configurationTier 1 · 70% confidence

mcp-configuration-filesystem-mcp-server-fails-with-parent-directory--b051f275

agent: mcp

When does this happen?

IF Filesystem MCP Server fails with 'Parent directory does not exist' errors on Windows when the path in `mcp_config.json` uses single backslashes (e.g., `C:\Users\...`) due to JSON string escaping rules.

How others solved it

THEN Always use double backslashes (`\\`) in the JSON path argument for the filesystem server. Single backslashes are interpreted as escape sequences by JSON parsers, leading to malformed paths. For example, `C:\\Users\\YourUser\\TestDoc` is correct.

// Correct escaping (double backslashes):
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "C:\\Users\\YourUser\\TestDoc"]
    }
  }
}

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