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Onthecheap MCP

Read free and low-cost events, deals, and local guides across 14 US cities.

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Install Onthecheap MCP

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "onthecheap-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "onthecheap-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Install not yet sandbox-tested— we haven't run this command through our automated sandbox yet. Not a red flag; we're working through the catalog.

Overview

The onthecheap-mcp MCP server reads public On the Cheap network sites for local events, deals, and guides across 14 US cities. Agents select a city with a required per-call `site` argument, then use read-only tools to browse event calendars, search posts, retrieve articles, and inspect available categories and locations. No credentials or environment variables are required; the server fetches public pages over HTTPS. Reach for it when an agent needs current, city-specific free activities, inexpensive events, or archived local guides.

Use cases

  • Find free events in a selected city
  • Compare event calendars across cities
  • Search local guides by topic and area
  • Retrieve a complete article from the archive
  • Check whether a city site is reachable

Key features

  • Daily event listings with prices and venues
  • Free-only event filtering
  • Monthly event counts and previews
  • Searchable article archive
  • Per-city category and location filters
  • Public HTTPS access without credentials

Tools8

What Onthecheap MCP lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Self-reported~206 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 1d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

10/10 checks healthy over the last 56d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 10d ago via OSV.dev · onthecheap-mcp (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

npm downloads2.3kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit8d agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Tools exposed8Callable tools this server registers over MCP.

How Onthecheap MCP works

What onthecheap-mcp MCP server does

The onthecheap-mcp MCP server exposes read-only access to the On the Cheap network, a collection of local guides covering 14 US cities and a national deals site. It can return events with times, prices, and venues; search articles; retrieve an individual article; and provide the category, location, and site identifiers needed for more targeted requests.

The supported network includes Charlotte, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Seattle–Tacoma, Kansas City, South Florida, Orlando, Portland, Richmond, Southern Maine, the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, and the national Living On The Cheap site. Common aliases such as raleigh, rva, and southflorida are accepted, while otc_list_sites reports the available keys.

How it works

Every tool except otc_list_sites requires a site value. This is selected for each request rather than configured globally, which prevents a query intended for one city from silently using another city's data. The event tools do not accept national, because that site has no local events calendar.

otc_list_events returns the schedule for a day and can restrict results to free listings with free_only. If no date is supplied, it uses the current day. otc_events_month_overview provides daily totals and a short preview for a month; use the daily event tool when the complete listing is needed.

Article searches can be narrowed by text, category, location, and date range. Search results are brief by default, while otc_get_post returns one article as readable text or raw HTML using an ID, slug, or URL. otc_healthcheck checks whether a selected site is reachable and reports error types such as edge_blocked, http, timeout, or transport when it cannot connect.

Setup and configuration

Install the onthecheap-mcp MCP server with:

Terminal
npx onthecheap-mcp

No API key, credential, browser extension, or environment variable is required. Public site data is fetched server-side over HTTPS. City selection belongs in each tool call, so there is no default city to configure.

For local development, the documented commands are npm install, npm test, and npm run build.

Tools and capabilities

  • otc_list_events: Lists events for a date, including time, price, and venue, with an optional free-only filter.
  • otc_events_month_overview: Shows per-day event counts and limited previews for a month.
  • otc_search_posts: Searches the article archive using content, category, location, and date filters.
  • otc_get_post: Fetches one article in readable text or raw HTML.
  • otc_list_categories: Returns category IDs and post counts for a selected site.
  • otc_list_locations: Returns local-area IDs and post counts for a selected site.
  • otc_list_sites: Lists network cities and their site keys without arguments.
  • otc_healthcheck: Tests reachability for one site.

Limitations and notes

Expired deals are omitted from searches by default. Set include_expired: true when historical offers are needed. Category and location IDs belong to individual site installations, so resolve them for the same city you later search; IDs from another site may select unrelated terms.

Month overviews are not complete calendars: each day includes at most four preview listings, while total is the actual count. Use otc_list_events with a specific date for the full schedule. Date routing uses the US M-D-YYYY format; the project documentation warns that an ISO date may be silently interpreted as 1970.

The onthecheap-mcp MCP server is read-only and depends on the public sites being reachable. A health check can distinguish several connection failure categories, but it does not change or repair source data.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

Reviews

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Frequently Asked Questions about Onthecheap MCP

onthecheap-mcp is an MCP server that connects AI clients to the public On the Cheap network across 14 US cities. Its main tools list daily events, summarize monthly calendars, search local posts, retrieve full articles, list site metadata, and check site health. It is read-only and requires no credentials or environment variables.

Install it with `npx onthecheap-mcp`. No API key, credential, browser extension, or environment variable is required.

Pass the city’s `site` key in each tool call. The server supports 14 network sites and common aliases, and `otc_list_sites` returns the available keys. There is deliberately no default city.

Yes, searches can include expired deals by setting `include_expired: true`. Expired offers are excluded by default, and category or location IDs should always be resolved for the same site being searched.

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