Terminator

What is Terminator?

Terminator is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server written in Go that provides secure terminal command execution with configurable timeouts and platform-specific support. It works on macOS and Linux, supports persistent shell sessions, and offers both STDIO and StreamableHTTP transport modes.

How to use Terminator?

Build the server with make build, then run it in STDIO mode (default) with ./mcp-terminal-server or in HTTP mode with --http --port 8080. For Claude Desktop, add the binary path and optional environment variables (e.g., MCP_COMMAND_TIMEOUT=30) to your claude_desktop_config.json. Docker images are also available for multi‑architecture deployment.

Key features of Terminator

• Cross‑platform support (macOS and Linux, AMD64 & ARM64)
• Configurable command timeouts
• Secure execution with proper error handling
• Platform‑aware shell adaptation
• Multiple transport modes: STDIO and StreamableHTTP
• Persistent shell sessions that maintain state across commands

Use cases of Terminator

• Execute terminal commands directly from Claude Desktop
• Automate complex terminal workflows with the Iris Computer Use Agent
• Run interactive or long‑running commands in persistent shell sessions
• Deploy as a microservice inside Docker containers for isolated command execution

FAQ from Terminator

What runtime environment does Terminator require?

Go 1.23+ (automatically managed) and the github.com/mark3labs/mcp-go library. For Docker deployments, any container runtime that supports multi‑architecture images.

Which platforms does Terminator support?

Full support for macOS (darwin) and Linux, both AMD64 and ARM64 architectures. Windows is not mentioned.

How does Terminator's session management work?

You can use any session ID without pre‑registration. Persistent shell sessions keep state (working directory, environment variables) between commands.

What transport modes does Terminator support?

STDIO mode for traditional MCP clients and StreamableHTTP transport (HTTP‑based) for web integrations. The HTTP endpoint is POST /mcp and requires a Mcp-Session-Id header for authenticated requests.

What security measures does Terminator provide?

Commands run in a controlled environment with non‑root execution, resource limits, network isolation (bind to localhost), and optional AppArmor/SELinux support. File permissions are restricted to necessary directories.