Candor vs Cbioportal
A side-by-side look at the Candor and Cbioportal MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Candor for biology & bioinformatics work as a local process; choose Cbioportal for biology & bioinformatics as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Candor when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Biology & Bioinformatics domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
Choose Cbioportal when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Biology & Bioinformatics domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
search_studies, get_study, get_gene.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Biology & Bioinformatics | Biology & Bioinformatics |
| Quality signal | 45/100 · Fair | 59/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 4 |
| Full listing | View Candor | View Cbioportal |
Tools & capabilities
Candor tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Cbioportal tools 4
search_studiesSearch public cancer genomics studies in cBioPortal (TCGA, CPTAC, MSK, etc.) by keyword. Matches study name, study id, or cancer-type id (case-insensitive). Returns study ids, names, cancer types, and sample counts. Keyless, open data.get_studyGet full details for one cBioPortal cancer study by its study id (e.g. "brca_tcga_pub", "glioma_mskcc_2019"), including description, cancer type, sample count, PMID, and citation.get_geneResolve a gene to its Entrez gene id and canonical info via cBioPortal. Accepts a HUGO symbol (e.g. "TP53", "BRCA1") or an Entrez gene id. Returns entrez_gene_id, symbol, and type.list_cancer_typesList cancer types defined in cBioPortal (id, display name, parent type). Useful for resolving cancer-type ids used by studies.
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.
Candor
{
"mcpServers": {
"candor": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"candor-ts"
]
}
}
}
Cbioportal
{
"mcpServers": {
"cbioportal": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-cbioportal"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Candor is categorized under Biology & Bioinformatics and uses a local stdio subprocess. Cbioportal belongs to Biology & Bioinformatics and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Candor for biology & bioinformatics work and Cbioportal for biology & bioinformatics.
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.
Candor has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Cbioportal 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 candor and cbioportal as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Candor has a quality signal of 45/100 (Fair) with 2 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. Cbioportal has 59/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.