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.
| 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.
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 |
// .vscode/mcp.json (the key is "servers")
{
"servers": {
"zip": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@theluckystrike/mcp-zip"]
}
}
}Or from a terminal:
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.
The npm publish of @theluckystrike/mcp-zip is pending; until then use the .mcpb bundle or a clone and build from the latest release.
There is no hosted endpoint for this one yet. MCP Zip runs locally over stdio with the config above, which is also the only form in which it reads and writes files on your own disk. Three of the servers in this collection are served at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/<name> over MCP streamable HTTP: time-tracker, price-tracker and invoice.
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.
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.
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.
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