wslmanager MCP Server

Overview

GUI for the Windows Subsystem for Linux — and native Linux/macOS VMs on Mac. Install, back up, move and configure distros without CLI flags; AI assistant with tools, MCP server for agents, remote WSL over SSH.

From the project README: "Everything in this section is part of Pro; the free app has none of it."

What it can do

The README lists these tools and features:

• Install from a built-in catalogue, or bring your own rootfs
• Copy, rename, move to another drive, back up and delete instances
• Back every instance up to one folder — with a list of what is in it — and restore them all on another PC
• Compact virtual disks to reclaim space WSL never gives back
• Watch what an instance is using right now — processor time, memory and swap, with a live graph
• Supports Ubuntu, Debian, Alpine, Kali Linux, openSUSE, SLES and anything else WSL accepts
• Use any Docker image as a distro — Docker itself is not required
• Package a configured distro as a portable .wsl file that installs on any machine (templates are deprecated in favour of these)
• Turnkey Linux and other LXC containers (experimental)
• Snippets: keep your setup commands in the app and run them on any instance
• Point the app at your own repository of rootfs images
• Browse a distro's files and copy the ones you pick into another instance — no share, no mount, no Explorer needed
• See every container on the machine — both engines at once — next to your instances
• Start, stop, restart, remove and tail the logs of a container without leaving the app
• Front end only: it drives the docker/podman you already have, and installs nothing
• The AI chat and the MCP server get the same container tools
• Every cluster in your kubeconfig, one namespace at a time — built for ten clusters of a hundred apps
• Deployments, StatefulSets and DaemonSets with health at a glance, filtered by name, namespace or image
• Open a workload to see its pods, tail their logs, restart a pod, roll out a restart, scale, or read the full details
• Front end only: it drives the kubectl you already have, and never rewrites your kubeconfig or switches your context
• Push a whole instance to a brand-new Hetzner Cloud server in one step — the root filesystem is exported, uploaded and started there as a container
• The server is created for you: size, location and base image, with cloud-init installing Docker and your own SSH key authorized for root
• Works from macOS too: a Linux VM's root filesystem is read out of the running guest, since its disk image is a bootable machine rather than something a…
• See what each server costs per month, power them on and off, and delete them from the same list
• systemd, automount, default user, start command and start path per distro

Install and configure

These commands were found in the project's own README. We checked each package name against the public registry.

brew install --cask wsl-manager

(not a registry package: check the source before running it)

Example configuration from the README (check the project's documentation for the current format):

// claude_desktop_config.json  (%APPDATA%\Claude\)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wsl-manager": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote",
        "http://127.0.0.1:59133/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": { "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer <TOKEN FROM THE MCP PANEL>" }
    }
  }
}

Environment variables:

Requirements

The README mentions setup for these clients: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code, Zed.

Limitations and things to check

Before you connect it:

• The README mentions: reads or writes files; manages infrastructure or cloud resources; dual-use security tooling: use only on systems you own or are authorised to test.
• Read the code or the documentation of the tools it exposes, and note what each tool can do.
• Grant the smallest permissions you can: limit folders, API scopes and database roles.
• Keep credentials in environment variables or a secrets manager, never in a shared config file.
• Run it in a container or a separate user account if it can execute code or touch files.

Release history

The most recent releases published on GitHub:

• v2.5.0 (2026-10-01): > New here? The 2.0.0 release notes carry the full picture — what WSL Manager 2 is, every feature, the download table and how Pro works. This release lists what changed since 2.4.1. ## Your instances - System resources (new): see what an instance is using right now — processor time, memory and…
• v2.4.1 (2026-09-20): > New here? The 2.0.0 release notes carry the full picture — what WSL Manager 2 is, every feature, the download table and how Pro works. This release lists what changed since 2.3.0. ## Your instances - Backup and restore (new): back every instance up to a folder of your choice and restore them…
• v2.4.0 (2026-09-20): > New here? The 2.0.0 release notes carry the full picture — what WSL Manager 2 is, every feature, the download table and how Pro works. This release lists what changed since 2.3.0. ## Your instances - Backup and restore (new): back every instance up to a folder of your choice and restore them…

Known issues and troubleshooting

These are the most discussed threads on the project's issue tracker. They show what other users ran into; read them before you install, and check whether they are still open.

• [BUG] High cpu consumption when downloading a distro (closed, 32 comments)
• [BUG] Docker images never finish installation (closed, 22 comments)
• Copying a distro does not work (closed, 19 comments)
• [BUG] v1.8.15 App keep crashing (closed, 15 comments)
• [BUG] wsl2-distro-manager opens with a blank screen (closed, 15 comments)

Maintenance and community

The repository has 14 contributors, 439 commits in the last 12 months, 2 open issues and pull requests. It is maintained by Eric Trenkel, a GitHub user with 66 public repositories and 168 followers. GitHub's community checks found no security policy file, contribution guidelines, a code of conduct.

Frequently asked questions

Is wslmanager free to use?

GitHub lists no license for this repository. Without a license you have no clear right to use or copy the code, so ask the author before relying on it.

When was wslmanager last updated?

The last commit was on 2026-10-01, and the project is marked active by our 12-month check.

Which AI clients does wslmanager work with?

Its README gives setup notes for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code, Zed. Other MCP-compatible clients may also work, but the project does not say so.

Sources

This page combines data from:

• wslmanager on GitHub
• WSL Manager - Linux distros on Windows, native VMs on macOS
• Pricing — WSL Manager Pro