# how.is domain & IP intelligence (remote · how.is)

Pay-per-call DNS, WHOIS, domain age, TLS, email auth, blocklists, IP intel. Free samples.

- Trust score: 81/100 (high trust)
- Change this week: +4
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `how.is`: 81/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/is-how-domain-intel/how.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/is-how-domain-intel/how)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://how.is/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.1.0`

## 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**: 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**: 70/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - 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.
  - 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**: 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.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 24 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 25 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 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.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http is-how-domain-intel 'https://how.is/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "is-how-domain-intel": {
      "url": "https://how.is/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "is-how-domain-intel": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://how.is/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.is-how-domain-intel]
url = "https://how.is/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "is-how-domain-intel": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://how.is/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add is-how-domain-intel --url 'https://how.is/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  is-how-domain-intel:
    url: "https://how.is/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "is-how-domain-intel": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://how.is/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add is-how-domain-intel -t streamable-http -u 'https://how.is/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "is-how-domain-intel": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://how.is/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.

### 2026-11-05 (score 81, +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.

### 2026-11-03 (score 80, +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.

### 2026-11-01 (score 79, +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.

### 2026-10-30 (score 78, +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.

### 2026-10-28 (score 77, −1)

- [security] 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
- [functional regression] 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”

### 2026-10-27 (score 78, +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.

### 2026-10-26 (score 77, 0)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [functional] New tool “add_credit”

### 2026-10-25 (score 77, +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.

## MCP tools (24)

### `url_preflight` (~281 tokens)

URL pre-flight

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[].

Input parameters:

- `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, required): The http(s) URL you are about to fetch

### `read_url` (~199 tokens)

Read a page (with verdict)

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.

Input parameters:

- `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, required): The http(s) page to read

### `domain_profile` (~119 tokens)

Domain profile (bundle)

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_trust` (~143 tokens)

Trust check

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[].

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `company_lookup` (~182 tokens)

Company card

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[].

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_dns` (~93 tokens)

DNS records

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_whois` (~86 tokens)

WHOIS / RDAP

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).

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_age` (~98 tokens)

Domain age

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_available` (~126 tokens)

Domain availability

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_changes` (~211 tokens)

Domain change history

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A registered name directly under a TLD, e.g. example.com (zone files list no subdomains; ccTLDs publish none)

### `brand_lookalikes` (~260 tokens)

Brand look-alike domains

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.

Input parameters:

- `brand` (string, required): 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

### `domain_tls` (~90 tokens)

TLS certificate

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_dnssec` (~87 tokens)

DNSSEC

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_email_auth` (~84 tokens)

Email authentication

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_security_score` (~84 tokens)

Security score

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `domain_blacklist` (~78 tokens)

Blacklist status

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.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string, required): A bare domain name, e.g. example.com

### `ip_lookup` (~92 tokens)

IP intelligence

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.

Input parameters:

- `ip` (string, required): An IPv4 or IPv6 address

### `site_status` (~106 tokens)

Site status

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.

Input parameters:

- `sites` (array): Up to 10 http(s):// URLs

### `site_screenshot` (~126 tokens)

Website screenshot

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.

Input parameters:

- `full_page` (boolean): Capture the whole page, not just the first screen
- `url` (string, required): A public http(s) URL

### `page_watch` (~96 tokens)

Page-change watch

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.

Input parameters:

- `url` (string, required): An http(s):// URL on the public internet

### `bot_observatory` (~116 tokens)

Bot observatory feed

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).

### `bot_verify` (~293 tokens)

Crawler identity check

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}.

Input parameters:

- `ip` (string, required): 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)

### `bot_verify_batch` (~161 tokens)

Crawler identity check (batch)

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}.

Input parameters:

- `items` (array, required): 1-100 visitors; price is per item

### `add_credit` (~77 tokens)

Add credit (free)

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.

## Diagnostics

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

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 81
- 2026-11-04: 80
- 2026-11-03: 80
- 2026-11-02: 79
- 2026-11-01: 79
- 2026-10-31: 78
- 2026-10-30: 78
- 2026-10-29: 77
- 2026-10-28: 77
- 2026-10-27: 78
- 2026-10-26: 77
- 2026-10-25: 77
- 2026-10-24: 76
- 2026-10-23: 76
- 2026-10-22: 75
- 2026-10-21: 75
- 2026-10-20: 74
- 2026-10-19: 74

## Common questions

### 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.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://how.is/mcp
- Website: https://how.is/
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/is-how-domain-intel/how.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/is-how-domain-intel/how.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/is-how-domain-intel/how