AnchorRegistry vs Filesystem
A side-by-side look at the AnchorRegistry and Filesystem MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose AnchorRegistry for cryptography work over a hosted endpoint; choose Filesystem for file systems as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose AnchorRegistry when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Cryptography domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
ar_verify_arid, ar_verify_by_hash, ar_resolve_tree.
Choose Filesystem when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
path, head, tail.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Cryptography | File Systems |
| Quality signal | 47/100 · Fair | 85/100 · Excellent |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Verified |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 91,512 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 11 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 17 |
| Full listing | View AnchorRegistry | View Filesystem |
Tools & capabilities
AnchorRegistry tools 3
ar_verify_aridResolve an AnchorRegistry AR-ID to its full provenance record. Use this when you encounter an SPDX-Anchor or DAPX-Anchor tag (e.g. in a README, paper, model card, or website) and need to confirm what the artifact is, who anchored it, when, what type it is, and whether the tree has been sealed, retracted, voided, or affirmed. Free, public, no auth required.ar_verify_by_hashResolve an artifact by its SHA-256 manifest hash. Use this when you have the artifact itself but no AR-ID, and want to check whether it has been anchored. Returns the AR-ID and full provenance record if found, or a clear "not anchored" response otherwise.ar_resolve_treeResolve the full provenance tree for an AR-ID. Returns every anchor in the tree (root + all descendants) with their relationships, types, manifest hashes, and timestamps. Use this when you need to understand a multi-artifact provenance chain — for example, a research paper anchored as the root with its training dataset and model weights as children.
Filesystem tools 17
pathheadtailpathscontenteditsoldTextnewTextdryRunsortBysourcedestination- +5 more on the listing page
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
AnchorRegistry
{
"mcpServers": {
"anchorregistry": {
"url": "https://mcp.anchorregistry.ai/mcp"
}
}
}
Filesystem
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
AnchorRegistry is categorized under Cryptography and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Filesystem belongs to File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick AnchorRegistry for cryptography work and Filesystem for file systems.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
AnchorRegistry has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Filesystem is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add anchorregistry and filesystem as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, AnchorRegistry has a quality signal of 47/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Filesystem has 85/100 (Excellent) with 11 views, 0 installs and 91,512 GitHub stars.