# Nih Supplements (npm · @pipeworx/mcp-nih-supplements)

NIH Supplements

- Trust score: 83/100 (high trust)
- Change this week: +3
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `gateway.pipeworx.io`: 78/100, [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-nih-supplements/nih-supplements-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-nih-supplements/nih-supplements-mcp)
- npm · `@pipeworx/mcp-nih-supplements`: 83/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-nih-supplements/pipeworx-mcp-nih-supplements.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-nih-supplements/pipeworx-mcp-nih-supplements)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `npm`
- Package: `@pipeworx/mcp-nih-supplements`
- 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-nih-supplements).
  - Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).
  - Actively maintained (last published 1 days ago).
  - Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 71/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 997 tokens (~166/item across 6 items; 6 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 6 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 7 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 Nih Supplements MCP server?

Nih Supplements runs locally as an npm package, launched with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-nih-supplements. 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-nih-supplements -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-nih-supplements
```

### Cursor

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

### VS Code

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

### Codex

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

### opencode

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

### OpenClaw

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

### Hermes

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

### Netclaw

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

### Vellum

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

### Other

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

## 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.

### 2026-11-04 (score 83, +15)

- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass

### 2026-11-03 (score 68, −14)

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

### 2026-11-01 (score 82, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 7 to 10. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 2 days of observed history at the previous scan, 3 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-30 (score 81, +1)

- [functional regression] Security disclosure: unverified → fail

### 2026-10-29 (score 80)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (6)

### `supplement_factsheet` (~225 tokens)

A specific vitamin, mineral, or supplement's NIH fact sheet — what it does, whether it works, safety, and interactions with medications. Sourced from NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). Two reading levels: 'consumer' (short, plain language) or 'professional' (long, clinical, with a references list). Covers ~45 topics (vitamins, minerals, a few botanicals like ashwagandha) — call supplement_factsheets to see the full list. For popular herbs NOT on that list (turmeric, ginkgo, echinacea, garlic, ginseng, milk thistle, St. John's Wort, and more), use herb_at_a_glance instead.

Input parameters:

- `level` (string): Reading level. "consumer" (default) is short and plain-language; "professional" is the long clinical version with a references list.
- `name` (string, required): Topic name, e.g. "Vitamin D", "Ashwagandha", "Magnesium". Fuzzy-matched against the bundled ODS topic list.

### `supplement_factsheets` (~115 tokens)

The bundled list of ~45 topics NIH ODS publishes a fact sheet for (vitamins, minerals, a few botanicals) — what to pass as `name` to supplement_factsheet, and which reading levels each has. Optional `query` filters by substring. There is no live NIH endpoint that lists all fact sheets, so this is a point-in-time inventory read from ODS's own list page.

Input parameters:

- `query` (string): Optional substring filter, e.g. "vitamin" or "iron".

### `supplement_labels` (~140 tokens)

Search real supplement product labels — brand name, ingredients, amounts, claims — from NIH's Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD). This is what's printed on a bottle, not the science behind an ingredient (use supplement_factsheet or herb_at_a_glance for that). Search by product name, brand, or ingredient. Returns each label's `id` for use with supplement_label.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (number): Max labels to return (default 20, max 50).
- `query` (string, required): Free-text search — a product name, brand, or ingredient, e.g. "ashwagandha" or "Nature Made fish oil".

### `supplement_label` (~75 tokens)

One product's full DSLD label detail: manufacturer contact, every ingredient with its amount, other (non-active) ingredients, and the precaution/warning statements printed on the bottle. Takes the numeric `id` a supplement_labels result returned.

Input parameters:

- `id` (string|number, required): DSLD label id, from a supplement_labels result.

### `supplement_recent_changes` (~201 tokens)

New supplement product labels entered into NIH's Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD) since a given date — the one NIH supplement upstream that publishes a queryable change signal. Returns each new label's id, brand, product name, and entry date, newest first; deterministic on replay. Scope is stated, not guessed: DSLD does not publish off-market (withdrawal) transitions as dated events, and neither ODS fact sheets nor NCCIH herb pages publish a queryable list of content-update dates — the response says so explicitly instead of pretending to cover them. Each supplement_factsheet response carries its own 'reviewed' date for direct sweeping.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (number): Max new labels to return (default 50, max 200). If more entered since the cutoff, the response sets truncated: true.
- `since` (string, required): Cutoff date, YYYY-MM-DD. Labels entered into DSLD on or after this date are returned.

### `herb_at_a_glance` (~184 tokens)

A popular herb's science-and-safety summary from NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) 'Herbs at a Glance' series — what the science says, side effects and cautions, and key references. Covers ~56 widely-used herbs (turmeric, ginkgo, echinacea, garlic, ginseng, milk thistle, St. John's Wort, and more) that NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements does NOT have its own fact sheet for. For a vitamin, mineral, or the handful of botanicals ODS does cover (ashwagandha, black cohosh, valerian), use supplement_factsheet instead.

Input parameters:

- `herb` (string, required): Herb name, e.g. "turmeric" or "St. John's Wort". Fuzzy-matched against the bundled NCCIH herb list.

## Diagnostics

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

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 83
- 2026-11-04: 83
- 2026-11-03: 68
- 2026-11-02: 82
- 2026-11-01: 82
- 2026-10-31: 81
- 2026-10-30: 81
- 2026-10-29: 80

## Common questions

### What is the Nih Supplements MCP server?

Nih Supplements is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.pipeworx-io/nih-supplements. NIH Supplements. This page covers its npm package (@pipeworx/mcp-nih-supplements).

### Is the Nih Supplements MCP server safe to use?

Nih Supplements scores 83 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 Nih Supplements MCP server expose?

Nih Supplements exposes 6 tools: supplement_factsheet, supplement_factsheets, supplement_labels, supplement_label, supplement_recent_changes, herb_at_a_glance. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 940 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Is the Nih Supplements MCP server still maintained?

Nih Supplements 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 Nih Supplements MCP server under?

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

### What did VerifyMCP test on the Nih Supplements MCP server?

VerifyMCP ran 16 checks on Nih Supplements, covering Malware scan, Known CVEs, Install scripts, Dependency health and 12 more. Endpoint Security and Transport & Reachability do not apply to an npm package, so they were not tested. The score does not measure everything, and the scoring documentation lists what it leaves out.

## Links

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