Local Repo

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Safely connect one local Git repository to any MCP client.

Read, search, inspect Git changes, apply validated text patches, and optionally run trusted tests—without exposing a general-purpose shell or your entire filesystem.

Why this project?

Local Repo MCP solves one narrow problem:

Give ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients enough access to work with one local Git repository, while keeping the permission boundary small and understandable.

It is deliberately not an enterprise agent platform, policy engine, RBAC service, or terminal agent.

Highlights

• One configured Git repository only
• Read-only by default
• No general-purpose shell
• No unrestricted write_file
• Validated text-patch writes
• Filtered Git status and diff
• No Git push, pull, checkout, reset, rebase, merge, stash, or clean
• Optional predefined tests for trusted repositories
• STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports
• Optional OpenAI Secure MCP Tunnel
• Simplified Chinese and English GUI

Architecture

Local client with STDIO

Local MCP client
      │
      │ starts a subprocess
      ▼
Local Repo MCP (STDIO)
      │
      ▼
One local Git repository

URL-based client with Streamable HTTP

MCP client
    │
    │ http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp
    ▼
Local Repo MCP (Streamable HTTP)
    │
    ▼
One local Git repository

ChatGPT with Secure MCP Tunnel

ChatGPT
   │
OpenAI Secure MCP Tunnel
   │
tunnel-client
   │
Local Repo MCP (STDIO or HTTP)
   │
Local Git repository

Tools

Tool	Minimum mode	Description
repo_list_files	read	List allowed repository files
repo_read_file	read	Read one UTF-8 text file
repo_search_code	read	Fixed-string source-code search
repo_git_status	read	Filtered Git working-tree status
repo_git_diff	read	Filtered staged or unstaged diff
repo_apply_patch	write	Apply one validated unified text patch
repo_run_test	test	Run one predefined test command

Access modes

Mode	Meaning
read	Read, search, Git status, and Git diff
write	Read tools plus validated patch application
test	Write tools plus predefined test commands

Start with read.

Transports

STDIO

Use STDIO when the MCP client runs on the same machine and can launch a subprocess. STDIO has no host, port, or endpoint URL.

Streamable HTTP

Use Streamable HTTP for clients that connect to an MCP URL or run in another process/device.

Default endpoint:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

Security defaults:

• binds to 127.0.0.1;
• built-in Host/Origin validation;
• optional Bearer Token;
• non-local binds require Bearer authentication and an explicit allowed-host list.

Do not bind to 0.0.0.0 without understanding the network exposure. Use HTTPS through a trusted reverse proxy for non-local deployments.

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Git 2.39+
• ripgrep (rg)
• optional: OpenAI tunnel-client

Docker is not required.

Install

git clone https://github.com/cloud-Xolt/local-repo-mcp.git
cd local-repo-mcp
python -m venv .venv

Windows PowerShell:

.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python run_gui.py

Linux / macOS:

source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python run_gui.py

GUI

The GUI has five focused pages:

1. Home — repository, access mode, transport, and common settings
2. MCP Server — process status, real MCP handshake test, and client configuration
3. ChatGPT Connection — Secure MCP Tunnel setup and diagnostics
4. Logs — MCP, Tunnel, and audit logs
5. About — scope, version, documentation, and project links

Common settings stay visible. Limits, dirty-worktree behavior, audit logging, and HTTP allowlists are collapsed under Advanced Settings.

The GUI stores normal configuration under the current user's config directory. The OpenAI runtime API key is memory-only and is never written to disk. An HTTP Bearer token, when enabled, is stored separately with restrictive file permissions.

Run without the GUI

STDIO

Linux / macOS:

export REPO_ROOT="/absolute/path/to/repository"
export MCP_MODE="read"
export MCP_TRANSPORT="stdio"
python server.py

Windows PowerShell:

$env:REPO_ROOT = "C:\absolute\path\to\repository"
$env:MCP_MODE = "read"
$env:MCP_TRANSPORT = "stdio"
python server.py

Example local-client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-repo": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/local-repo-mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "REPO_ROOT": "/absolute/path/to/repository",
        "MCP_MODE": "read",
        "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio"
      }
    }
  }
}

Streamable HTTP

export REPO_ROOT="/absolute/path/to/repository"
export MCP_MODE="read"
export MCP_TRANSPORT="streamable-http"
export HTTP_HOST="127.0.0.1"
export HTTP_PORT="8000"
export HTTP_PATH="/mcp"
python server.py

Connect to:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

Bearer authentication:

export HTTP_AUTH_MODE="bearer"
export HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN="replace-with-a-random-token"

Real connection test

The GUI connection test does not merely check that a directory exists. It:

1. creates an MCP client session;
2. performs protocol initialization;
3. lists the tools;
4. verifies the expected read tools;
5. calls repo_git_status;
6. closes the session cleanly.

