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MCP Zip in VS Code

Pack, list and unpack zip archives locally, with traversal, symlink and bomb guards read from the header before anything is inflated. It packs files or a directory tree with glob patterns into a new .zip, lists an archive's entries with sizes and ratios while flagging absolute paths, .., symlinks, encrypted entries and duplicate names, unpacks with a dry run and a skip_unsafe option, reads one text entry inline without unpacking anything, and bundles a calendar month of invoices, quotes and exports from the sibling servers into one file.

In agent mode, zip_create and zip_extract are tools the agent can reach mid-task the same way it reaches a file write, so "zip the dist folder and unpack it into /tmp to check it" is a loop the agent can run without a shell script written for the occasion.

What you get in VS Code

You say	Tool
Zip up this folder, everything except node_modules.	`zip_create`
What's in this zip before I open it?	`zip_list`
Bundle August's invoices and expense exports into one zip.	`zip_bundle_month`

A 100,000-byte entry inflated into a 10-byte bounded buffer returned 10 bytes and threw nothing: a lying header would extract as a silent, plausible-looking truncation. The CRC-32 already stored for the entry is checked before anything reaches disk, and that check is what refuses it instead.

Install it in VS Code

The file is .vscode/mcp.json, and the key inside it is servers.

Scope	Path
This workspace	`<workspace>/.vscode/mcp.json`
Every workspace	`the user profile mcp.json, opened by the MCP: Open User Configuration command`

If you also run Claude Desktop, the shortest path there is one click: zip.mcpb from the bundle catalog opens as an extension, with no JSON and no terminal. VS Code reads its own config, so here it is:

// .vscode/mcp.json  (the key is "servers")
{
  "servers": {
    "zip": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/zip/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Or from a terminal:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"zip","command":"node","args":["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/zip/dist/index.js"]}'

The node command above wants a built file. From a clone, once:

git clone https://github.com/theluckystrike/mcp-servers.git
cd mcp-servers && npm install
npm run build -w packages/mcp-license -w servers/zip

That writes servers/zip/dist/index.js, and its absolute path is the one argument the config needs.

The npm packages are not published yet, so the form below returns a 404 today. It is here because it is what the entry becomes the day the publish lands, with nothing else changed:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"zip","command":"npx","args":["-y","@theluckystrike/mcp-zip"]}'

VS Code asks you to confirm you trust the server and its capabilities before it starts. Nothing runs until you answer.

Nothing is published to npm yet, so the working install paths are the ones above: the .mcpb bundle from the bundle catalog, a clone and build, or the hosted URL.

No install: the hosted endpoint

The same server runs at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/zip over MCP streamable HTTP, no install. Mint a free token with curl https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/token, or use a Pro key. It has no filesystem, so a file comes back as a one-hour download link.

{
  "servers": {
    "zip": {
      "url": "https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/zip",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code notes worth knowing first

The top-level key is "servers", not "mcpServers". A config pasted from a Claude Desktop or Cursor README parses cleanly, contributes no servers, and gives you no error to read, which makes it the most expensive one-word mistake here. Alongside it an "inputs" array holds secrets. The newer Agent Host reads a workspace .mcp.json instead.

Free: 20 archives a calendar month, up to 25 MB and 200 entries each. Reading (zip_list, zip_extract, zip_extract_text) is unlimited on both tiers. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Why does my mcp.json do nothing?

The key is servers, not mcpServers. A config copied from a Claude Desktop README parses cleanly and contributes nothing. Rename it. On the newer Agent Host, use a workspace .mcp.json instead.

Do I have to edit the file at all?

No. code --add-mcp takes the server object on the command line, and MCP: Add Server in the palette asks whether the target is Workspace or Global.

Where do the MCP Zip tools show up?

In Chat, behind the tools picker, once the server has started. Adding or changing one raises a prompt asking you to confirm you trust it; if the picker is empty, that prompt is usually still waiting.

MCP Zip in detail · The same server in Cursor and Windsurf · Every server in VS Code · Guides · VS Code docs · Buy Pro

Related guides & tools

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