MCP server · Developer tools

Shipback SFTP deploy server

Let your AI upload website files to your hosting and undo the whole thing with one command.

Developer tools For it and development Cloud Platforms

Shipback is a small tool that copies a folder of website files from your computer up to your hosting account over SFTP. The difference is that it saves the old version of every file it replaces, so you can put the site back exactly how it was. It is handy if you edit a site by hand in cPanel or Plesk and want your AI to help without the risk of losing someone's live changes.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI one new skill, and here that skill is talking to your web hosting over SFTP. Once it is connected, you can say "deploy my site" and the AI asks this helper to do it, instead of you typing commands yourself. The helper is also built to be careful: it has no way to delete files on the server and no way to skip the backup.

What this MCP server does

You ask your AI to deploy a site, and it first asks Shipback for a preview of what would upload. Shipback reads your settings file, connects to your host, and compares your local folder with what is on the server. Your AI shows you that plan, and when you say go, it runs the exact same plan. Before each file is replaced, the server's copy is saved into a backup folder, then the new file is swapped in whole. If you change your mind, you ask for a restore and Shipback puts the old files back and removes the ones the deploy added.

What you can do with it

Preview what a deploy would upload before anything changes
Deploy your local folder to your hosting account
Undo the last deploy and put the old files back
See which files were edited on the server since your last deploy
Pull those live server edits down to your computer
List past backups and what each one changed
Check the history of deploys, pulls and restores

Try asking your AI

“Show me what would upload if I deploy mysite”
“Deploy mysite now”
“Has anyone changed files on the server since my last deploy?”
“Undo the last deploy of mysite”

What it gives back to you

You get plain answers in the chat: a list of files that would go up, a short report of what actually changed, or a list of backups with what each run overwrote and added. When something is refused, it tells you which file is the problem and why. It also hands your AI a plan reference so the deploy can only run the exact plan you saw.

Before you start

What you need

Node.js 18 or newer on your computer
SFTP details for your host: server address, port, username and password (your host's control panel has these)
A sites.json file listing your sites
Run one Shipback command yourself first so your password is saved in your computer's keychain

Good to know

A deploy does change files on your live website, so read the preview before you say go, and remember the backups sit on the same hosting account, not somewhere separate.

Install it with your AI

Add Shipback SFTP deploy server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Shipback SFTP deploy server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,609 MCP servers here for you.