# Stay Otter (remote · stayotter.com)

Vetted stays, ground intelligence and price monitoring, with live totals and the block checked.

- Trust score: 77/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +10
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `stayotter.com`: 77/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-stayotter-stay-otter/api-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-stayotter-stay-otter/api-mcp)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://stayotter.com/api/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.3.1`

## 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**: 80/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - No authorisation is required to call this server. Nothing on it is marked destructive, but we can't show that an anonymous caller can only read: full credit needs the server to list at least one tool and every tool to be verifiably read-only. We use a best-effort check of tool names and descriptions to tell read-only tools from tools that change things, so some genuinely read-only tools may not get full credit. Names that start with a read verb (get, list, read, search and similar) and accurate readOnlyHint annotations help. Meet that to earn full credit, or require authorisation.
  - 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**: 56/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 2672 tokens (~296/item across 9 items; 9 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 57/100
  - Stability observed for 17 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 90/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 70% 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 9 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 10 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### How do I install the Stay Otter MCP server?

Stay Otter is a hosted endpoint at https://stayotter.com/api/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-stayotter-stay-otter 'https://stayotter.com/api/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-stayotter-stay-otter": {
      "url": "https://stayotter.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "com-stayotter-stay-otter": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://stayotter.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.com-stayotter-stay-otter]
url = "https://stayotter.com/api/mcp"
```

### opencode

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

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add com-stayotter-stay-otter --url 'https://stayotter.com/api/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  com-stayotter-stay-otter:
    url: "https://stayotter.com/api/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "com-stayotter-stay-otter": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://stayotter.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add com-stayotter-stay-otter -t streamable-http -u 'https://stayotter.com/api/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-stayotter-stay-otter": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://stayotter.com/api/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 77, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 50 to 53. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 15 days of observed history at the previous scan, 16 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-11-03 (score 76, 0)

- [security] Tool “search_stays” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads

### 2026-11-02 (score 76, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 43 to 47. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 13 days of observed history at the previous scan, 14 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-11-01 (score 75, +7)

- [security improvement] Authorization: unverified → partial
- [security] Tool “search_stays” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads

### 2026-10-31 (score 68, 0)

- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “budget”

### 2026-10-30 (score 68, +1)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “check_listing” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “get_block” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “watch_booking” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “watch_similar_homes” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [cosmetic] “check_listing” reworded the description of “spot”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “intent”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “maxPerNightUsd”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “nearLandmark”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “travellerCountry”
- [cosmetic] “watch_booking” reworded the description of “confirmation”
- [cosmetic] Tool “check_listing” changed its title: Check a listing the traveller found → Check a listing the traveler found

### 2026-10-29 (score 67, 0)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “get_block” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “get_stay” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “search_stays” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” added an optional parameter “maxPerNightUsd”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “budget”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “maxTotalUsd”
- [cosmetic] “search_stays” reworded the description of “stayType”

### 2026-10-28 (score 67, +1)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [functional] Server version: 1.3.0 → 1.3.1

## MCP tools (9)

### `search_stays` (~678 tokens)

Search stays with receipts

Live search of Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia Group (hotel rooms) for the dates and party, verified against the map. Returns up to three picks (best overall, best value, closest) with receipts and tracked openUrl links. Picks within about a minute and the fine print after that, stopping at two and a half minutes; returns status 'running' with a searchId if it is not done within waitSeconds. Three trips on the house per connection, then a key (free account: five a month; Pro: unlimited).

Input parameters:

- `adults` (integer)
- `budget` (string): Super-cheap brands (Motel 6, Econo Lodge and the like) are out on every budget. value = cheapest that passes, mid = balanced, splurge = the nicest (ranked on star class and reviews, not price; no hot…
- `checkIn` (string, required): YYYY-MM-DD
- `checkOut` (string, required): YYYY-MM-DD, 1 to 90 nights after checkIn (Booking.com is skipped past 30 nights; Vrbo quotes longer stays)
- `children` (integer)
- `flexDays`: Date flexibility for the alert watcher: 0, 1, 2, 3 or 7 days
- `hotelBrands` (array): Hotel loyalty: keep hotel picks inside these groups (marriott, hilton, hyatt, ihg, accor, wyndham, choice, bestwestern); whole homes are unaffected
- `intent` (string): What the trip is for, in the traveler's words: 'kayaking', 'a cooking class', 'a quiet writing week'. Steers things to do, never the ranking.
