Onthecheap Mcp

io.github.chrischallPublished by GitHub account chrischallv1.2.0Updated Nov 7, 2026

On the Cheap MCP — free and cheap events, deals and local guides across 14 US cities

VerifiedSTDIODesktop onlyLocation & LifestyleWeb Search & Scraping

Overview

AI-generated overview

Read-only MCP server for the On the Cheap network: search free and cheap events, deals and local guides across 14 US cities.

What you can do
  • List the cities in the network and their site keys, and check that a site's public API responds
  • Search articles by text, category, location and date range, and fetch a single article in full as plain text or raw HTML
  • List a day's events with time, price and venue, optionally filtered to free listings only
  • Get a day-by-day month overview with true listing counts and short previews
  • List a site's categories and neighbourhood locations with ids and post counts for filtering
When to use it
Useful when someone asks what is free or cheap to do in one of the covered US cities, wants kids' activities, festivals or deals for a date or month, or wants to compare cities. It is a read-only lookup tool, not a booking or ticketing service.
Requirements
Runs locally over stdio, typically via npx onthecheap-mcp, so Node.js is needed. No credentials, API keys, environment variables or headers; the sites are public and read over HTTPS. Every tool except the site list needs a site key, which is passed per call rather than configured.
Before you install
All tools are read-only and no secrets are requested. Results come from third-party public sites, so listings, prices and availability can be stale or wrong; expired deals are hidden by default unless include_expired is set. Category and location ids are per-site and must be resolved against the same city. The README states the project is developed and maintained by AI and to use it at your own discretion.

Installation

In SourceWeft

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

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

onthecheap-mcp

MCP server for the On the Cheap network — local guides to free and cheap things to do across 14 US cities. Daily event listings with times, prices and venues, plus a searchable archive of deals and guides.

Developed and maintained by AI (Claude Code). Use at your own discretion.

No credentials required. Every site is public, so the server reads them server-side over plain HTTPS. There is nothing to configure beyond which city you want, and no browser extension involved.

Install

bash
npx onthecheap-mcp

Or as a Claude Code plugin:

/plugin marketplace add chrischall/onthecheap-mcp/plugin install onthecheap-mcp

Choosing a city

One server reads the whole network. Every tool takes a site argument naming the city to read — there is no default and no configuration step:

KeySiteArea
charlotteCharlotte On The CheapCharlotte, NC
denverMile High on the CheapDenver, CO
atlantaAtlanta on the CheapAtlanta, GA
chicagoChicago on the CheapChicago, IL
columbusColumbus on the CheapColumbus, OH
seattleGreater Seattle on the CheapSeattle–Tacoma
kansascityKansas City on the CheapKansas City
miamiSouth Florida on the CheapMiami / Broward / Palm Beach
orlandoOrlando on the CheapOrlando, FL
portlandPortland Living on the CheapPortland, OR
richmondRVA on the CheapRichmond, VA
southernmaineSouthern Maine on the CheapSouthern Maine
triangleTriangle on the CheapRaleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill
nationalLiving On The CheapUS-wide deals (no local events calendar)

Common aliases work too — milehigh, raleigh, rva, kc, southflorida. otc_list_sites reports the same list.

site is required rather than defaulted on purpose: a server that quietly fell back to one city would answer a question about Denver with Charlotte's data and give no sign anything was wrong. An unknown key is refused with the valid ones listed.

Tools

All tools are read-only. Every tool except otc_list_sites takes a required site argument. The two event tools reject national, which has no local events calendar — it is still searchable via the other tools.

ToolWhat it does
otc_list_eventsEverything on a given day — time, price, venue. free_only filters to no-cost listings. Defaults to today.
otc_events_month_overviewDay-by-day counts for a month, to find the busiest days. Each day's list is a preview; total is the real count.
otc_search_postsSearch articles by text, category, location and date range. Returns slim summaries by default.
otc_get_postOne article in full, as readable text or raw HTML. Accepts an id, slug, or URL.
otc_list_categoriesCategory ids and post counts, for filtering searches by topic.
otc_list_locationsLocal area ids and post counts, for filtering geographically.
otc_list_sitesThe cities in the network and their site keys. Takes no arguments.
otc_healthcheckConfirm one site is reachable; on failure error.kind is edge_blocked, http, timeout or transport.

Examples

What's free in Charlotte this Saturday?

Find kids' events in Lake Norman in August

Compare free things to do in Denver and Portland next weekend

Two things worth knowing

Retired deals are excluded by default. Each site parks expired offers in an expired category, so searches skip them and you don't get deals that no longer exist. Pass include_expired: true to search the archive. The category's id differs on every site, so it's resolved by slug at request time — a hardcoded id silently disables the filter elsewhere.

Category and location ids are per-site. Each site is a separate WordPress install, so id 13 is a different category on every one of them. Resolve ids against the same site you then search — an id borrowed from another city will filter to something unrelated rather than error.

