# AppTierList (remote · apptierlist.com)

Ranked iPhone app lists by use case (S to F) from public App Store data. Read-only, no key.

- Trust score: 68/100 (medium)
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-04

## Components

- remote · `apptierlist.com`: 68/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-apptierlist-apptierlist/apptierlist.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-apptierlist-apptierlist/apptierlist)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://apptierlist.com/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.0.0`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-11-04.

- **Endpoint Security**: 80/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - No authorisation is required to call this server. Every tool declares its destructiveHint and none is destructive, so open access doesn't expose one.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 100/100
  - Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 39/100
  - 0% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 2105 tokens (~161/item across 13 items; 11 tools + 2 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 17/100
  - Stability observed for 5 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 97/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 91% of tool parameters carry a description.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 11 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 13 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 60/100
  - Spec-recency check failed: implements MCP spec 2025-06-18; the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### How do I install the AppTierList MCP server?

AppTierList is a hosted endpoint at https://apptierlist.com/mcp, so there is nothing to install locally. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http com-apptierlist-apptierlist 'https://apptierlist.com/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-apptierlist-apptierlist": {
      "url": "https://apptierlist.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "com-apptierlist-apptierlist": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://apptierlist.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.com-apptierlist-apptierlist]
url = "https://apptierlist.com/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "com-apptierlist-apptierlist": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://apptierlist.com/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add com-apptierlist-apptierlist --url 'https://apptierlist.com/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  com-apptierlist-apptierlist:
    url: "https://apptierlist.com/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "com-apptierlist-apptierlist": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://apptierlist.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add com-apptierlist-apptierlist -t streamable-http -u 'https://apptierlist.com/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-apptierlist-apptierlist": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://apptierlist.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-11-04 (score 68, +1)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “get_category” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads

### 2026-11-02 (score 67, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 7 to 10. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 2 days of observed history at the previous scan, 3 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-31 (score 66, +1)

- [functional improvement] Stability: unverified → 0.03

### 2026-10-30 (score 65)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (11)

### `list_categories` (~163 tokens)

List categories

Every ranked category (product type): slug, title, section, parent, how many apps are tiered, its #1 app, ranking_status (ranked; under_review: fewer than 6 apps checked against it yet; too_few: fewer than 6 apps in it at all; either way no ranking and no #1) and under_review_count (apps listed but not checked yet). Use the slug with get_category. verbose=true adds each definition, excludes, counts and URLs (about 10x larger). Default: active only; status=all includes drafts (unpublished, being built) and archived (kept, no longer recommended).

Input parameters:

- `status` (string)
- `verbose` (boolean): include definitions, excludes, counts and URLs

### `get_category` (~295 tokens)

Get a category's ranking

The tier list for one category: members in order with tier, score, the score components, per-store search ranks, membership status (active), confidence (normal|provisional), maker verification, freshness. Each ranked member carries a compact app (name, one-liner, price, rating, links); unranked and under_review entries carry a smaller one (name, rating, links). Full details of any app are at its api_url, or get_app. Positions are only meaningful within this category. under_review lists the apps not yet checked against this category's definition (review_status: "under_review"): they have no tier and no position, come after every ranked app, and should not be presented as ranked. ranking_status "under_review" means fewer than 6 apps are checked and "too_few" fewer than 6 apps in all, so the category has no ranking yet. An app whose missing_since is set is no longer on the App Store: it stays in the category at tier F, after every app still on sale, and is never counted or named #1; do not recommend it or send anyone to its store_url. A merged category's slug answers with the category it was merged into, with merged_from.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): max members to return (default 20; 40 is the whole tiered set)
- `slug` (string, required): category slug from list_categories

### `get_app` (~179 tokens)

Get an app

One app by slug or App Store id: App Store facts, generated summary, every category membership with tier/score/status/confidence and review_status (checked, or under_review: not checked against that category yet, so tier and position are null) and list_ranking_status (the category's own ranking_status: tier and position are null unless it is ranked), main_list (the list slug of the app's main job: the first category the placer marked primary on the current App Store listing; null when no read of the current listing marks one (never guessed). An app's alternatives belong to this job), maker claim status, recent history. An app whose missing_since is set is no longer on the App Store: do not recommend it or send anyone to its store_url.

Input parameters:

- `key` (string, required): app slug or numeric app_store_id

### `search_apps` (~190 tokens)

Search apps and categories

Find categories by name or definition and apps by name, word by word: 'best free ai companion', 'apps like calm' (the categories Calm is ranked in), 'chat gpt'. Filler words (best, free, app, like) are ignored. Returns summaries with compact apps; follow up with get_category or get_app. When nothing matches every word, the categories matching some of them come back with a hint.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): max results per kind (default 20)
- `made_for_iphone_duo` (boolean): true: only apps with Apple's Made for iPhone Duo badge (iPhone Duo screenshots on the listing), best tier first, then most rated; query may be empty to list them all, and no categories come back
- `query` (string, required): free text, e.g. 'ai girlfriend', 'period tracker', 'apps like calm'

### `explain_ranking` (~112 tokens)

Explain a ranking

Why an app sits where it does: score components per category, per-store search ranks, every judge verdict (with reason, whether it is current for the app's present listing and the category's present definition), and the app's change history. An app whose missing_since is set is no longer on the App Store: do not recommend it or send anyone to its store_url.

