# Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO (remote · www.ashleypayne.co.uk)

Ask a UK fractional CTO's practice directly: services, prices, articles, and whether he fits.

- Trust score: 69/100 (medium)
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-10-17

## Components

- remote · `www.ashleypayne.co.uk`: 69/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne/www.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne/www)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.0.1`

## 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 2026-10-17.

- **Endpoint Security**: 63/100
  - 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 enforcement could not be verified: the plaintext port answered with HTTP 405, which proves neither a plaintext path nor enforcement.
  - HSTS check failed: the Strict-Transport-Security header is absent.
  - 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**: 84/100
  - 100% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Tool/resource definitions use about 965 tokens (~80/item across 12 items; 12 tools + 0 resources), lean.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 13/100
  - Stability observed for 4 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 12 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 13 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 60/100
  - Spec-recency check failed: implements MCP spec 2025-06-18; the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### How do I install the Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO MCP server?

Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO is a hosted endpoint at https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/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 uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne 'https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne": {
      "url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne]
url = "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne --url 'https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne:
    url: "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne -t streamable-http -u 'https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/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.

### 2026-10-17 (score 69, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 10 to 13. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 3 days of observed history at the previous scan, 4 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-15 (score 68, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 3 to 7. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 1 days of observed history at the previous scan, 2 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-14 (score 67, 0)

- [functional improvement] Stability: unverified → 0.03

### 2026-10-13 (score 67)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (12)

### `get_overview` (~27 tokens)

Who Ashley Payne is

Positioning, background and what makes him different from other fractional CTOs. Start here.

### `assess_fit` (~257 tokens)

Check whether he suits your project

Compares a description of a project, business or problem against a fixed published rule and returns a verdict: good_fit, mixed, poor_fit or insufficient_information. Wording alone never produces poor_fit. Where the text touches one of the things Ashley turns down, the result lists questions in ask_these_then_call_again, and the three named fields take the person's own answers on a later call. poor_fit needs an explicit yes in one of those fields; good_fit needs an explicit no in all three. Having a development team is not the same as wanting Ashley to supply one.

Input parameters:

- `must_start_within_a_week` (string): Does the work have to start within a week? Starting within two weeks is the normal target, so that alone is 'no'.
- `situation` (string, required): What the person is trying to build or solve, their stage, team and constraints. Free text.
- `wants_a_delivery_team` (string): Does the person want Ashley to SUPPLY a team? Leading a team they already have is 'no'.
- `wants_spec_built_without_challenge` (string): Do they want a finished spec built exactly as written, with no room to challenge it? A complete brief to quote from is 'no'.

### `get_services` (~72 tokens)

Services, pricing, and what he builds on

The three ways an engagement runs (Build, Partner, Consult), the fixed-price diagnostic most engagements start with, how the process works, and which client surfaces he builds: desktop applications, browser extensions, chat-platform integrations and web. Use this for any question about platforms, apps, pricing or how an engagement is structured.

### `list_work` (~25 tokens)

List case studies

Summaries of the selected work, with the slug needed for get_case_study.

### `get_case_study` (~69 tokens)

Read one case study in full

Full detail for one engagement: the situation, what was built, the engineering decisions and why they were made, the stack, and where there is one, the commercial outcome in indexed figures.

Input parameters:

- `slug` (string, required): Case study slug from list_work, e.g. 'coding-education'.

### `get_ai_capability` (~55 tokens)

How he approaches AI work

Which AI techniques he has built in production (prompting, retrieval, fine-tuning, MCP servers, local inference) and when each one is the right choice. Use this for questions about AI, automation or data privacy.

### `search_insights` (~65 tokens)

Search his writing

Search his articles on technical leadership, fractional CTO work, AI and building SaaS. Returns titles, summaries and the matching passage. Call get_insight with a slug for the full text of one.

Input parameters:

- `query` (string): Keywords to match against title, summary and body.

### `get_insight` (~53 tokens)

Read one article in full

The complete text of one article, by slug. Use after search_insights, and only when the summary is not enough to answer the question.

Input parameters:

- `slug` (string, required): The article slug, from search_insights.

### `get_faqs` (~62 tokens)

Common questions

The questions buyers ask, with his answers. Pass a query to get the relevant ones; omit it to list every question without the answers.

Input parameters:

- `query` (string): Keywords, e.g. 'price', 'team', 'ill', 'equity'.

### `get_contact` (~37 tokens)

How to get in touch

How to reach Ashley: email, the contact page, and a booking link when one is live. Use when the person wants to make contact.

### `get_evidence` (~85 tokens)

How the numbers are counted

Where the numbers on the site come from, for when someone asks whether they can be trusted. Returns one statement of provenance: the figures are counts from live systems, self-reported with a stated method and not independently audited, and Ashley will run any of them in front of someone who asks. Per-figure detail (the collections, queries and returned values) is not published.

### `get_privacy` (~49 tokens)

What happens to your data

What this connector and the website do with data, and what they do not. Use this if the person asks about privacy, tracking, cookies, GDPR, or what Ashley can see of this conversation.

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne/www#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-10-17: 69
- 2026-10-16: 68
- 2026-10-15: 68
- 2026-10-14: 67
- 2026-10-13: 67

## Common questions

### What is the Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO MCP server?

Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as uk.co.ashleypayne/ashley-payne. Ask a UK fractional CTO's practice directly: services, prices, articles, and whether he fits. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp).

### Is the Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO MCP server safe to use?

Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO scores 69 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 Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO MCP server expose?

Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO exposes 12 tools: get_overview, assess_fit, get_services, list_work, get_case_study, and 7 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 856 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO MCP server still maintained?

Ashley Payne, technical co-founder and fractional CTO is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 17 October 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://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/Ashalls/ashley-payne-mcp
- Website: https://www.ashleypayne.co.uk/ai
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne/www.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne/www.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/uk-co-ashleypayne-ashley-payne/www