author	copyright	version
Jerry Jackson (Uncle Tallest)	© 2026 Jerry Jackson. All rights reserved.	v0.3.1

Aperture

Local filesystem access for claude.ai browser users.

The Claude Desktop app can read and write your local files through MCP filesystem tools. If you use claude.ai in a browser tab, you don't get those tools by default.

Aperture fixes that. It runs a local bridge on your computer and exposes it to claude.ai via a secure public tunnel -- no Desktop app required.

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How It Works

claude.ai (browser) → HTTPS → Serveo tunnel → Aperture MCP server → Your filesystem

Three components run on your machine:

• aperture.py -- HTTP bridge on localhost:8765, handles filesystem operations
• aperture-mcp-server.py -- MCP SSE server on localhost:10000, translates MCP protocol to bridge calls
• Serveo tunnel -- SSH-based tunnel, gives claude.ai a public HTTPS URL to reach your machine

Claude gets seven filesystem tools: read_file, write_file, list_directory, create_directory, move_file, get_file_info, list_allowed_directories.

Security: localhost-only bridge, session tokens, explicit directory allowlist. You control exactly what Claude can access.

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Installation

Quick install (recommended)

bash install-aperture.sh

The installer handles everything: dependency checks, Python packages, directory setup, subdomain configuration, and optional systemd autostart. Takes 2-3 minutes.

Manual install

Requirements: Python 3.10+, pip, SSH client

# Install Python dependencies
pip install flask flask-cors mcp httpx starlette uvicorn --break-system-packages

# Start the bridge
python3 aperture.py start --allow ~/Documents/claude-work

# In another terminal, start the MCP server
python3 aperture-mcp-server.py --port 10000

# In another terminal, start the tunnel
ssh -R aperture-myname-myhostname:80:localhost:10000 serveo.net

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Usage

After install, aperture-start.sh manages everything:

# Start (reads config from ~/.aperture.conf)
aperture-start.sh

# Check status and get current connector URL
aperture-start.sh --status

# Stop all processes
aperture-start.sh --stop

# Start with specific directories
aperture-start.sh --allow ~/Documents --allow ~/Projects

On startup, Aperture prints the connector URL to paste into claude.ai:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Aperture is running                                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Connector URL (paste into claude.ai):              │
│  https://aperture-yourname-yourhostname.serveo.net/sse
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Register in claude.ai: Settings → Connectors → + → Custom MCP Server → paste URL.

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Configuration

Config lives at ~/.aperture.conf (created by installer):

SUBDOMAIN="aperture-yourname-yourhostname"
ALLOW_DIRS=(
  "/home/yourname/Documents"
  "/home/yourname/Projects"
)

Edit this file to change allowed directories or subdomain, then restart Aperture.

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Security

• Bridge binds to 127.0.0.1 only -- not accessible from your network
• Session tokens are 32-byte cryptographically random values, 24-hour expiry
• All filesystem operations validated against the allowlist before execution
• Serveo tunnel is outbound SSH only -- no inbound ports opened on your machine
• CORS restricted to claude.ai and localhost origins

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Troubleshooting

Connector URL not connecting:

aperture-start.sh --status
curl http://localhost:10000/health

Invalid token errors: Token is regenerated each time the bridge starts. If the MCP server has a stale token, restart everything with aperture-start.sh.

Serveo subdomain taken: Edit ~/.aperture.conf and change SUBDOMAIN to something unique, then restart.

Port already in use:

aperture-start.sh --stop
aperture-start.sh

Logs:

~/.aperture-logs/bridge.log
~/.aperture-logs/mcp.log
~/.aperture-logs/tunnel.log

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Integration with Continuity Bridge

Aperture is a tool in the Continuity Bridge ecosystem. If you're using Continuity Bridge, Aperture gives web instances the same filesystem access that Desktop app instances have natively.

Install path in Continuity Bridge: Tools/aperture/

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Platform Support

Platform	Status
Linux	Supported
macOS	Should work, untested
Windows	Not yet supported
Android	Not applicable

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License

Same license as Continuity Bridge. See LICENSE in the main repository.

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Credits

Architecture & implementation: Uncle Tallest (Jerry Jackson) & Vector (Claude instances)
Part of: Continuity Bridge