For STDIO it launches a temporary child process. For HTTP it connects to the running endpoint.

ChatGPT and Secure MCP Tunnel

Install tunnel-client from an official OpenAI source. This project does not download or update it automatically.

STDIO profile example:

export CONTROL_PLANE_API_KEY="sk-..."

tunnel-client init \
  --sample sample_mcp_stdio_local \
  --profile local-repo \
  --tunnel-id tunnel_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --mcp-command "/absolute/path/to/.venv/bin/python /absolute/path/to/local-repo-mcp/launch_mcp.py"

tunnel-client doctor --profile local-repo --explain
tunnel-client run --profile local-repo

The GUI can detect the executable, initialize a profile, run Doctor, and start/stop the Tunnel. The runtime API key remains in memory only.

For HTTP Tunnel mode, start the HTTP MCP server first. Automatic HTTP Tunnel setup currently supports an unauthenticated localhost endpoint; for custom Bearer-authenticated HTTP Tunnel setups, configure tunnel-client manually or use STDIO Tunnel.

Configuration

Core

Variable	Default	Description
REPO_ROOT	.	The single repository root
MCP_MODE	read	read, write, or test
MCP_TRANSPORT	stdio	stdio or streamable-http
MAX_FILE_BYTES	200000	Maximum readable file size
MAX_PATCH_BYTES	200000	Maximum patch size
MAX_SEARCH_RESULTS	50	Search result limit
MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES	20000	Diff/test output limit
ALLOW_DIRTY_WORKTREE	false	Allow patching a dirty worktree
AUDIT_LOG	empty	Optional audit JSONL path
TEST_TIMEOUT_MAX	300	Maximum test timeout

HTTP

Variable	Default	Description
HTTP_HOST	127.0.0.1	Bind address
HTTP_PORT	8000	Listen port
HTTP_PATH	/mcp	MCP endpoint path
HTTP_AUTH_MODE	none	none or bearer
HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN	empty	Bearer token
HTTP_ALLOWED_HOSTS	localhost values	Host allowlist
HTTP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS	localhost values	Origin allowlist
HTTP_JSON_RESPONSE	true	JSON response mode
HTTP_STATELESS	true	Stateless HTTP mode
HTTP_MAX_REQUEST_BYTES	262144	Maximum request body

Security model

The project is designed for one local user and one configured Git repository.

Controls include:

• relative paths only;
• parent traversal rejected;
• symbolic links rejected;
• common sensitive files blocked;
• binary/non-UTF-8 reads rejected;
• fixed-string ripgrep invocation with shell=False;
• blocked paths filtered from Git status and diff;
• text-patch-only writes;
• binary, rename, copy, submodule, symlink, and mode-change patches rejected;
• common credential patterns blocked in added patch lines;
• bounded inputs and outputs;
• no general-purpose shell;
• no automatic branch, commit, or push operations.

Limitations:

• common credential detection is not a complete secret scanner;
• write mode modifies the current worktree;
• test mode executes repository code and must be used only with trusted repositories;
• the MCP client controls user-facing confirmations;
• users should inspect git diff, commit, and push manually.

See SECURITY.md.

Predefined tests

Key	Command
python_pytest	python -m pytest -q
go_test	go test ./...
node_test	npm test --
node_lint	npm run lint --
maven_test	mvn test
gradle_test	./gradlew test

Users cannot provide arbitrary commands or additional command arguments.

Development

python -m pytest tests/ -v
python -m compileall server.py launch_mcp.py run_gui.py src gui

Project scope

In scope:

• one local Git repository;
• safe reading and search;
• filtered Git inspection;
• validated text patches;
• optional predefined tests;
• STDIO and Streamable HTTP;
• optional GUI and Secure MCP Tunnel.

Out of scope:

• arbitrary shell access;
• general filesystem access;
• RBAC and multi-user hosting;
• enterprise policy engines or risk scoring;
• automatic branch management;
• automatic commit, merge, or push;
• cloud execution and untrusted-code sandboxing;
• automatic tunnel-client installation.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.