# Dark Search Protocol (npm · dark-search-mcp-server)

161 dark data sources, 25+ domains, 6-step pipeline, Streamable HTTP + stdio

- Trust score: 53/100 (low)
- Change this week: +35
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-08-03

## Components

- npm · `dark-search-mcp-server`: 53/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol/dark-search-mcp-server.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol/dark-search-mcp-server)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `npm`
- Package: `dark-search-mcp-server`
- Version: `0.8.0`
- Transport: `stdio`

## Trust breakdown

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. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-08-03.

- **Supply Chain Security**: 86/100
  - No malware found by supply-chain analysis.
  - Only part of the dependency tree could be resolved (94 of 98), so this covers what we could see, not the whole tree.
  - No install/post-install scripts declared.
  - Only part of the dependency tree could be resolved (94 of 98), so this covers what we could see, not the whole tree.
- **Provenance & Transparency**: 19/100
  - Repository check failed: the declared repository URL returned HTTP 404.
  - Provenance check failed: no build-provenance attestation is published.
  - Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).
  - Actively maintained (last published 58 days ago).
  - Security-disclosure policy not yet verified: we couldn't inspect the source repository.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 26/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (poor).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 1416 tokens (~283/item across 5 items; 5 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 23/100
  - Stability observed for 7 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.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol -- npx -y dark-search-mcp-server
```

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol -- npx -y dark-search-mcp-server
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "dark-search-mcp-server"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol --command npx --arg -y --arg dark-search-mcp-server
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol:
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "dark-search-mcp-server"]
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "dark-search-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## 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.

### 2026-08-03 (score 53, +3)

- [functional improvement] Stability: unverified → 0.23

### 2026-08-02 (score 50, +50)

- [security regression] Provenance: unverified → fail
- [security improvement] Install scripts: unverified → pass
- [security improvement] Known CVEs: unverified → partial
- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass
- [security] Stability: Stability not yet verified: not enough scan history yet (needs a 30-day window).
- [functional improvement] Tool coverage: unverified → 100
- [functional improvement] License: unverified → pass
- [functional improvement] Dependency health: unverified → partial
- [functional improvement] Maintenance: unverified → pass
- [functional improvement] MCP protocol: unverified → pass
- [functional improvement] Schema quality: unverified → poor
- [functional] Licence: MIT

### 2026-08-01 (score 0, −12)

- [functional regression] Tool coverage: 100 → unverified

### 2026-07-31 (score 12, −6)

- [functional] We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server

### 2026-07-30 (score 18, −18)

- [security regression] Malware scan: pass → unverified

### 2026-07-28 (score 36, +18)

- [functional improvement] Tool coverage: unverified → 100
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: unverified
- [functional] First check of Tool coverage: 100
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: fail
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: fail

### 2026-07-27 (score 18)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (5)

### `dark_search` (~430 tokens)

Search deep and dark data sources NOT indexed by mainstream search engines (Google, Bing, etc.).

USE THIS TOOL WHEN:
\- Web search returns insufficient, generic, or incomplete results
\- The query involves specialized, technical, niche, or industry-specific topics
\- You need data from forums, OEM manuals, proprietary databases, field reports, or other non-indexed sources
\- The user is asking about something obscure that mainstream search likely misses
\- You need real-world data from closed communities, professional forums, or invitation-only databases

COVERED DOMAINS (122 built-in sources across 25 domains):
Finance, Health/Medical, Food/Cooking, Shopping, Education, Law, Travel, Fashion, Copywriting, Psychology, Academic, HVAC, Cybersecurity, Embedded Systems, Industrial Control, Automotive, Real Estate, Career/Salary, AI/Programming, Gaming, Insurance, Pets, Parenting, Tax/Finance, Agriculture, Immigration and more.

FEATURES (v0.6.0):
\- Semantic routing: Maps natural language queries to specialized dark data sources
\- Content fetching: Optionally crawls and returns actual content from matched sources
\- Cross-verification: Results validated across multiple sources
\- Confidence scoring: Each result rated HIGH/MID/LOW

DO NOT USE FOR:
\- General knowledge questions (use web search instead)
\- Queries about popular/public topics with abundant mainstream coverage

Input parameters:

- `fetch_content` (boolean): If true, attempt to fetch actual content from top result URLs (default: false). Use when you need real data, not just source suggestions.
- `layers` (array): Which source layers to search. Default: all layers
