ZIP MCP Server

ZIP MCP Server is a lightweight, fully‑parameterized compression service that implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It bridges AI assistants with local file systems by exposing a set of tools that perform ZIP‑based operations—compression, decompression, and metadata extraction. By packaging these capabilities behind MCP, developers can invoke complex file‑handling workflows directly from AI agents without writing custom code or managing external utilities.

The server solves the common problem of integrating file compression into conversational AI workflows. Traditional approaches require agents to either embed command‑line tools, rely on cloud APIs, or manually transfer files. ZIP MCP eliminates these hurdles by offering a single command‑line executable that can be invoked from any MCP‑compliant client. The service accepts absolute or relative paths, supports multi‑file directories, and provides granular control over compression level (0–9), password protection, and encryption strength. This flexibility allows developers to tailor the compression process to their security or bandwidth requirements while keeping the AI’s interface simple.

Key capabilities include:

• Compression: Turn any file or directory into a ZIP archive, with optional overwrite behavior and customizable settings.
• Decompression: Extract ZIP archives to a target directory, handling password‑protected files and automatically creating missing directories.
• Metadata Retrieval: Query a ZIP file’s contents, size statistics, and compression ratio without extracting it, enabling AI agents to make informed decisions before performing costly operations.
• Echo Test: A lightweight tool that confirms the server’s availability and returns a timestamped message, useful for health checks within automated pipelines.

Real‑world use cases span from data backup automation to secure file sharing. For example, an AI assistant can compress a set of logs before uploading them to cloud storage, or it can extract incoming archives and feed the contents into a data processing pipeline—all orchestrated through simple MCP calls. The server’s design also makes it ideal for integration into IDE extensions, productivity tools like Raycast or Cursor, and custom workflow engines that require programmatic control over file compression.

Because ZIP MCP is built on fastMCP and zip.js, it delivers high performance while remaining platform‑agnostic. Its straightforward configuration—adding a single entry to the MCP JSON file—enables rapid adoption, and its clear parameter schema ensures that developers can predictably manage errors or edge cases. In short, ZIP MCP provides a robust, secure, and easy‑to‑use compression layer that empowers AI assistants to handle file archives as naturally as they handle text or code.