how.is domain & IP intelligence
REMOTE · HOW.IS
Pay-per-call DNS, WHOIS, domain age, TLS, email auth, blocklists, IP intel. Free samples.
Available components
Last scanned (1 hour ago)
Scores higher than 84% of remote servers
Reachable. Last reached 5 Nov 2026.
Category Security
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. How we score → Why this is hard to score →
Endpoint Security80
- The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key. View diagnostics → Pass
- No authorisation is required to call this server. Every tool declares its destructiveHint and none is destructive, so open access doesn't expose one. See how to fix → View diagnostics → Partial
- HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path. View diagnostics → Pass
- The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present. View diagnostics → Pass
- DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC. See how to fix → View diagnostics → Fail
Transport & Reachability100
- Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake. View diagnostics → Pass
Schema Quality & AI Usability70
- AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 3443 tokens (~143/item across 24 items; 24 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 Management57
- Stability observed for 17 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.Partial
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 24 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 25 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.
- 5 Nov 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 53 to 57. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 16 days of observed history at the previous scan, 17 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 3 Nov 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 47 to 50. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 14 days of observed history at the previous scan, 15 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 1 Nov 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 40 to 43. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 12 days of observed history at the previous scan, 13 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 30 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 33 to 37. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 10 days of observed history at the previous scan, 11 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 28 Oct 26 −1
- The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads security
- Tool “bot_observatory” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads security
- Schema quality: 106 → 143 ▼ functional
- New tool “bot_verify” functional
- New tool “bot_verify_batch” functional
- New tool “brand_lookalikes” functional
- New tool “company_lookup” functional
- New tool “domain_changes” functional
- New tool “read_url” functional
- New tool “url_preflight” functional
- 27 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 23 to 27. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 7 days of observed history at the previous scan, 8 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 26 Oct 26 0
- The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads security
- New tool “add_credit” functional
- 25 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 17 to 20. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 5 days of observed history at the previous scan, 6 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
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 5 Nov 2026 · Probed https://how.is/mcp
TLS valid
Negotiated TLS 1.3 with TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 .
| Subject | Issuer | Valid from | Valid until | Key | Signature | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN=*.how.is | CN=YR1,O=Let's Encrypt,C=US | 19 Sept 2026 | 18 Dec 2026 | RSA 2048 | SHA256-RSA | 6ee91fdd907b5d4e30ed158546603739c10 |
| SANs: *.how.is, how.is | ||||||
| CN=YR1,O=Let's Encrypt,C=US (CA) | CN=Root YR,O=ISRG,C=US | 3 Sept 2025 | 2 Sept 2028 | RSA 2048 | SHA256-RSA | a20253f15f2691c05dc1ce13b9bcca4e |
| CN=Root YR,O=ISRG,C=US (CA) | CN=ISRG Root X1,O=Internet Security Research Group,C=US | 13 May 2026 | 2 Sept 2032 | RSA 4096 | SHA256-RSA | f24b6d17f9d9ad7cb1c9fea78782699f |
Background: What to check on a remote MCP endpoint →
DNSSEC insecure
Validation of how.is. — Not signed
| Zone | DS | Keys | Algorithms | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | trust_anchor | 20326, 38696 | 8, 8 | Verified |
| is. | present | 46824 | 13 | Verified |
| how.is. | absent | Unsigned (proven) parent-signed NSEC/NSEC3 proves an unsigned delegation |
Authentication No authorisation required
The endpoint answered without asking for a token. Anyone who knows the URL can reach it.
| Result | No authorisation required |
|---|---|
| HTTP status | 200 |
| Header | Value |
|---|---|
| strict-transport-security | max-age=63072000 |
| x-content-type-options | nosniff |
| referrer-policy | strict-origin-when-cross-origin |
| permissions-policy | camera=(), microphone=() |
Background: How OAuth 2.1 works in the 2026 MCP spec →
Transports 2 probes
| Transport | URL | Outcome | Status | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| streamable-http | https://how.is/mcp | Verified | 200 | |
| http (plaintext) | http://how.is/mcp | HTTPS enforced | 308 | https://how.is/mcp |
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 →
add_credit Add credit (free) ~77
Free. Returns a link your user opens to add card credit (from $5) to the key on this connection. If the connection has no key, it creates one: tell your user to add it to this server's settings as the header 'Authorization: Bearer <key>'. The link only adds credit; it never reveals the key.
