# MCP Canary (remote · api.mcpcanary.com)

Inspect any remote MCP server: transport, protocol, tools, and side-effect hints. No tool calls.

- Trust score: 70/100 (medium)
- Change this week: −2
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `api.mcpcanary.com`: 70/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-mcpcanary-inspect/api.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-mcpcanary-inspect/api)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://api.mcpcanary.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 2026-11-05.

- **Endpoint Security**: 74/100
  - 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.
  - HSTS check failed: the Strict-Transport-Security header is absent.
  - 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**: 63/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 348 tokens (~174/item across 2 items; 2 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 9/100
  - Stability check failed: schema churn in the 12 days we've observed: 0 tool removals, 1 breaking changes, 0 auth/transport breaks, 0 additions.
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% of tool parameters carry a description.
  - Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 2 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 3 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).

## Install

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

MCP Canary is a hosted endpoint at https://api.mcpcanary.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-mcpcanary-inspect 'https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-mcpcanary-inspect": {
      "url": "https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

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

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.com-mcpcanary-inspect]
url = "https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp"
```

### opencode

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

### OpenClaw

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

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  com-mcpcanary-inspect:
    url: "https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

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

### Vellum

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

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-mcpcanary-inspect": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.mcpcanary.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 70, −4)

- [security regression] Stability: 0.33 → fail
- [security regression] A breaking change shipped without a version bump: still 1.0.0
- [security] Tool “inspect_endpoint” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: pass → fail
- [functional regression] “inspect_endpoint” changed the type of “url”: string → string|null
- [cosmetic] “inspect_endpoint” added an optional parameter “website”
- [cosmetic] “inspect_endpoint” reworded the description of “headers”
- [cosmetic] “inspect_endpoint” reworded the description of “url”
- [cosmetic] “inspect_endpoint” made “url” optional

### 2026-11-02 (score 74, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 27 to 30. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 8 days of observed history at the previous scan, 9 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-31 (score 73, +1)

- [security] Tool “inspect_endpoint” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 119 → 133

### 2026-10-29 (score 72, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 13 to 17. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 4 days of observed history at the previous scan, 5 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-26 (score 71, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 3 to 7. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 1 days of observed history at the previous scan, 2 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-25 (score 70, 0)

- [functional improvement] Stability: unverified → 0.03

### 2026-10-24 (score 70)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (2)

### `get_pricing` (~40 tokens)

Get MCP Canary pricing

MCP Canary plans, monthly prices (in cents), and limits, plus the free trial. The trial needs no payment and starts on the first monitor write.

Output parameters:

- `currency` (string)
- `plans` (array)
- `trial` (object)

### `inspect_endpoint` (~252 tokens)

Inspect MCP endpoint

Connects to a remote MCP endpoint (Streamable HTTP, then legacy SSE), lists its tools, and classifies each tool's side effects from its MCP hints. Never calls a tool on the target. agent_readiness lists what is wrong with the tool definitions and protocol compliance of the target, each with a fix, and a grade A-F. A target problem is status=failed with a stable failure code (e.g. TARGET_UNAVAILABLE, TARGET_AUTH_FAILED, MCP_PROTOCOL_ERROR). Private and loopback addresses are rejected. Set website (not url) to inspect a web page whose JavaScript registers WebMCP tools: the page is opened in a browser; the result has transport=webmcp.

Input parameters:

- `headers` (object|null): Optional HTTP headers for the target, e.g. Authorization. Sent to the target only, never stored. Not with website.
- `url` (string|null): Absolute http or https URL of the MCP endpoint, e.g. https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp. Set url or website.
- `website` (string|null): Absolute http or https URL of a web page with WebMCP tools, e.g. a Shopify storefront. Set url or website.

Output parameters:

- `agent_readiness` (object|null)
- `duration_ms` (integer)
- `endpoint` (string)
- `failure` (object|null)
- `instructions` (string|null)
- `protocol` (string|null)
- `server` (object|null)
- `status` (string)
- `tools` (array)
- `transport` (string|null)

## Diagnostics

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

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 70
- 2026-11-04: 70
- 2026-11-03: 74
- 2026-11-02: 74
- 2026-11-01: 73
- 2026-10-31: 73
- 2026-10-30: 72
- 2026-10-29: 72
- 2026-10-28: 71
- 2026-10-27: 71
- 2026-10-26: 71
- 2026-10-25: 70
- 2026-10-24: 70

## Common questions

### What is the MCP Canary server?

MCP Canary is listed in the public MCP registry as com.mcpcanary/inspect. Inspect any remote MCP server: transport, protocol, tools, and side-effect hints. No tool calls. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp).

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

MCP Canary scores 70 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 MCP Canary server expose?

MCP Canary exposes 2 tools: get_pricing, inspect_endpoint. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 292 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the MCP Canary server require authentication?

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

### Is the MCP Canary server still maintained?

MCP Canary is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 5 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://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp
- Website: https://mcpcanary.com/
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-mcpcanary-inspect/api.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-mcpcanary-inspect/api.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-mcpcanary-inspect/api