- `maxPerNightUsd` (number): Hard cap per night in US dollars, all-in (taxes and fees included); kept per night, so the stay total follows the dates. Use instead of maxTotalUsd when the traveler gives a nightly figure (the top o…
- `maxTotalUsd` (number): Hard cap on the whole-stay total in US dollars, taxes and fees included
- `nearLandmark` (string): A place the traveler wants to be near: 'Zilker Park', 'the old town', 'Shinkansen station'
- `pets` (boolean): A pet is coming: only listings whose own policy allows pets
- `quietStreet` (boolean)
- `stayType` (string): entire = whole apartments and houses (default); hotel = hotel rooms (Booking.com and Expedia Group); any = rentals and hotel rooms side by side, each tagged; resort = resorts and all-inclusives, Book…
- `travellerCountry` (string): ISO-2 country the traveler lives in (default US); decides whether an eSIM line applies
- `vibe` (string)
- `waitSeconds` (integer): How long to wait for the search before returning a running status
- `walkTo` (array): What should be within a ten-minute walk
- `where` (string, required): City or town, with state or country when ambiguous: 'Lisbon', 'Wimberley, TX', 'Kyoto, Japan'.

### `get_stay` (~177 tokens)

Get a stay card

The card for a search by searchId: finished picks with receipts, or its running status. Free and instant. Use it to finish a search_stays call that returned 'running', or to read a shared stay (https://stayotter.com/stay/s_…). Each pick's stay card page on the site also draws the block (venues by kind, groceries, nearest stop) and lists map facts for walking back at night; the method is at https://stayotter.com/ground. For a group deciding together, https://stayotter.com/vote/<searchId> is a no-account vote page on the picks.

Input parameters:

- `searchId` (string, required): The searchId from search_stays, or the id in a stayotter.com/stay/s_… link
- `travellerCountry` (string)

### `city_picks` (~260 tokens)

Today's verified picks for a covered city

Instant and free: the latest finished standard search for one of the covered cities, about six weeks out, refreshed on a rota: whole homes for two adults and five nights in most cities, a six-adult weekend in New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, South Lake Tahoe, Sedona; stayType "hotel" gives the hotel-room trip (two adults, three nights) where one exists (Austin, Lisbon, Kyoto, Mexico City, New York, Paris, Barcelona, Montreal, San Diego, Edinburgh, Honolulu, London, Nashville, Scottsdale, New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, South Lake Tahoe, Sedona). Covered: Austin, Lisbon, Kyoto, Mexico City, New York, Paris, Barcelona, Montreal, San Diego, Edinburgh, Honolulu, London, Nashville, Scottsdale, New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, South Lake Tahoe, Sedona, Holbox, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Bentonville, Knoxville, Asheville, Canmore, Coeur d'Alene, Broken Bow, Lancaster, Ann Arbor, Da Nang, Hoi An. For other places or specific dates use search_stays.

Input parameters:

- `city` (string, required)
- `stayType` (string): hotel for the hotel-room trip; whole homes by default

### `get_activities` (~93 tokens)

Things to do

Top-rated things to do on Viator for a search's spot and dates (what the trip is for first, the city's best otherwise), with a second place to look when the row is thin. Pass a searchId from search_stays or city_picks; intent overrides the search's own.

Input parameters:

- `intent` (string): Override: 'kayaking', 'food tour'
- `searchId` (string, required)

### `set_alert` (~74 tokens)

Start price-drop alerts

Starts the otter's daily re-run of a finished search, emailing the key's account when a verified pick drops 5% or $50 or the cheapest pick disappears. Needs a key (stayotter.com/connect); the first alert is free with an account, more are Pro.

Input parameters:

- `searchId` (string, required)

### `check_listing` (~214 tokens)

Check a listing the traveler found

Reads one place the traveler found themselves into the receipts a pick carries: where it is, whether the street is quiet or lively, bars, cafés and restaurants within a ten-minute walk, the distance to a spot they name and, with dates, the lowest total and the lowest they can still cancel, each read now. Takes a Booking.com, Vrbo or Expedia property page, or a hotel's name and city; Airbnb pages cannot be read. Needs a key: one check a day free, Pro up to thirty. 5 to 60 seconds.