Input schema present but exposes no named parameters.
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
bot_observatory Bot observatory feed ~116
Partner tier of the dns.pizza bot observatory: every network (ASN), named crawler, TLS (JA4) fingerprint and firewall rule seen in the last 7 days, refreshed hourly. The public tier is free at https://dns.pizza/bots; unlimited pulls come with a monthly plan at https://how.is/bots. Price $0.050 per call. Returns: data.data: generated_at, networks, bots, fingerprints (the free tier at dns.pizza/bots shows the same shape without fingerprints).
Input schema present but exposes no named parameters.
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
bot_verify Crawler identity check ~293
Verify a crawler's identity: is this visitor (IP + user-agent) really Googlebot, Bingbot, GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Applebot, PerplexityBot..., an impostor using the name, another bot, or likely a person? Checked against each operator's published IP lists and forward-confirmed reverse DNS, plus 7 days of bot-observatory firewall data on the network and TLS (JA4) fingerprint. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"ip": "66.249.66.1", "ua": "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)"}. Returns: data: verdict (verified / impostor / unknown_bot / likely_human_or_unclassified), confidence, automation_likely, claimed, identified_as{operator, method, evidence}, reasons[], how_to_act, checks{published_ranges, reverse_dns, asn}, observatory{network, fingerprint, claimed_family, impostors_seen}.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ip | string | yes | The visitor's public IPv4 or IPv6 address |
| ja4 | string | – | Optional TLS JA4 fingerprint, e.g. t13d1516h2_8daaf6152771_02713d6af862 |
| ua | string | – | The User-Agent header it sent (omit or empty if none) |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
bot_verify_batch Crawler identity check (batch) ~161
Verify up to 100 visitors (IP + user-agent, optional JA4) in one call and one payment, billed per item: the same verdicts as bot_verify, for a log excerpt or a firewall review. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"items": [{"ip": "66.249.66.1", "ua": "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)"}]}. Returns: data: results[] (one bot_verify verdict per item, or {ip, error}), counts by verdict, billing{items, unit_price_usd}.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| items | array | yes | 1-100 visitors; price is per item |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
brand_lookalikes Brand look-alike domains ~260
Newly registered look-alikes of a brand: names that entered the gTLD and .com/.net zones in the last 14 days and are a typo, a look-alike-character spelling (paypa1), the same name on another TLD, or the brand beside a lure word (paypal-login). Each with a risk tier and the reasons. Derived matches only, at most 50 — never a raw list of new domains. Price $0.020 per call. Free sample: {"brand": "example"}. Returns: data: brand, window{from,to,days}, matches[{domain, day, kind, matched, lures, tier, score, signals, ns{provider,hint}, census{state,registrar}, risk{tier,verdict,target}}], window_totals{total, by_tier, by_kind, listed_cap}, variants_searched, saturated, note.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| brand | string | yes | A brand name or one of its domains, e.g. paypal or paypal.com (4-30 characters) |
| days | integer | – | Only names new in the last N zone days (default 14) |
| min_tier | string | – | Only matches at or above this tier |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
company_lookup Company card ~182
Who runs this site? Company name and legal name, what they do, category, location and social links when known, mail/DNS/hosting providers, registration facts, and whether it is the same outfit as before, with a source and a confidence for every field. Unknown domains answer 404 and are not charged. Price $0.010 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "stripe.com"}. Returns: data: name, legal_name, description, categories, kind, audience, business_model, location{locality,region,country}, social{x,linkedin,...}, providers{dns,mail,hosting}, registration{registrar,created,expires,age_years,registrant_org}, ownership, confidence{overall,fields}, sources, not_checked[].
