Distil
PYPI · DISTIL-LLM
Reversibly compress tool outputs to recoverable handles; expand to exact original bytes on demand.
Available components
Last scanned (17 hours ago)
Scores higher than 99% of PyPI servers
Category Developer Tools
How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, and we only credit what we can confirm. How we score → Why this is hard to score →
Supply Chain Security100
- No malware found by supply-chain analysis.Pass
- No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.Pass
- Runs hatchling.build at install time, a recognised build step with no custom scripting around it. View diagnostics → Pass
- No production dependencies, so there is no dependency health to assess. View diagnostics → Pass
Provenance & Transparency100
- Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL. View diagnostics → Pass
- Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to dshakes/distil). View diagnostics → Pass
- Clear OSI-approved license (Apache-2.0).Pass
- Actively maintained (last published 2 days ago).Pass
- Publishes a security disclosure policy (SECURITY.md).Pass
Schema Quality & AI Usability81
- AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 479 tokens (~159/item across 3 items; 3 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params. See how to fix → Fail
- Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples. See how to fix → Fail
Stability & Change Management100
- No destabilizing schema changes in the last 30 days.Pass
Tool Coverage100
- 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).Pass
- 100% of tool parameters carry a description.Pass
Tool Safety100
- No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.Pass
- We read all 3 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 3 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.Pass
Capabilities100
- Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.Pass
Every change we have recorded for this component, newest first. Security-relevant changes are always shown. ▲ marks a change for the better, ▼ a change for the worse; unmarked changes are neutral.
- 4 Nov 26 +1
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
- 3 Nov 26 +15
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- 2 Nov 26 −16
- Malware scan: pass → unverified ▼ security
- Stability: pass → 0.93 functional
- 29 Oct 26 +15
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- 28 Oct 26 −15
- Malware scan: pass → unverified ▼ security
- 27 Oct 26 +16
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
- 26 Oct 26 −16
- Malware scan: pass → unverified ▼ security
- Stability: pass → 0.97 functional
- 20 Oct 26 +1
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
Diagnostic detail from the automated scan of this channel: what the scanner observed at each step, so you can see exactly where a check passed or failed. It is informational only and never changes the trust score.
Captured 4 Nov 2026 · Analysed pypi/distil-llm@1.30.0
Provenance Verified
A signed build attestation was found and verified, binding this exact artifact to the source repository it claims to come from.
| Result | Verified |
|---|---|
| Ecosystem | pypi |
| Reason | Verified |
| Discovered via | Registry attestation endpoint |
| Source repo | dshakes/distil |
| Certificate issuer | https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com |
| Certificate SAN | https://github.com/dshakes/distil/.github/workflows/release.yml@refs/tags/v1.30.0 |
| Rekor log index | 2253703327 |
| Predicate type | PyPI publish attestation https://docs.pypi.org/attestations/publish/v1 |
| Subject digest | sha256:1f18fb623f5d8576aab0f532dd21cb6f32c642e2fa9e7406e8d451dfc5544770 |
Background: How many MCP packages publish verified provenance →
Install scripts 1 script
| Hook | Tier | Command |
|---|---|---|
| build_backend | allowlisted | hatchling.build |
Background: Why install scripts are a supply-chain risk →
Dependencies 0 packages
| Packages resolved | 0 |
|---|---|
| Tree resolution | Complete |
Background: SBOMs and build attestations, explained →
The tools this component advertises to a client, with an estimated token cost for each. Expand a tool to see its parameters and schema. The per-tool counts are indicative and are not scored directly; the schema's total context footprint is one signal in Schema Quality & AI Usability. A tool's description is untrusted text the model reads on every call, which is what makes this list a security surface and not just an inventory: how tool poisoning works →
distil_compress ~179
Reversibly compress a text blob — typically a large tool output you want to keep in context cheaply. Returns JSON {"compressed": str, "handle": str|null, "tokens_saved": int}: a compact digest to keep in the conversation, plus an 8-hex handle that recovers the exact original bytes via distil_expand. The original is stored locally (encrypted, owner-only) and never sent anywhere. Use when a tool result is large enough that carrying it verbatim is wasteful; skip it for short text, which comes back unchanged with handle=null and tokens_saved=0. Errors return "error: ..." with isError set; nothing is stored.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| text | string | yes | Raw text to compress, passed verbatim — do not pre-summarize or truncate it, or the recovered original will be lossy. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
distil_expand ~212
Recover the exact original text for an 8-hex handle returned by distil_compress. Returns the original bytes as plain text — not JSON, not a summary. Use when the digest in context lacks a detail you now need (an exact line, value, or stack frame); prefer reading the digest first, since expanding spends the tokens compression saved. Reads a local, encrypted store, so it works across sessions and processes but not across machines. An unknown, expired, or evicted handle returns "error: no original found for handle ..." with isError set — re-run the original tool rather than retrying; the answer will not change. Handles age out after DISTIL_RESTORE_TTL_DAYS (default 14).
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| handle | string | yes | The 8-hex handle from a prior distil_compress result or a digest stub in context, e.g. '3f9a1c07'. Content-addressed, so it is stable across runs; any other shape is rejected. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
distil_savings ~88
Report cumulative savings from the local distil ledger as JSON {"runs": int, "tokens_saved": int, "dollars_saved": float}. Covers every request distil has compressed on this machine, not just this session. Use to answer 'how much has distil saved me'; it says nothing about whether any one compression was correct. Takes no arguments; an empty ledger reports zeros.
Input schema present but exposes no named parameters.
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
How do I install the Distil MCP server?
Distil runs locally as a PyPI package, launched with uvx distil-llm. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.
pypi · distil-llm
claude mcp add dshakes-distil -- uvx distil-llm
What is the Distil MCP server?
Distil is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.dshakes/distil. Reversibly compress tool outputs to recoverable handles; expand to exact original bytes on demand. This page covers its PyPI package (distil-llm).
Is the Distil MCP server safe to use?
Distil scores 97 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 4 November 2026. Its build provenance is signed and verified. 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 Distil MCP server expose?
Distil exposes 3 tools: distil_compress, distil_expand, distil_savings. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 479 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Is the Distil MCP server still maintained?
Distil 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.
What licence is the Distil MCP server under?
Distil declares the Apache-2.0 licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.