# MCP Canary [Health: Active]

**Category:** 📊 Monitoring  
**Repository:** https://mcpcanary.com/  
**Views:** 0  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/mcp-canary

## Description
Remote MCP server (https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp, official registry name com.mcpcanary/inspect). inspect_endpoint inspects any remote MCP server: transport, protocol version, tools, and side-effect hints, without calling a tool. get_pricing returns MCP Canary plans. Both tools are read-only and anonymous.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **get_pricing** — MCP Canary plans, monthly prices (in cents), and limits, plus the free trial. The trial needs no payment and starts on the first monitor write.
- **inspect_endpoint** — Connects to a remote MCP endpoint (Streamable HTTP, then legacy SSE), lists its tools, and classifies each tool's side effects from its MCP hints. Never calls a tool on the target. agent_readiness lists what is wrong with the tool definitions and protocol compliance of the target, each with a fix, and a grade A-F. A target problem is status=failed with a stable failure code (e.g. TARGET_UNAVAILABLE, TARGET_AUTH_FAILED, MCP_PROTOCOL_ERROR). Private and loopback addresses are rejected. Set website (not url) to inspect a web page whose JavaScript registers WebMCP tools: the page is opened in a browser; the result has transport=webmcp.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Remote MCP endpoint (confidence: high). Install path detected from listing signals. Add as a URL/SSE server in your client:

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "mcp-canary": {
    "url": "https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp"
  }
}
```

## Documentation

## What MCP Canary does

MCP Canary provides two read-only MCP tools through a remote endpoint. The primary inspection tool examines another remote MCP server and reports how it communicates, which MCP protocol version it uses, what tools it exposes, and whether those tools carry side-effect hints. Inspection is metadata-oriented: it does not call a tool on the target server.

The second tool returns MCP Canary plan and pricing information. Together, the tools suit developers who need to assess an MCP endpoint or retrieve service plan details from an MCP-compatible client.

## How it works

Connect an MCP client to the streamable remote endpoint at `https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp`. After the connection is available, invoke `inspect_endpoint` with a remote MCP server to receive its transport, protocol version, tool inventory, and side-effect hints. The inspection step is separate from tool execution, so the target server's tools are not called as part of the check.

`get_pricing` queries MCP Canary for its available plans. Requests to both tools are anonymous, and both operations are read-only.

## Setup and configuration

Use the MCP endpoint below when configuring a client that supports remote MCP connections:

```text
https://api.mcpcanary.com/mcp
```

The service does not require an API key or other authentication variable for these anonymous tools. The official registry name is `com.mcpcanary/inspect`.

## Tools and capabilities

- `inspect_endpoint`: Inspects a remote MCP server without calling any of its tools. Reports the server's transport, MCP protocol version, exposed tools, and side-effect hints.
- `get_pricing`: Returns MCP Canary plan and pricing information.

The inspection result is useful for confirming the shape of an MCP endpoint before deciding whether to add it to an agent configuration. Side-effect hints can help distinguish tools that may alter state from those intended for observation, while the no-call behavior keeps the inspection focused on server metadata.

## Limitations and notes

MCP Canary reports information about a target endpoint; it does not execute the target server's tools through `inspect_endpoint`. The available operations are limited to endpoint inspection and MCP Canary pricing. Both operations are read-only and anonymous. Access requires an MCP client capable of connecting to the remote endpoint rather than a local-only server configuration.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/mcp-canary/readme_