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_age Domain age ~98
How old a domain is: registration date, age in days and years, and whether it was registered in the last 30 days (a common phishing signal). Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data: created, age_days, age_years, newly_registered, expires, registrar, source.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_available Domain availability ~126
Is this domain name registered? Asked of the registry over RDAP, with the standard first-year and renewal price when it is free to register. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data: available (true/false; null when only DNS could be checked, then likely_available), registered_on, suffix, source (rdap/dns), confidence, price{registration_usd, renewal_usd, registrar, note}, caveat.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_blacklist Blacklist status ~78
Whether the addresses behind a domain appear on spam and abuse blocklists. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data.ipResults[]: target, isListed, listingCount, totalChecked.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_changes Domain change history ~211
When did this domain appear in the registry zone file, leave it, come back, or change nameservers? From the daily gTLD + .com/.net zone files we capture (daily since 2026-08-05; monthly 2013-2018). A sudden nameserver move is a hijack or sale signal; a brand-new name is a phishing signal. Price $0.010 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data: in_zone_now, first_seen, first_seen_is_coverage_start, last_seen, current_ns, events[{type: appeared|disappeared|reappeared|ns_changed, dates, from, to, message}], changed_last_30_days, coverage{daily_since, first_zone_file, runs}, ns_runs, note.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A registered name directly under a TLD, e.g. example.com (zone files list no subdomains; ccTLDs publish none) |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_dns DNS records ~93
A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT and other records for a domain, with resolve timing. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data.records keyed by record type (A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, ...); data.data.responseTime.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_dnssec DNSSEC ~87
Whether DNSSEC is signed and validates for a domain. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data: isSigned, isValid, validationStatus, chainOfTrust, dsRecords, dnskeyRecords, errors, warnings, recommendations.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_email_auth Email authentication ~84
SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and posture for a domain. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data: spf, dkim, dmarc, mx, overallScore, overallStatus, recommendations.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_profile Domain profile (bundle) ~119
Everything about a domain in one call: DNS, WHOIS, TLS, DNSSEC, email auth, security score, blacklist status, plus IP intelligence for its A record. Price $0.025 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.sections.{dns,whois,tls,dnssec,email-auth,security-score,blacklist,ip}; data.errors names any section that failed; data.billing says what was delivered.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_security_score Security score ~84
A letter grade and point score for a domain security posture, with the scored items behind it. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data: grade, overallScore, maxPossibleScore, categories[] of scored items.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_tls TLS certificate ~90
Certificate validity, issuer, protocol and days until expiry for a domain. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data: valid, issuer, subject, subjectAltNames, validFrom, validTo, daysUntilExpiry, protocol, cipher, selfSigned.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_trust Trust check ~143
Should an agent click, sign in to, or pay this domain? A risk score and verdict (likely_safe / caution / high_risk, or inconclusive when a check could not run) with plain-English reasons, from domain age, spam/abuse blocklists and the HTTPS certificate. Price $0.020 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data: verdict, risk_score (0-100), reasons[{risk, why}], age_days, blocklist_listings, blocklists_unanswered[], https_valid, not_checked[].
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
domain_whois WHOIS / RDAP ~86
Registrar, creation and expiry dates, nameservers and status codes for a domain. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"domain": "example.com"}. Returns: data.data.data: the parsed WHOIS/RDAP record (registrar, dates, nameservers, status).
