Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO

uk.co.ashleypaynePublished by ashleypayne.co.ukOfficial publisherv1.0.1Updated Oct 24, 2026

Ask a UK fractional CTO's practice directly: services, prices, articles, and whether he fits.

VerifiedStreamable HTTPWeb executableKnowledge & MemoryBusiness & Commerce

Overview

AI-generated overview

A remote, read-only connector to a UK fractional CTO's practice, answering questions about services, prices, case studies, articles and project fit.

What you can do
Read the practice overview, services, pricing and how an engagement runs, plus AI capability and approach to data privacy and automation questions. Get a fit verdict on a described project, with follow-up questions where the published rule needs them. Browse case study summaries and open one in full, including stack and engineering decisions. Search articles and read one in full, and look up buyer FAQs. Get contact and booking details, the provenance of published figures, and the connector's privacy notice.
When to use it
Useful when evaluating Ashley Payne as a fractional CTO or technical co-founder and wanting answers from his own published material inside a chat, including a first-pass fit check before making contact.
Requirements
A remote Streamable HTTP endpoint; nothing to install or run locally. No authentication, API key, header or account is needed. Any client that speaks Streamable HTTP can connect.
Before you install
All tools are read-only and arguments are not logged, but the README advises keeping personal and confidential details out of the fit checker. Published figures are self-reported and not independently audited. The fit verdict is advisory and based on a fixed published rule.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO 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/uk.co.ashleypayne%2Fashley-payne/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": {
    "ashley-payne-technical-co-founder-and-fr": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"
    }
  }
}

README

Ashley Payne MCP server

A remote, read-only MCP server for the practice of Ashley Payne, a UK technical co-founder and fractional CTO. Connect it to your assistant and ask about his services, how an engagement runs and what it costs, his case studies and articles, and whether he suits your project.

  • Endpoint: https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp
  • Transport: Streamable HTTP
  • Authentication: none
  • Registry name: uk.co.ashleypayne/ashley-payne
  • Documentation: https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/ai

This repository holds the description and configuration only. The server is hosted, and the hosted endpoint is the product, so there's nothing to install or run.

What it does

It answers from the same published content as ashleypayne.co.uk, so the assistant and the website can't disagree.

The fit checker is the part that's a tool rather than a brochure. Describe your situation and it returns a verdict: good_fit, mixed, poor_fit or insufficient_information. The rule that produces the verdict lives on the server and is the same for everyone. Your wording on its own never produces a no. If something you wrote raises a question (do you want him to supply a delivery team, for instance), it comes back as a question for you to answer, and only a confirmed answer changes the verdict.

Tools

ToolWhat it returns
get_overviewThe first call: who he is, his background and what sets him apart.
assess_fitA verdict on whether he suits your project, with any questions to answer first.
get_servicesServices, prices and how an engagement runs.
list_workThe case studies, with clients unnamed.
get_case_studyOne case study in full.
get_ai_capabilityHow he approaches AI work, including when it isn't the answer.
search_insightsSearch his articles.
get_insightOne article in full.
get_faqsThe questions buyers ask, with answers.
get_contactEmail and the booking link.
get_evidenceHow the figures on the site are counted.
get_privacyWhat happens to what you send the server.

Prompts

is_he_right_for_me, what_would_this_cost, compare_my_options and check_the_evidence start the common conversations for you.

Configure it

Claude (web and desktop)

  1. Open Settings, then Connectors.
  2. Choose Add custom connector.
  3. Name it Ashley Payne and paste https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp.
  4. If it says it can't work out how the server signs in, choose Continue anyway. There's nothing to sign in to.
  5. Turn it on in a chat from the tools or + menu.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http ashley-payne https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp

VS Code with GitHub Copilot

Add this to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace, or to your user MCP configuration:

json
{  "servers": {    "ashley-payne": {      "type": "http",      "url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"    }  }}

Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app

Open Settings, then MCP servers, and add a Streamable HTTP server named ashley_payne with the endpoint above as its URL. Leave the token and header fields empty, save and restart, then start a new Local Codex chat and type /mcp to check it's connected. This connects Codex running locally; it doesn't make the server available in ordinary ChatGPT chats.

