find-mcp-directories

Overview

Drive the ServiceGraph API (https://api.servicegraph.co) to find and

rank directories and registries where a builder can list an MCP server

(Model Context Protocol) via the product_directory dataset. The catalog has

1,000+ directories; ~20 are dedicated MCP registries (e.g.

registry.modelcontextprotocol.io, smithery.ai, mcp.so, glama.ai,

pulsemcp.com), each enriched with Domain Rating (dr), backlinks, and

organic traffic.

**This is a "where to publish / where to get backlinks" skill, not a "who to

hire" skill.* Each row is a registry you submit to*, not a firm and not a

server. The payoff is a backlink from a high-authority domain (SEO) plus

discovery by agent builders browsing for servers.

Any HTTP client works (curl, fetch, requests). Examples below use curl.

Sibling skills — defer when the niche is broader

• General AI tools / AI agents / agent skills ("where to list my AI tool",

"agent-skills directories") → find-ai-directories. (Several registries list

MCP servers and skills/tools — if the artifact is specifically an MCP

server, this skill is the right pick.)

• General SaaS / software / app launch ("Product Hunt alternatives") →

find-product-directories.

Prerequisites

• ServiceGraph access, either:
• the ServiceGraph MCP server (https://mcp.servicegraph.co) loaded in

your harness — this plugin's .mcp.json wires it up; OAuth 2.1 + PKCE

keeps credentials in the harness sandbox — or

• a ServiceGraph API key (vk_…, minted at

) available as

SERVICEGRAPHAPIKEY in the environment or .env.local for the REST

path (setup steps under Auth below).

• An HTTP client for the REST path — the examples use curl.

Instructions

The loop is free-first: discovery, validation, search, and brief reads cost

nothing; only unlock after the user confirms the spend.

1. Pick the call path — the ServiceGraph MCP tools if loaded, otherwise the

REST flow (MCP server and Auth sections below).

1. GET /v1/datasets/productdirectory/fields?includevalues=1 — confirm the

fields and values you plan to filter on exist.

1. Build the filter (Filter DSL below) and validate it with

GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/check — or draft it from plain English via

POST /v1/datasets/product_directory/translate-intent.

1. GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search — present the free brief cards and

let the user pick.

1. Quote the unlock cost (10 credits per row, 30-day TTL) and get an explicit

go-ahead.

1. POST /v1/datasets/product_directory/unlocks with the chosen apexes; report the

revealed detail.

1. GET /v1/me/credits to report the remaining balance when asked.

MCP server (preferred for authed calls)

If your harness has the ServiceGraph MCP server loaded (tool names contain

servicegraph), prefer those tools — credentials stay in the harness sandbox

via OAuth 2.1 + PKCE, no token in LLM context. Otherwise use the REST flow.

API surface (dataset id: product_directory)

Every endpoint requires the bearer (Authorization: Bearer vk_…).

Endpoint	Cost	Use it for
GET /v1/datasets/productdirectory/fields[?includevalues=1&q=]	free	Filter-field catalog + DSL grammar. Call first per session.
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/values/:field[?q=&limit=]	free	Enumerate values for one field.
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/check?filter=…	free	Validate a filter.
POST /v1/datasets/product_directory/translate-intent	free	{intent} → DSL filter + sanity count.
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search?filter=…&limit=&offset=	free	Brief cards (incl. dr) + per-row unlock hint + total.
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/:apex	free	Single row brief; gated fields only if unlocked.
POST /v1/datasets/product_directory/unlocks	10 credits / row	{apexes:[...]} ≤100. Atomic; 30-day TTL; was_cached:true free.
GET /v1/me/credits	free	Balance.

Cost model. Discovery / search / brief reads are free — including the dr

ranking signal. Unlocking a row costs 10 credits, lasts 30 days, and

reveals the gated fields: editor_note (how to submit + whether the

listing gives a backlink), organictraffic, and totalvisits.

Auth

Tokens are vk_* API keys. Keep the token out of the LLM context — never

read .env* into context; route authed calls through a shell wrapper.

1. Try the call through a wrapper that sources .env.local:

   ( set -a; [ -f .env.local ] && . ./.env.local; set +a;
     curl -sS -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY" \
          'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/datasets/product_directory/fields' )

1. On 401, prompt the user (don't accept the key in chat):

> "Open https://servicegraph.co/profile/api-keys, sign in, create a key,

> and add SERVICEGRAPHAPIKEY=vk_… to .env.local (or export it). Tell me

> when done — please don't paste the key into chat."

1. Retry after the user signals ready.

Filter DSL

GitHub-search-style. AND binds tighter than OR; comma list = OR within one

predicate; negation is -x / NOT x; any bareword is a keyword search

across the directory's name, title, description, listed metadata, **and the

niche tag** (so mcp matches dirs whose niche is "MCP servers"). Multiple

barewords AND; wrap multi-word phrases in double quotes.

mcp dr>=60
mcp OR "model context protocol"
mcp servers          # → keyword:mcp AND keyword:servers

Fields that matter here

Field	Free in brief?	Use it for
dr	yes	Domain Rating 0–100 — the primary authority filter. Briefs come sorted by dr descending, so rank for free.
referringmaindomains, backlinks, organic_keywords	yes (when populated)	Backlink-source strength signals.
organictraffic, totalvisits	gated	Real reach. Filterable while hidden (organic_traffic>=1000); value shows after unlock.
editor_note	gated	Submission instructions + backlink yes/no.
industry, has	yes	Coarse refiners; for MCP the mcp keyword on niche is sharpest.