Input parameters:

- `key` (string, required): app slug or numeric app_store_id
- `list` (string): optional category slug to restrict to

### `find_alternatives` (~179 tokens)

Find alternatives to an app

Apps that do the same job as the given app, in three groups: most_similar (S to C tier; apps that also sit in more of this app's other categories first, then the same App Store genre, then tier), top_rated (the category's own order) and best_free (free to download, in-app purchases allowed); each app in one group at most, every one with why it is there (shared_lists, same_genre, free). all lists every alternative. They all come from the app's main-job category, so none does a different job. An app whose missing_since is set is no longer on the App Store: its alternatives matter most then.

Input parameters:

- `key` (string, required): app slug or numeric app_store_id
- `limit` (integer): max apps in all (default 20)

### `compare_apps` (~91 tokens)

Compare apps within a category

Side-by-side tier, position, score and components for two or more apps in one category (or in every category they share when list is omitted). An app with review_status under_review is not checked against that category yet: no tier, no position. Never compares positions across different categories.

Input parameters:

- `keys` (array, required)
- `list` (string): category slug; omitted = every category all the apps share

### `recent_changes` (~422 tokens)

What changed

Append-only history: memberships added/removed, tier changes, categories created/activated/archived, apps discovered/missing. Newest first (by time, then id); page with cursor. To poll for new events use after_id instead: events whose seq is greater than after_id, oldest first by seq, each with its seq, and next_after_id (the last seq) to send next time (start at 0); seq is the order events became public, so it never misses an event written late or shown after review, which since can (not with since, cursor or summary). since is exact for events: only changes after that instant. summary=true answers 'what moved this week' in one call instead: per category, apps added/removed/contested, each app's net tier move (up, down, entered or left the top 40) with the S/A moves and membership changes as highlights (each with its reason: why it moved, e.g. under review or checked), plus catalog events; window from since rounded down to its UTC day (default 7 days back, at most the last 31 days), counted over every event in it. By default the 15 busiest categories (lists_total says how many changed); pass list for one.

Input parameters:

- `after_id` (integer): polling: events whose seq is greater than this, oldest first by seq; send next_after_id from the previous answer, 0 to start (not with since, cursor or summary)
- `cursor` (integer): next_cursor from the previous page (not with summary)
- `kind` (string): one change kind (not with summary)
- `limit` (integer): default 100 (not with summary)
- `list` (string): category slug
- `since` (string): ISO-8601 timestamp. Events: only changes after this exact instant. summary: rounded down to its UTC day, within the last 31 days
- `summary` (boolean): true: a per-category digest of the window instead of raw events

### `health` (~58 tokens)

System health

Is the data being maintained: per-job last success and next due time, provider cool-downs, invariant check status, counts of pending judgments, stale apps, and public_unchecked (memberships shown as under review, expected to fall to 0).

### `search` (~92 tokens)

Search (ids for fetch)

Search categories and apps; returns results with an id to pass to fetch (list:<slug> for a category's ranking, app:<slug> for an app), a title and a URL. Same matching as search_apps; when no category matched every word, a hint says the categories match only some of them.

Input parameters:

- `query` (string, required): free text, e.g. 'best vpn' or 'apps like calm'

### `fetch` (~63 tokens)

Fetch a category or an app by id

One document by the id search returned: list:<slug> is the category's ranking (compact members), app:<slug> the app's full record. text holds the record as JSON.

Input parameters:

- `id` (string, required): list:<slug> or app:<slug>, from search

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-apptierlist-apptierlist/apptierlist#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-11-04: 68
- 2026-11-03: 67
- 2026-11-02: 67
- 2026-11-01: 66
- 2026-10-31: 66
- 2026-10-30: 65

## Common questions

### What is the AppTierList MCP server?

AppTierList is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as com.apptierlist/apptierlist. Ranked iPhone app lists by use case (S to F) from public App Store data. Read-only, no key. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://apptierlist.com/mcp).

### Is the AppTierList MCP server safe to use?

AppTierList scores 68 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the AppTierList MCP server expose?

AppTierList exposes 11 tools: list_categories, get_category, get_app, search_apps, explain_ranking, and 6 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 1,844 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the AppTierList MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to AppTierList without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the AppTierList MCP server still maintained?

AppTierList is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 4 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://apptierlist.com/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/apptierlist/mcp
- Website: https://apptierlist.com/agents/
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-apptierlist-apptierlist/apptierlist.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-apptierlist-apptierlist/apptierlist.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-apptierlist-apptierlist/apptierlist