Anything else

Any client that speaks Streamable HTTP can connect to the endpoint directly. There's no API key, header or account.

Use it

Ask in your own words. For example:

  • "Who is Ashley Payne?"
  • "What does he charge, and how does an engagement work?"
  • "Has he built anything like our problem before?"
  • "How does he decide whether AI is the right answer?"
  • "We have developers already. We need one accountable fractional CTO to set direction. Is he a fit?"

The last one will come back with a few questions first. Answer them and ask again.

Privacy

Every tool is read-only. There's no sign-in, no session and no database, and tool arguments aren't logged. Keep personal and confidential details out of the fit checker, because the shape of the problem is enough. The full notice is on the privacy page, in the section on the AI connector.

Contact

Built and run by Ashley Payne Systems Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17463066. [email protected]

Source: README.md at commit f0c41fd

Tools

12

get_overview

Who Ashley Payne is

Positioning, background and what makes him different from other fractional CTOs. Start here.

Takes no parameters.

assess_fit

Check whether he suits your project

Compares a description of a project, business or problem against a fixed published rule and returns a verdict: good_fit, mixed, poor_fit or insufficient_information. Wording alone never produces poor_fit. Where the text touches one of the things Ashley turns down, the result lists questions in ask_these_then_call_again, and the three named fields take the person's own answers on a later call. poor_fit needs an explicit yes in one of those fields; good_fit needs an explicit no in all three. Having a development team is not the same as wanting Ashley to supply one.

Parameterssituationrequiredwants_a_delivery_teammust_start_within_a_weekwants_spec_built_without_challenge

get_services

Services, pricing, and what he builds on

The three ways an engagement runs (Build, Partner, Consult), the fixed-price diagnostic most engagements start with, how the process works, and which client surfaces he builds: desktop applications, browser extensions, chat-platform integrations and web. Use this for any question about platforms, apps, pricing or how an engagement is structured.

Takes no parameters.

list_work

List case studies

Summaries of the selected work, with the slug needed for get_case_study.

Takes no parameters.

get_case_study

Read one case study in full

Full detail for one engagement: the situation, what was built, the engineering decisions and why they were made, the stack, and where there is one, the commercial outcome in indexed figures.

Parametersslugrequired

get_ai_capability

How he approaches AI work

Which AI techniques he has built in production (prompting, retrieval, fine-tuning, MCP servers, local inference) and when each one is the right choice. Use this for questions about AI, automation or data privacy.

Takes no parameters.

search_insights

Search his writing

Search his articles on technical leadership, fractional CTO work, AI and building SaaS. Returns titles, summaries and the matching passage. Call get_insight with a slug for the full text of one.

Parametersquery

get_insight

Read one article in full

The complete text of one article, by slug. Use after search_insights, and only when the summary is not enough to answer the question.

Parametersslugrequired

get_faqs

Common questions

The questions buyers ask, with his answers. Pass a query to get the relevant ones; omit it to list every question without the answers.

Parametersquery

get_contact

How to get in touch

How to reach Ashley: email, the contact page, and a booking link when one is live. Use when the person wants to make contact.

Takes no parameters.

get_evidence

How the numbers are counted

Where the numbers on the site come from, for when someone asks whether they can be trusted. Returns one statement of provenance: the figures are counts from live systems, self-reported with a stated method and not independently audited, and Ashley will run any of them in front of someone who asks. Per-figure detail (the collections, queries and returned values) is not published.

Takes no parameters.

get_privacy

What happens to your data

What this connector and the website do with data, and what they do not. Use this if the person asks about privacy, tracking, cookies, GDPR, or what Ashley can see of this conversation.

Takes no parameters.

Version history

2
  1. v1.0.1LatestOct 15, 2026
  2. v1.0.0Oct 13, 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 daysRequired25 pts
  • Auth declaredRequired10 pts
  • Tools listedRequired15 pts
  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts

    Declare a license in the repository or the registry entry.