Because dr is free and briefs are pre-sorted by it, **rank a shortlist by

authority for zero credits** — unlock only to reveal submission notes + traffic.

Identifying rows — apex

Keyed by apex domain (smithery.ai, not a full URL; subdomains like

registry.modelcontextprotocol.io are kept as-is when that's the catalog

key). Strip user-supplied URLs before :apex or unlock calls.

Output

All responses are JSON.

• Search returns free brief directory cards — apex, name, and the

dr (Domain Rating) signal, pre-sorted by dr descending — plus a per-row

unlock hint and the match total.

• Unlock (POST …/unlocks) reveals each directory's gated fields —

editor_note (how to submit and whether the listing gives a backlink),

organictraffic, and totalvisits — with per-item billing and a 30-day

TTL (was_cached:true rows are free).

• Errors arrive as a JSON envelope

{"error": {"code": "…", "message": "…"}} — see Errors below.

Examples

A. The MCP registry shortlist

User: "Where should I list our new MCP server?"

GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search?filter=mcp&limit=20
# → registry.modelcontextprotocol.io (dr 90), smithery.ai (75), glama.ai (72),
#   mcp.so (72), cursor.directory (69), pulsemcp.com (68), … sorted by dr desc

Present the top N by dr (free).

B. High-authority only (backlink quality)

User: "Only the registries with real domain authority for SEO."

GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search?filter=mcp+dr>=60&limit=15
# → the ~7 strongest MCP registries by DR

C. Rank by real reach (organic traffic)

organic_traffic is gated but filterable — gate to surface high-traffic

registries, then unlock to see the numbers:

GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search?filter=mcp+organic_traffic>=2000&limit=15

D. Broaden — MCP + agent tooling

Some registries list MCP servers alongside agent skills/tools. Cast wider

when the strict-MCP pool is thin:

GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search?filter=mcp OR "model context protocol" OR (agent skills)&limit=20

If the user's artifact is broader than MCP (general AI tool / agent skill),

defer to find-ai-directories.

E. Unlock submission instructions for the picks

# Present briefs ranked by dr (free). "Unlocking 6 = 60 credits, 30-day TTL —
# reveals each one's submission note (how + backlink yes/no) and traffic."
POST /v1/datasets/product_directory/unlocks
  { "apexes": ["smithery.ai", "mcp.so", "glama.ai", "pulsemcp.com", "cursor.directory", "registry.modelcontextprotocol.io"] }

Surface each editor_note verbatim — MCP registries vary a lot in submission

mechanics (some take a CLI/PR, some a web form) and in whether the listing

actually grants a backlink. The note tells the user before they spend effort.

F. BYO apex list — score MCP registries I already have

1. GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/:apex per domain — free brief with dr

(404 = not in catalog, no charge). Flag misses, rank hits by dr.

1. User picks N. POST /unlocks (10×N credits, atomic) reveals notes + traffic.
2. Within 30-day TTL, repeat unlocks are free.

Gotchas

• Rows are registries, not firms or servers. Building an MCP server →

find-software-developer / find-ai-consultancy. "How does MCP work" is a

DIY question, not this dataset.

• dr is free and briefs are pre-sorted by it — rank for zero credits.
• Gated fields are still filterable (organic_traffic>=1000).
• Catalog is global, not US-only. Don't refuse non-US asks.
• The strict-MCP pool is small (~20). If the user wants more reach, broaden

to agent-skill/AI-tool registries (Recipe D) or defer to find-ai-directories.

• Multi-word phrases must be quoted. model context protocol = three AND'd

keywords; "model context protocol" is one phrase.

• Unlock is atomic (402 charges nothing) and within-TTL re-views are free.

Errors

JSON envelope: {"error": {"code": "...", "message": "..."}}.

Status	Code	What to do
400	filterparseerror	position included; fix and re-validate with /check.
400	fieldnotin_dataset	Drop the field.
400	invalid_apex	Re-normalize to apex.
401	unauthorized	Re-prompt for a fresh vk_….
402	insufficient_credits	needed/balance in payload; nothing charged.
404	notfound / notin_dataset	Apex not in dataset. Skip; not charged.
429	rate_limited	Honor Retry-After.

End-to-end example

User: *"We just shipped an MCP server. Find the highest-authority registries to

list it on, and tell me how to submit to the top five."*

# 1. Discover (once per session)
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/fields?include_values=1

# 2. Validate + scope (free)
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/check?filter=mcp+dr>=50

# 3. Search briefs (free) — pre-sorted by dr desc
GET /v1/datasets/product_directory/search?filter=mcp+dr>=50&limit=20

# 4. User picks 5. "Unlocking 5 = 50 credits, 30-day TTL — reveals submission
#    notes (how + backlink yes/no) and traffic."

# 5. Atomic unlock (charges 50 credits)
POST /v1/datasets/product_directory/unlocks
  { "apexes": ["smithery.ai", "mcp.so", "glama.ai", "pulsemcp.com", "cursor.directory"] }

# 6. Surface each editor_note verbatim + traffic so the user can prioritize.

Resources

• Upstream source:
• ServiceGraph API: — keys at

• Hub skill: servicegraph (this plugin) — the dataset-agnostic entry point

when the user names ServiceGraph explicitly.