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain | string | yes | A bare domain name, e.g. example.com |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
ip_lookup IP intelligence ~92
Network owner (ASN), company, geolocation, privacy flags and abuse contact for an IP address. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"ip": "1.1.1.1"}. Returns: data.data: ip, hostname, city, region, country, asn, company, privacy, carrier, abuse.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ip | string | yes | An IPv4 or IPv6 address |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
page_watch Page-change watch ~96
Has this page changed since your last call, and how much? The first call stores a baseline; later calls return a text diff (2% threshold). Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"url": "https://example.com"}. Returns: data with baseline, changed, change_pct, added, removed, last_change_ts.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| url | string | yes | An http(s):// URL on the public internet |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
read_url Read a page (with verdict) ~199
Read a web page as clean markdown, with the URL pre-flight verdict attached (and a viewport screenshot on request). Honors robots.txt for your user agent; flags text from risky sites as untrusted. Refunded if nothing can be read. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"url": "https://example.com"}. Returns: data: markdown, title, description, lang, canonical, final_url, http_status, content_type, words, truncated, untrusted_content, preflight{verdict, safe_to, reasons, ...}, screenshot{image_base64, ...} when asked.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| screenshot | boolean | – | Also return a 1280x800 JPEG of the page |
| ua | string | – | The user agent you will fetch with; robots.txt and our bot policy are judged for it. Defaults to the User-Agent of this request. |
| url | string | yes | The http(s) page to read |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
site_screenshot Website screenshot ~126
See a web page: a 1280-wide JPEG of any public URL, viewport or full page (capped at 6000 px), with its final URL, HTTP status and title. Price $0.020 per call. Free sample: {"url": "https://example.com"}. Returns: data: image_base64 (JPEG), mime, width, height, final_url, http_status, title, note.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| full_page | boolean | – | Capture the whole page, not just the first screen |
| url | string | yes | A public http(s) URL |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
site_status Site status ~106
Live check of one or more URLs: HTTP status, latency, DNS resolve time, resolved IP, TTL, nameservers, TLS days remaining. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"sites": ["https://example.com"]}. Returns: data keyed by URL; each entry has ok, code, ms, dns_ms, ip, ttl, ns, cert_days, server, ts.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| sites | array | – | Up to 10 http(s):// URLs |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
url_preflight URL pre-flight ~281
Check whether a URL is safe to fetch, read, sign in to, or pay — before you do. One verdict with plain reasons: domain age and newborn flag, lookalike of a top site, spam/abuse blocklists, HTTPS, robots.txt for your user agent, how our bot observatory sees your user agent, and the site's own x402 price if it answers 402. Fails closed: 'unknown' means do not proceed. Price $0.005 per call. Free sample: {"url": "https://example.com"}. Returns: data: verdict (likely_safe/caution/high_risk/inconclusive), risk_score, safe_to{fetch,read,sign_in,pay} each yes/caution/no/unknown, actions{...: {answer, why}}, reasons[{risk, why}], domain_age_days, newborn, lookalike, https_valid, robots{allowed, token, status}, http{status, content_type, redirects}, x402{offers[{price_usd, network, pay_to}]}, bot_policy, not_checked[].
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ua | string | – | The user agent you will fetch with; robots.txt and our bot policy are judged for it. Defaults to the User-Agent of this request. |
| url | string | yes | The http(s) URL you are about to fetch |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
How do I install the how.is domain & IP intelligence MCP server?
how.is domain & IP intelligence is a hosted endpoint at https://how.is/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.
remote · how.is
claude mcp add --transport http is-how-domain-intel 'https://how.is/mcp'
What is the how.is domain & IP intelligence MCP server?
how.is domain & IP intelligence is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as is.how/domain-intel. Pay-per-call DNS, WHOIS, domain age, TLS, email auth, blocklists, IP intel. Free samples. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://how.is/mcp).
Is the how.is domain & IP intelligence MCP server safe to use?
how.is domain & IP intelligence scores 81 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 how.is domain & IP intelligence MCP server expose?
how.is domain & IP intelligence exposes 24 tools: url_preflight, read_url, domain_profile, domain_trust, company_lookup, and 19 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 3,288 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Does the how.is domain & IP intelligence MCP server require authentication?
No. We connected to how.is domain & IP intelligence without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.
Is the how.is domain & IP intelligence MCP server still maintained?
how.is domain & IP intelligence 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.