Hlido MCP vs Shodan
A side-by-side look at the Hlido MCP and Shodan MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Hlido MCP for security work over a hosted endpoint; choose Shodan for security as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Hlido MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
trust_check, find_trusted, verify_claim.
Choose Shodan when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
SHODAN_API_KEY. - You want tools like
ip_lookup, shodan_search, cve_lookup.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Security | Security |
| Quality signal | 49/100 · Fair | 68/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | SHODAN_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 178 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 19 | 11 |
| Full listing | View Hlido MCP | View Shodan |
Tools & capabilities
Hlido MCP tools 19
trust_checkThe core Hlido trust query: is a specific AI agent trustworthy? Given one agent (by Hlido slug or product/homepage URL) it returns the independent Laddoo trust score (0-100), tier (VITAL/STEADY/FADING/FLATLINE), a one-line verdict, a claim-verification summary, and any known incidents. Call this FIRST — before delegating to, installing, or relying on another agent — to get a fast trust read. Returns no_review_found if the agent isn't in Hlido's corpus (then call request_quick_audit). For the full claim-by-claim evidence, follow up with get_scorecard.find_trustedDiscover Hlido-reviewed agents that match a free-text need, ranked by trust. Returns reviewed agents at or above a minimum tier, each with its Laddoo score, tier, and review URL. Use this for keyword/need-based discovery; for semantic task-matching prefer find_similar_agents, and for structured constraint filters (category/score/tier) prefer recommend.verify_claimFact-check one specific marketing or capability claim about an agent against Hlido's independent testing. Returns Hlido's verdict (PASS/FAIL/PARTIAL/UNKNOWN) with a quoted evidence snippet and its source surface — or an honest null when that exact claim wasn't tested (absence of evidence, not proof). Use this to validate a vendor's specific promise before you rely on it.compare_agentsHead-to-head trust comparison of 2-5 Hlido-reviewed agents. Returns each agent's Laddoo score, tier, dimension scores, and key claim verdicts side by side so you can pick the most trustworthy option for a task. Use this once you've shortlisted candidates (via find_trusted, find_similar_agents, or recommend) and need a direct comparison.submit_agentNominate a new AI agent for Hlido to review. Use this when an agent isn't in Hlido's corpus yet (trust_check returned no_review_found) and you want it added. Returns a confirmation with a tracking reference; the review is queued and produces a public scorecard. If you need a verdict right now rather than a queued review, use request_quick_audit (faster, rate-limited) instead.verify_transparencyCheck any AI agent's EU AI Act Article-50 transparency posture — including agents Hlido has NOT reviewed yet. Returns two clearly separated layers: (1) Hlido's independent register verdict when the agent is in our reviewed corpus, and (2) a live public-surface probe of the Article-50 signals (AI-interaction disclosure, machine-readable marking/provenance, deepfake/synthetic labelling, detection tool). Use before adopting or delegating to a tool ahead of the 2026-08-02 transparency obligations. The live probe is a first-pass surface read, NOT a compliance determination and NOT legal advice; an undetected signal means 'not discoverable on the public surface', not 'non-compliant'. Unreviewed agents are automatically queued for a full independent review.get_scorecardFetch the full sanitized claim-vs-evidence scorecard for one Hlido-reviewed agent. Returns every claim, verdict, evidence quote, source surface, and (for CLI/API tests) the captured command + exit_code + duration. Schema v1.0. Use this for agent-to-agent pre-flight evaluation.get_incidentsFetch published incidents from Hlido's NTSB-style failure registry — real observed agent failures (availability outages, regressions, hallucinations, safety issues) plus Hlido self-reported process incidents, each with severity, evidence, and vendor-response status. Filter by agent slug, severity, or category. Use this before delegating to an agent to check for known recent failures; an empty list means no published incidents, not a guarantee of reliability.report_review_issueReport an issue with a Hlido review (stale info, wrong verdict, missing claim, broken link). Use when calling get_scorecard or trust_check returns data you can prove is incorrect. Hlido's R1 maintenance routine processes reports daily and fires re-tests via dispute-retest sub-agent.request_quick_auditRequest that Hlido audit a NEW AI agent that has no review yet. Use this when trust_check or get_scorecard returns no_review_found and you need a verdict before delegating to the unknown agent. Returns a future scorecard URL + ETA. Free-tier rate-limited (5/day per anonymous, 50/day per identified). The audit produces signed evidence + claim verification within ~24h (sooner if founder triggers manually).find_similar_agentsSemantic search over Hlido's review corpus. Given a task description (e.g. 