- `max_results` (number): Maximum number of results to return (default: 10)
- `min_confidence` (number): Minimum confidence threshold. 0.5=high quality, 0.3=moderate, 0.15=exploratory (default: 0.15)
- `query` (string, required): The search query. Be specific and include technical terms for best results. Supports English and Chinese.

### `dark_retrieve` (~311 tokens)

Retrieve ACTUAL content from internet archive sources — deleted pages, removed posts, and inaccessible content that mainstream search engines cannot find.

USE THIS TOOL WHEN:
\- A web page returns 404, has been deleted, or is no longer accessible
\- You need to find what a page USED TO contain before it was changed or removed
\- You want to read deleted Stack Overflow answers or removed forum posts
\- You need archived historical content from Wayback Machine or Internet Archive
\- You want to verify what content existed at a URL at a specific point in time

ARCHIVE ENGINES:
\- Wayback Machine: Retrieves archived snapshots of any URL (billions of pages archived since 1996)
\- StackPrinter: Retrieves deleted Stack Overflow/Stack Exchange content that is invisible to normal browsing
\- Internet Archive Search: Searches the full digital archive of books, papers, media, and datasets

This tool returns REAL CONTENT, not just links. You can read the actual text of archived pages.

Input parameters:

- `max_results` (number): Maximum number of results to return (default: 5)
- `query` (string, required): URL to retrieve from archives, or search query for archived content. Supports full URLs (https://example.com/page) or keyword queries.
- `type` (string): Archive engine to use. 'auto' detects best engine based on query (default). 'wayback' for web archives. 'stackprinter' for Stack Overflow/Exchange. 'archive_org' for Internet Archive digital content.

### `dark_query` (~379 tokens)

Query REAL structured data from specialized APIs that 99% of people don't know exist or how to use. Returns actual data, not just links.

USE THIS TOOL WHEN:
\- You need real financial data (SEC filings, insider trades, company financials)
\- You need clinical trial data (drug trials, treatment outcomes, patient data)
\- You need academic paper metadata (citations, authors, open access links)
\- You need preprint research (latest ArXiv papers before peer review)
\- You need drug safety data (FDA adverse events, medical device problems)
\- You need global health statistics (WHO disease data, mortality rates)
\- You want structured JSON data, not web pages

API SOURCES (all free, no authentication required):
\- SEC EDGAR: US public company financial filings (10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, insider trades)
\- ClinicalTrials.gov: Global clinical trial database (200,000+ studies)
\- OpenAlex: 250M+ academic papers with citations and open access links
\- ArXiv: Latest preprint papers in CS, physics, math, AI
\- FDA: Drug adverse events and medical device safety data
\- WHO GHO: Global health observatory data (disease, mortality, risk factors)

Auto-detects which APIs to query based on your query content. Returns structured, parseable data.

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string): Force a specific API domain: 'sec', 'clinicaltrials', 'openalex', 'arxiv', 'fda', 'who'. Leave empty for auto-detection.
- `max_results` (number): Maximum number of results per API (default: 5)
- `query` (string, required): Your data query. Be specific: company names, drug names, research topics, disease names, etc. Supports English and Chinese.

### `list_sources` (~131 tokens)

List all available dark data sources in the Dark Search Protocol registry.

USE THIS TOOL WHEN:
\- You want to see what specialized data sources are available before searching
\- The user asks what kind of data DSP can access
\- You need to verify if a specific domain/industry has dark data coverage
\- You want to explore the 122 built-in sources across 25 domains

Input parameters:

- `domain` (string): Filter sources by domain (e.g., 'finance', 'health', 'food', 'law', 'academic', 'hvac', 'tax')
- `layer` (string): Filter by source layer

### `add_source` (~165 tokens)

Submit a new dark data source to the Dark Search Protocol registry.

USE THIS TOOL WHEN:
\- The user knows a specialized data source that should be included
\- Search results are missing a known source in the relevant domain
\- A user wants to contribute their proprietary/closed data to the network

Input parameters:

- `description` (string, required): What kind of data this source provides
- `layer` (string, required): Source layer: surface=publicly indexed, deep=not indexed but accessible, dark=proprietary/closed
- `name` (string, required): Human-readable name of the data source
- `tags` (array, required): Relevant tags in both English and Chinese, e.g., ['hvac', '暖通', 'repair']
- `url` (string, required): URL of the data source

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: Provenance, Dependencies. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol/dark-search-mcp-server#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-08-03: 53
- 2026-08-02: 50
- 2026-08-01: 0
- 2026-07-31: 12
- 2026-07-30: 18
- 2026-07-28: 36
- 2026-07-27: 18

## Links

- npm package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/dark-search-mcp-server
- Socket report: https://socket.dev/npm/package/dark-search-mcp-server
- Website: https://github.com/parnasheps-eng/dark-search-protocol
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol/dark-search-mcp-server/changelog.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol/dark-search-mcp-server/changelog.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/parnasheps-eng-dark-search-protocol/dark-search-mcp-server