the README. Remote servers use --transport http with a URL.
claude mcp add chisel -- <command from README> claude mcp add --transport http chisel <server-url>
- Check it connected. This lists your MCP servers and their status.
claude mcp list
Or ask Claude to set it up
Paste this into Claude Code and it installs Chisel for you:
Add the "Chisel" MCP server from https://github.com/ckanthony/Chisel to Claude Code. Read its README for the launch command and any API keys I need, run claude mcp add, then check that it connects.