Input parameters:

- `adults` (integer)
- `checkIn` (string): YYYY-MM-DD; with checkOut, prices are read too
- `checkOut` (string)
- `city` (string)
- `spot` (string): A place they will walk to: 'Rainey Street', 'the convention center'
- `text` (string, required): A property page URL, or a hotel's name with its city after a comma: 'Hilton Austin, Austin'

### `watch_booking` (~276 tokens)

Watch a booking until its free-cancellation deadline

For a stay already booked with free cancellation: pass the confirmation email's text. The otter keeps five facts (property, dates, total paid, deadline, where it was booked), discards the rest (no names, confirmation numbers or card details), reads the property's rate every morning and emails the account when a cheaper rate it can still cancel into appears (5% or $50), with reminders 7, 3 and 1 days before the deadline. Hotels booked direct are read across sellers through Google's rate list. A single whole home has one calendar, so once booked its price can't drop for the traveler: the first read finds the nights taken, the otter emails to say so and offers (free) to watch other whole homes nearby for the same dates until the deadline. A watch that closes without a drop ends with one note saying the price held (the reads and the lowest rate seen); a drop alert asks whether the traveler rebooked, and the answers feed the public track record as totals. Needs a key; free and unlimited. The otter never books or cancels.

Input parameters:

- `confirmation` (string, required): The confirmation email's text, as the traveler pasted or forwarded it
- `paidUsd` (number): What they paid in US dollars, when the confirmation is in a currency the otter can't convert

### `get_block` (~173 tokens)

The block around a pick

Ground intelligence for one stay from a finished search: every bar and pub, café, restaurant and grocery within a ten-minute walk (counts, with + when the map read was capped in a dense center), the nearest stop and the walk to it, and map facts for walking back at night (bars within five minutes, the main road, the walk from the traveler's spot). Facts only: no crime figures, no safety rating. The same block is drawn as a map on the pick's stayUrl. Free; usually instant, a few seconds the first time a stay is asked about. Method: https://stayotter.com/ground.

Input parameters:

- `searchId` (string, required): The searchId from search_stays or get_stay
- `sourceId` (string, required): The pick's sourceId from the card

### `watch_similar_homes` (~147 tokens)

Watch other whole homes for a booked stay's dates

For a whole home already booked (watch_booking, then the first morning's read found the nights taken by the traveler): watches other verified whole homes nearby for the same dates and party, and emails the account when one comes in at least 5% or $50 under what they paid, until their free-cancellation deadline. A find is always a different home, never the same one cheaper; the traveler books the new one first and cancels theirs second. Starts with one live search now (30 to 90 seconds; not counted as a trip). Needs the key the booking was watched with; free.

Input parameters:

- `bookedId` (string, required): The bookedId watch_booking returned

## Diagnostics

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

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 77
- 2026-11-04: 77
- 2026-11-03: 76
- 2026-11-02: 76
- 2026-11-01: 75
- 2026-10-31: 68
- 2026-10-30: 68
- 2026-10-29: 67
- 2026-10-28: 67
- 2026-10-27: 66
- 2026-10-26: 66
- 2026-10-25: 65
- 2026-10-24: 65
- 2026-10-23: 64
- 2026-10-22: 64
- 2026-10-21: 63
- 2026-10-20: 63
- 2026-10-19: 62

## Common questions

### What is the Stay Otter MCP server?

Stay Otter is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as com.stayotter/stay-otter. Vetted stays, ground intelligence and price monitoring, with live totals and the block checked. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://stayotter.com/api/mcp).

### Is the Stay Otter MCP server safe to use?

Stay Otter scores 77 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 Stay Otter MCP server expose?

Stay Otter exposes 9 tools: search_stays, get_stay, city_picks, get_activities, set_alert, and 4 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 2,092 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Stay Otter MCP server require authentication?

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

### Is the Stay Otter MCP server still maintained?

Stay Otter 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.

### What did VerifyMCP test on the Stay Otter MCP server?

VerifyMCP ran 13 checks on Stay Otter, covering TLS certificate, Authorization, HTTPS, HSTS header and 9 more. Supply Chain Security and Provenance & Transparency do not apply to a hosted endpoint, so they were not tested. The score does not measure everything, and the scoring documentation lists what it leaves out.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://stayotter.com/api/mcp
- Website: https://stayotter.com/connect
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-stayotter-stay-otter/api-mcp.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-stayotter-stay-otter/api-mcp/changelog.json
- Trust report (JSON): https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-stayotter-stay-otter/api-mcp.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-stayotter-stay-otter/api-mcp