A side-by-side look at the DeepThonk and MCP Thinkgate MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose DeepThonk for conversational ai work as a local process; choose MCP Thinkgate for conversational ai as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, DEEPTHONK_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY.deepthonk.plan, deepthonk.start, deepthonk.status.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Conversational AI | Conversational AI |
| Quality signal | 53/100 · Good | 43/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | DEEPSEEK_API_KEYDEEPTHONK_API_KEYOPENROUTER_API_KEY | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 3 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 16 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View DeepThonk | View MCP Thinkgate |
deepthonk.planEstimate calls and sequential rounds for a profile (no model calls). Use before paid runs.deepthonk.startStart a run in the background; returns `run_dir`, `job_id`, and job-scoped artifact resources.deepthonk.statusPoll job status from a `run_dir`.deepthonk.resultReturn final summary + winner once a job is complete.deepthonk.cancelRequest cancellation by writing `cancel.json` into the run directory.deepthonk.lock_inspectInspect lock ownership and explicitly reclaim only an exact fingerprint.deepthonk.repair_budgetReplace legacy `[redacted]` numeric budget fields with explicit original values.deepthonk.runBlocking convenience: start + await completion in one call. Prefer `start` + polling for long-running jobs.deepthonk.rankRank a user-supplied candidate set with pairwise judging + Bradley-Terry (skip generation).deepthonk.mutateMutate one supplied candidate with critique (one-shot).deepthonk.resumeDetect whether a run can be resumed; with `continue: true`, replay from the last validated phase boundary.deepthonk.exportExport run summary or full trace in JSON or markdown.No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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.
{
"mcpServers": {
"deepthonk": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"deepthonk"
],
"env": {
"DEEPSEEK_API_KEY": "YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY_HERE",
"DEEPTHONK_API_KEY": "YOUR_DEEPTHONK_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-thinkgate": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-thinkgate"
]
}
}
}