Control Plane vs Shellward
A side-by-side look at the Control Plane and Shellward MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Control Plane for security work over a hosted endpoint; choose Shellward 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 Control Plane when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
Choose Shellward when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Security domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You have the keys it needs:
SHELLWARD_MODE, SHELLWARD_LOCALE, SHELLWARD_THRESHOLD, SHELLWARD_BASELINE_PATH.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Security | Security |
| Quality signal | 37/100 · Fair | 61/100 · Good |
| 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 | SHELLWARD_MODESHELLWARD_LOCALESHELLWARD_THRESHOLDSHELLWARD_BASELINE_PATH |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 3 | 139 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Control Plane | View Shellward |
Tools & capabilities
Control Plane tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Shellward tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from 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.
Control Plane
{
"mcpServers": {
"control-plane": {
"url": "https://mcp.thinkneo.ai/mcp"
}
}
}
Shellward
{
"mcpServers": {
"jnmetacode-shellward": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"shellward"
],
"env": {
"SHELLWARD_MODE": "YOUR_SHELLWARD_MODE_HERE",
"SHELLWARD_LOCALE": "YOUR_SHELLWARD_LOCALE_HERE",
"SHELLWARD_THRESHOLD": "YOUR_SHELLWARD_THRESHOLD_HERE",
"SHELLWARD_BASELINE_PATH": "YOUR_SHELLWARD_BASELINE_PATH_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Control Plane is categorized under Security and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Shellward belongs to Security and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Control Plane for security work and Shellward 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.
Control Plane has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Shellward 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 control-plane and jnmetacode-shellward as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Control Plane has a quality signal of 37/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 3 GitHub stars. Shellward has 61/100 (Good) with 4 views, 0 installs and 139 GitHub stars.