The MCP Census

com.mcpcensusPublished by mcpcensus.comOfficial publisherv1.4.0Updated Oct 28, 2026

Vet any MCP server before you depend on it. Stamp: PASS, REVIEW, or BLOCK.

VerifiedStreamable HTTPWeb executableWeb Search & ScrapingDeveloper ToolsSecurity & Monitoring

Overview

AI-generated overview

A remote MCP server that lets an assistant look up, search, vet and monitor other MCP servers in a live census before depending on them.

What you can do
  • Look up one server by exact registry name for stars, last-push recency, archived/deprecated flags and a health verdict, and search servers by keyword with ranked health and trust results
  • Read ecosystem statistics, newest servers, a coverage transparency report and the immutable Preflight policy objects
  • Run a preflight or stamp check on one server (PASS, REVIEW or BLOCK with evidence, freshness and digests), and audit a whole client config file in one call
  • Check contested identity and lookalikes for a server name
  • Subscribe, list and remove per-server watches that fire on observed changes, and read the paginated change feed
  • Check remaining Census credits for an API key
When to use it
Useful when you are choosing between MCP servers, adding one to a client config, or want alerts when a server you rely on goes down, changes its tools or changes health status.
Requirements
A remote streamable HTTP endpoint; no package or local runtime. Some tools need an x-api-key (watches, credit wallet, refresh=if_stale); others work anonymously. Watches can optionally deliver webhook callbacks over https or email.
Before you install
Watch tools require an x-api-key, and watches can send POST callbacks to a webhook URL you supply. Preflight and stamp are described as a first gate, not a security audit or malware scan. Some calls consume Census credits, and subscribing or unsubscribing changes watch state.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open The MCP Census in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Web executable via Streamable HTTP. Remote servers run from the web runtime once configured in a workspace.

Use with an agent

Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another agent — or into SourceWeft chat. The agent reads this server's install guide, shows you its publisher, endpoint and sign-in, and adds it to your client once you agree. Keys never go into a command.

Read https://sourceweft.com/mcp/com.mcpcensus%2Fcensus/install.md and connect the MCP server it describes to my client. Before changing any config, show me its publisher, endpoint and sign-in method and wait for my OK. Never put an API key in a command or in a file I would commit; ask me where it should come from.

Read the install guide the agent follows

Other MCP clients

Add this to your client's mcpServers config.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "the-census": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.mcpcensus.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Tools

15

census_lookup

Get the live health verdict for one MCP server by its exact registry name (e.g. 'io.github.owner/name'). Returns stars, last-push recency, gone/archived/deprecated flags, name-collision count, and a fact-based health verdict (healthy | issues | unknown).

Parametersnamerequired

census_stats

Ecosystem headline numbers from the live census (same payload as GET /v1/stats). Unmetered. Returns total servers, healthy/issues counts, popular (gh_stars>=1000), remote-capable count, github-linked count, and captured_at. No invented metrics.

Takes no parameters.

census_recent

Newest MCP servers by real first_seen_at (same payload as GET /v1/recent). Unmetered. Only rows with a known first-seen date — never invents or guesses discovery times. Optional limit 1–50 (default 20).

Parameterslimit

census_coverage

Public transparency report (same payload as GET /v1/coverage). Unmetered. Live D1 census/identity/remote/protocol/adoption/pipeline counts plus method notes — never invents completeness percentages or a brand_audit punch list.

Takes no parameters.

census_watch_subscribe

Subscribe this agent (or a human email) to alerts for ONE specific MCP server. Fires only on real observed changes: remote_down, remote_up, health_change, verified_change, security. Requires x-api-key. Prefer webhook_url (https) so your agent can receive POST callbacks; email optional. Returns a watch id + HMAC secret (X-Census-Signature: sha256=…). Free tier: 5 watches; pro: 50.

Parametersemaillabeleventsserver_namerequiredwebhook_url

census_watch_list

List active per-server watches for this API key. Requires x-api-key.

Takes no parameters.

census_watch_unsubscribe

Deactivate a watch by id. Requires x-api-key that owns the watch.

Parametersidrequired

census_preflight

Run MCP server preflight

Evaluate one exact MCP server under a documented built-in install policy. Returns PASS, REVIEW, or BLOCK with evidence reasons, freshness, digests, and explicit limits. This is a first gate, not a security audit. refresh=if_stale requires x-api-key.

Parametersrefreshpolicy_idserver_namerequired

census_policy_list

List MCP Census policies

List the exact immutable Preflight v1 built-in policy objects, canonical ruleset, and policy digests. Unmetered.

Takes no parameters.

census_credits

Show remaining Census credits for this API key (wallet after the UTC-month grant). Unmetered. Without a key, returns anonymous unique-per-day remaining — not a wallet.

Takes no parameters.

census_stamp

Census stamp for one exact MCP server under a built-in policy. Same input as census_preflight. Returns the preflight body plus compact CENSUS-STAMP/1 text and stamp_json. Cost matches preflight. Never connect without a stamp. PASS is not a malware scan or permission review.

Parametersrefreshpolicy_idserver_namerequired

census_lookalikes

Contested identity for one exact server_name: official_for, name_collision_count, and up to 10 other census server_name values sharing the same namespace brand or tail. Never invents lookalikes. Cost 1.

Parametersserver_namerequired

census_audit_config

Audit an MCP client config

Audit a whole MCP client config in one call (.mcp.json, claude_desktop_config.json, .cursor/mcp.json, .vscode/mcp.json, Codex config.toml text). Resolves every entry without guessing (url → remote_url, npx → npm package, uvx → PyPI package) and returns one PASS / REVIEW / BLOCK / UNKNOWN verdict per entry under a built-in policy, plus CENSUS-AUDIT/1 text, valid_until_epoch and exit_code (1 on any BLOCK). UNKNOWN is never upgraded to PASS. Cost 1 credit per config per UTC day; keyless callers get one config of ≤25 entries per IP per day. Not a malware scan; PASS is not a sandbox. Strip env/headers before sending.

Parametersconfigrequiredformatstrictpolicy_idprevious_tools_digests

census_changes

Census change feed

The Census change feed (CENSUS-CHANGES/1): observed transitions across every server — server_new, remote_down, remote_up, tools_changed, health_change, verified_change, security, endpoint_moved, registry_status, spec_era_change. Cursor-paginated: pass next_cursor back as since. Filter by events, server_names or namespace_domain. Only real transitions, never 'still fine'. Unmetered in v1; poll hourly. Not a malware scan.

Parameterslimitsinceeventsserver_namesnamespace_domain

Version history

1
  1. v1.4.0LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

72% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 daysRequired25 pts
  • Auth declaredRequired10 pts
  • Tools listedRequired15 pts
  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts

    Publish an icon in the registry entry.

  • Documentation15 pts

    Declare a GitHub repository with a README, or serve resource_documentation in the OAuth protected-resource metadata.

  • LicenseNot applicable

    A hosted service is used under its provider's terms, so no license is expected here. This check is left out of the percentage.