# Clearlydefined (npm · @pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined)

ClearlyDefined — the licence, copyright attribution and provenance actually found inside an…

- Trust score: 82/100 (high trust)
- Change this week: +4
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `gateway.pipeworx.io`: 77/100, [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/clearlydefined-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/clearlydefined-mcp)
- npm · `@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined`: 82/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/pipeworx-mcp-clearlydefined.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/pipeworx-mcp-clearlydefined)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `npm`
- Package: `@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined`
- Version: `0.2.1`
- 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 2026-11-05.

- **Supply Chain Security**: 100/100
  - No malware found by supply-chain analysis.
  - No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.
  - No install/post-install scripts declared.
  - No production dependencies, so there is no dependency health to assess.
- **Provenance & Transparency**: 97/100
  - Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL.
  - Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to pipeworx-io/mcp-clearlydefined).
  - Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).
  - Actively maintained (last published 5 days ago).
  - Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 61/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 898 tokens (~299/item across 3 items; 3 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.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 3 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 4 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 Clearlydefined MCP server?

Clearlydefined runs locally as an npm package, launched with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined. 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 pipeworx-io-clearlydefined -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-clearlydefined": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "pipeworx-io-clearlydefined": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add pipeworx-io-clearlydefined -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "pipeworx-io-clearlydefined": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add pipeworx-io-clearlydefined --command npx --arg -y --arg @pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  pipeworx-io-clearlydefined:
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined"]
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-clearlydefined": {
      "Transport": "stdio",
      "Command": "npx",
      "Arguments": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add pipeworx-io-clearlydefined -t stdio -c npx -a -y @pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-clearlydefined": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## 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 82, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 20 to 23. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 6 days of observed history at the previous scan, 7 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-11-03 (score 81, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 13 to 17. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 4 days of observed history at the previous scan, 5 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-11-01 (score 80, +16)

- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass

### 2026-10-31 (score 64, −15)

- [security regression] Malware scan: pass → unverified
- [functional] Package version: 0.2.0 → 0.2.1

### 2026-10-30 (score 79, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 0 to 3. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 0 days of observed history at the previous scan, 1 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-29 (score 78)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (3)

### `clearlydefined_search` (~182 tokens)

Find ClearlyDefined component coordinates by name pattern across npm, Maven, PyPI, RubyGems, NuGet, crates.io, Packagist, Go and GitHub. Returns coordinate strings like "npm/npmjs/-/express/4.18.2" that clearlydefined_definition takes. Use it when you know a package name but not its exact ecosystem/namespace/version. Keyless.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (number): Maximum coordinates to return. Default 25, max 200.
- `pattern` (string, required): Name fragment to match, e.g. "express", "lodash", "requests". Broad or very common fragments can time out upstream — be specific.
- `type` (string): Optional: keep only coordinates of this component type, e.g. "npm", "maven", "pypi", "git". Filtered client-side.

### `clearlydefined_definition` (~381 tokens)

Get the curated licence and attribution record for one exact component version from ClearlyDefined: declared SPDX licence, every licence expression discovered in the files, the copyright holders that must be attributed, the upstream source repo + commit the release was built from, release date, file hashes, and 0-100 completeness scores. AUTHORITATIVE for "what licence is <package>@<version> really under" and "who do I have to attribute" — it reports what scanners found in the shipped files, not just what the manifest claims. Keyless.

Input parameters:

- `file_limit` (number): How many file rows to include when include_files is true. Default 50, max 500.
- `include_files` (boolean): Include the per-file licence/attribution rows (can be long). Default false.
- `name` (string, required): Component name, e.g. "express", "log4j-core", "requests".
- `namespace` (string): Group/scope/org, e.g. "org.apache.logging.log4j" for Maven or "@babel" for a scoped npm package. Omit (or pass "-") when the ecosystem has none.
- `provider` (string, required): Where it was published: "npmjs", "mavencentral", "pypi", "rubygems", "nuget", "cratesio", "packagist", "golang", "github", "debian", "cocoapods".
- `revision` (string, required): Exact version or commit, e.g. "4.18.2", "2.17.1", or a git SHA.
- `type` (string, required): Component type: "npm", "maven", "pypi", "gem", "nuget", "crate", "composer", "go", "git", "deb", "pod".

### `clearlydefined_harvest_status` (~282 tokens)

List which harvesting tools (ScanCode, Licensee, REUSE, FOSSology, clearlydefined) have analysed one exact component version, and at which tool versions. Use it to judge how much evidence sits behind a definition, or to explain why a definition looks thin. Keyless.

Input parameters:

- `name` (string, required): Component name, e.g. "express", "log4j-core", "requests".
- `namespace` (string): Group/scope/org, e.g. "org.apache.logging.log4j" for Maven or "@babel" for a scoped npm package. Omit (or pass "-") when the ecosystem has none.
- `provider` (string, required): Where it was published: "npmjs", "mavencentral", "pypi", "rubygems", "nuget", "cratesio", "packagist", "golang", "github", "debian", "cocoapods".
- `revision` (string, required): Exact version or commit, e.g. "4.18.2", "2.17.1", or a git SHA.
- `type` (string, required): Component type: "npm", "maven", "pypi", "gem", "nuget", "crate", "composer", "go", "git", "deb", "pod".

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: Provenance, Dependencies. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/pipeworx-mcp-clearlydefined#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 82
- 2026-11-04: 81
- 2026-11-03: 81
- 2026-11-02: 80
- 2026-11-01: 80
- 2026-10-31: 64
- 2026-10-30: 79
- 2026-10-29: 78

## Common questions

### What is the Clearlydefined MCP server?

Clearlydefined is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.pipeworx-io/clearlydefined. ClearlyDefined, the licence, copyright attribution and provenance actually found inside an… This page covers its npm package (@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined).

### Is the Clearlydefined MCP server safe to use?

Clearlydefined scores 82 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 5 November 2026. It declares no install or post-install scripts. 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 Clearlydefined MCP server expose?

Clearlydefined exposes 3 tools: clearlydefined_search, clearlydefined_definition, clearlydefined_harvest_status. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 845 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Is the Clearlydefined MCP server still maintained?

Clearlydefined 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 licence is the Clearlydefined MCP server under?

Clearlydefined declares the MIT licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.

## Links

- npm package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined
- Socket report: https://socket.dev/npm/package/@pipeworx/mcp-clearlydefined
- Repository: https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-clearlydefined
- Website: https://pipeworx.io/packs/clearlydefined
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/pipeworx-mcp-clearlydefined.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/pipeworx-mcp-clearlydefined.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-clearlydefined/pipeworx-mcp-clearlydefined