'I need an agent that can refactor TypeScript and edit multiple files at once'), returns the top-N reviewed agents ranked by embedding similarity, each with their Laddoo score, evidence_tier, and review URL. Use this when you have a task in mind and want Hlido's recommendation — much better than substring matching via find_trusted.subscribePreview — Wave 3 will add persistent webhook + RSS subscriptions. For now this returns the agent's current state plus advisory polling instructions (RSS at /changelog/feed.xml or polling /data/attestations/{slug}.json). Use this to register interest in being notified when a slug's verdict changes.- +7 more on the listing page
Shodan tools 11
ip_lookupRetrieve comprehensive information about an IP address, including geolocation, operating system, open ports, running services (product, version, CPE), known vulnerabilities (CVEs), SSL certificates, hostnames, and cloud provider details if available. Returns service banners and HTTP server information when present. Optional history returns historical banners; minify omits banners.shodan_searchSearch Shodan's database of internet-connected devices. Returns detailed information about matching devices including services, vulnerabilities, and geographic distribution. Supports advanced search filters and returns facet statistics (default: by country). Costs 1 query credit when the query uses filters, plus 1 per page beyond the first. Use shodan_count (free) to get totals and facets without results.cve_lookupQuery detailed vulnerability information from Shodan's CVEDB. Returns comprehensive CVE details including CVSS scores (v4/v3/v2), EPSS probability and ranking, KEV status, proposed mitigations, ransomware associations, and affected products (CPEs).dns_lookupResolve domain names to IP addresses using Shodan's DNS service. Supports batch resolution of multiple hostnames in a single query. Returns IP addresses mapped to their corresponding hostnames.reverse_dns_lookupPerform reverse DNS lookups to find hostnames associated with IP addresses. Supports batch lookups of multiple IP addresses in a single query. Returns all known hostnames for each IP address, with clear indication when no hostnames are found.cpe_lookupSearch for Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) entries by product name in Shodan's CVEDB. Supports pagination and can return either full CPE details or just the total count. Useful for identifying specific versions and configurations of software and hardware.cves_by_productSearch for vulnerabilities affecting specific products or CPEs. Supports filtering by KEV status, sorting by EPSS score, date ranges, and pagination. Can search by product name or CPE 2.3 identifier. Returns detailed vulnerability information including severity scores and impact assessments.shodan_countGet the total number of Shodan results for a query, with optional facet breakdowns (e.g. by country, org, port). Free: does not consume query credits. Use search_filters to list valid filters and facets.domain_infoGet subdomains and DNS records for a domain from Shodan. Costs 1 query credit per lookup.api_infoShow the Shodan API plan, remaining query and scan credits, monitored IPs, and usage limits for the configured API key. Free: does not consume credits.search_filtersList the search filters and facets Shodan supports. Use this to build valid shodan_search and shodan_count queries and facets. Free: does not consume credits.
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.
Hlido MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"ankitkapur1992-hlido-hlido-mcp": {
"url": "https://hlido.eu/mcp"
}
}
}
Shodan
{
"mcpServers": {
"shodan-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@burtthecoder/mcp-shodan"
],
"env": {
"SHODAN_API_KEY": "YOUR_SHODAN_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Hlido MCP is categorized under Security and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Shodan belongs to Security and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Hlido MCP for security work and Shodan for security.
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.
Hlido MCP is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. Shodan has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. 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 ankitkapur1992-hlido-hlido-mcp and shodan-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Hlido MCP has a quality signal of 49/100 (Fair) with 3 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Shodan has 68/100 (Great) with 1 views, 0 installs and 178 GitHub stars.