Sublime-MCP: Universal AI Agent Connector for Sublime Text

Gives any MCP-speaking AI agent real control over a running Sublime Text 4 instance: run registered ST commands, read/write views and selections, inspect tabs and project state, and eval_python in Sublime's plugin host for anything the typed tools don't cover.

Controlling another installed Sublime package (a debugger, a language server, anything else) doesn't need its own dedicated MCP server — get_package_mcp_info plus eval_python/run_command covers it directly. See skills/package-skill-generator to turn a one-time investigation into a small, reusable skill file instead.

Toolset

Seven workflow tools are advertised by default. discover_tools searches the complete internal catalog of 238 typed Sublime capabilities, and batch invokes discovered capabilities without flooding the model's initial tool context.

Agent how-to: AGENT_GUIDE.md (also served live by get_help). Release history: CHANGELOG.md.

Ports

sublime-mcp serves MCP streamable HTTP at /mcp, legacy MCP SSE at /sse, and a plain HTTP bridge. The bundled Node/Python proxies use sublime-mcp's HTTP bridge only. Defaults:

Plugin	MCP SSE	HTTP bridge	Settings file
sublime-mcp	9502 (Win) / 9503 (macOS/Linux)	9500 (Win) / 9501 (macOS/Linux)	MCP Commander.sublime-settings

The settings file takes "mcp_port" and "http_port" keys; edit your copy under Packages/User/ (Preferences > Package Settings) to override the defaults above — no env vars needed.

SSE URL form: http://127.0.0.1:<sse-port>/sse. The bundled Node/Python proxies talk to sublime-mcp's HTTP bridge, not SSE; override with SUBLIME_MCP_BASE (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:9500).

Security

Both servers are loopback-only (127.0.0.1) by default and have no authentication — one of the tools they expose (eval_python) is arbitrary code execution in Sublime's own process, so treat this server as equivalent in trust level to your own login session. All of the following are keys in MCP Commander.sublime-settings:

• allow_lan_access (default false) — binds 0.0.0.0 instead of 127.0.0.1, making both servers reachable from every other device on your network, still with no authentication. Only turn this on for a specific reason a client can't reach 127.0.0.1 directly (e.g. a WSL client when WSL's networking mode doesn't forward localhost to the Windows host).
• auth_token (default unset) — requires a matching Authorization: Bearer <token> header on every request. This is the one control that works regardless of bind address, since loopback-only doesn't protect against another process, or another user on a shared/multi-user machine, reaching 127.0.0.1 on the same host. Generate a real random value yourself; don't use a short or guessable string. Not every MCP client UI exposes custom headers — check yours supports one before relying on this. If you connect through the bundled Node/Python proxy instead of a direct SSE/HTTP URL, set the same value as SUBLIME_MCP_TOKEN in the proxy process's environment.
• disabled_tools (default []) — a list of tool names to refuse and hide from discovery entirely, e.g. ["eval_python", "run_command"] to remove the two tools with the broadest reach while keeping the rest of the server usable.

There is no cross-origin access at all: the real tool-call endpoints send no Access-Control-Allow-Origin header, so a webpage's JavaScript running in a browser cannot reach them even if it's running on the same machine.

Installation

1. Install the Sublime Text plugin

Package Control (recommended once available): run Package Control: Install Package and search for MCP Commander. This package is submitted to Package Control and awaiting merge — until it lands, use the manual path below.

Manual (also the path for developing sublime-mcp itself):

git clone https://github.com/dpc00/sublime-mcp.git
cd sublime-mcp

The repo root is the package. Symlink it into ST's Packages/ directory as sublime-mcp.

Windows (Command Prompt):

mklink /J "%APPDATA%\Sublime Text\Packages\sublime-mcp" "C:\path\to\sublime-mcp"

macOS:

ln -s "$(pwd)" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text/Packages/sublime-mcp"

Linux:

ln -s "$(pwd)" "$HOME/.config/sublime-text/Packages/sublime-mcp"

Restart Sublime Text after linking so the plugin loads.

2. Configure your agent

Node:

cd packages/node-proxy
npm install .
npx sublime-mcp

Python:

cd packages/python-proxy
pip install .
sublime-mcp

For Codex, use its native streamable-HTTP configuration; no mcp-remote wrapper is required:

[mcp_servers.sublime-mcp]
type = "http"
url = "http://127.0.0.1:9502/mcp"

Restart or open a new Codex session after changing MCP configuration. Verify the entire path before debugging agent behavior:

npx sublime-mcp doctor

The report checks the HTTP bridge, MCP handshake, and focused tool catalog. From Sublime's Command Palette, MCP Commander: Connection Doctor shows the main server-side state. (Controlling a debugger or language server doesn't need its own MCP server or doctor check — see "Toolset" above and skills/package-skill-generator.)

Other MCP clients may use the legacy SSE URL (Windows example):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sublime-mcp": { "type": "sse", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9502/sse" }
  }
}

Each plugin's MCP server starts automatically when ST loads it. To stop or restart sublime-mcp's, run "MCP Commander: Server Status" from the Command Palette. Check View > Show Console for startup confirmation.

Agent skill

Installable Codex skills are in skills/sublime-mcp, skills/sublime-debugger, and skills/sublime-lsp. Copy the desired directories to your Codex skills directory or install them through your normal skill workflow.