Connect a client¶

mcp-virustotal speaks MCP over stdio by default. Every client needs the same two things: how to start the server (npx -y @burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal) and the VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY environment variable (get a key).

Requirements¶

Node.js 20 or newer.
A VirusTotal API key. The free public tier allows 4 requests per minute.

Claude Code¶

claude mcp add --transport stdio --env VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY=your-key virustotal -- npx -y @burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal
claude mcp get virustotal      # should show: Connected

Codex CLI¶

codex mcp add virustotal --env VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY=your-key -- npx -y @burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal

Gemini CLI¶

gemini mcp add -e VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY=your-key virustotal npx -y @burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal

Claude Desktop¶

Edit the config file, then restart the app.

OS	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "virustotal": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal"],
      "env": { "VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY": "your-virustotal-api-key" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)¶

Create ~/.vscode/mcp.json (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\mcp.json (Windows), then reload VS Code.

{
  "servers": {
    "virustotal": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal"],
      "env": { "VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY": "your-virustotal-api-key" }
    }
  }
}

From source¶

git clone https://github.com/w0h1v/mcp-virustotal && cd mcp-virustotal
npm ci && npm run build

Use command node with the argument /absolute/path/to/mcp-virustotal/build/index.js.

HTTP streaming¶

Run the server as a standalone HTTP service with MCP_TRANSPORT=httpStream. See Environment variables. In Docker, publish the port on localhost only: docker run -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 ....

Warning

The HTTP transport has no authentication. Don't expose the port beyond localhost without an authenticating reverse proxy, or anyone who can reach it can spend your API quota.

Smithery¶

npx -y @smithery/cli install @burtthecoder/mcp-virustotal --client claude