Month overviews are previews, with honest counts. The calendar shows at most four listings per day. otc_events_month_overview reports each day's true total alongside the preview — call otc_list_events with a date for the complete schedule.

Configuration

None. The city is a per-call site argument, not an environment variable, so there is nothing to set up before use.

Development

bash
npm installnpm testnpm run build

See docs/OTC-API.md for the verified data surface, including the events calendar's US M-D-YYYY date routing (an ISO date is silently parsed as 1970), the month-view truncation, and why term ids are never hardcoded.

License

MIT

Source: README.md at commit 55c7223

Tools

8

otc_search_posts

Search a city’s On the Cheap articles

Search and filter one "on the Cheap" site's articles — free and cheap things to do in that city, plus deals, festivals, kids activities and local guides. Pass the `site` key for the city (see otc_list_sites); the national hub is valid here and carries country-wide deals. Filter by full-text `query`, `category` or `location` id (see otc_list_categories / otc_list_locations), and publication date range. Category and location ids are per-site — resolve them against the SAME site you are searching. Retired deals live in an "expired" category and are excluded by default; set `include_expired` to search them too. Returns slim summaries by default — use otc_get_post for an article's full text. Read-only.

Parameterstagpagesiterequiredviewafterquerybeforecategorylocationper_pageinclude_expired

otc_get_post

Get an On the Cheap article

Fetch one "on the Cheap" article in full by numeric id, slug, or full URL. Pass the `site` key for the city the article belongs to — an id or slug from one site will not resolve on another, and a full URL must match the site you name. Returns the article text as readable plain text by default; set `format` to "html" for the original markup. Read-only.

Parameterspostrequiredsiterequiredformat

otc_list_events

List a city’s events for a day

List everything happening in an "on the Cheap" city on a given date, from that site’s events calendar — each with its time, price (most are free) and venue. Pass the `site` key for the city (see otc_list_sites) and an ISO `date` (YYYY-MM-DD); the date defaults to today in that city. Set `free_only` to keep just the no-cost listings. The national hub has no local calendar and is not a valid `site` here. Use otc_get_post on a listing's url for the full write-up. Read-only.

Parametersdatesiterequiredfree_only

otc_events_month_overview

Overview of a city’s events across a month

Day-by-day overview of a whole month from an "on the Cheap" city’s events calendar: for each day, the true number of listings and a short preview of them. Pass the `site` key for the city (see otc_list_sites). The calendar shows at most four listings per day, so `events` is a preview while `total` is the real count — call otc_list_events for a specific date to get that day's complete schedule. The national hub has no local calendar and is not a valid `site` here. Use this to find the busiest days or scan a month at a glance. Read-only.

Parameterssiterequiredmonth

otc_list_categories

List a city’s article categories

List one "on the Cheap" site's article categories with their ids and post counts (kids, music, food, festivals, art, museums, and so on). Pass the `site` key for the city (see otc_list_sites). Use an id to filter otc_search_posts by topic — ids are per-site, so use them only against the site they came from. Read-only.

Parameterssiterequired

otc_list_locations

List a city’s locations

List one "on the Cheap" site's location taxonomy with ids and post counts — the neighbourhoods and surrounding areas it covers. Pass the `site` key for the city (see otc_list_sites). Use an id to filter otc_search_posts geographically — ids are per-site, so use them only against the site they came from. Read-only.

Parameterssiterequired

otc_list_sites

List the On the Cheap sites

List every city in the "on the Cheap" network with the `site` key used to select it. This server reads them all — every other tool takes a `site` argument, and there is no default, so start here when you do not already know which key covers the city the user means. Read-only.

Takes no parameters.

otc_healthcheck

Check an On the Cheap site’s connectivity

Verify one "on the Cheap" site is reachable and its public API is responding. Pass the `site` key for the city (see otc_list_sites). The sites need no credentials, so this checks connectivity only. On failure `error.kind` names what broke: edge_blocked (a CDN/WAF refused the request before it reached the site), http, timeout or transport. Read-only.

Parameterssiterequired

Version history

12
  1. v1.2.0LatestNov 4, 2026
  2. v1.1.8Oct 16, 2026
  3. v1.1.7Oct 10, 2026
  4. v1.1.6Oct 7, 2026
  5. v1.1.5Oct 5, 2026
  6. v1.1.4Oct 3, 2026
  7. v1.1.3Sep 25, 2026
  8. v1.1.2Sep 23, 2026
  9. v1.1.1Sep 23, 2026
  10. v1.1.0Sep 20, 2026
  11. v1.0.0Sep 19, 2026
  12. v0.4.3Sep 16, 2026

Score

90% 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 days25 pts
  • Auth declared10 pts

    Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.

  • Tools listedRequired15 pts
  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts