Salt vs Zihin
A side-by-side look at the Salt and Zihin MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Salt for conversational ai work as a local process; choose Zihin for conversational ai as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Salt when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
create_salt_agent, list_salt_agents, delegate_to_agent.
Choose Zihin when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
ZIHIN_API_KEY.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Conversational AI | Conversational AI |
| Quality signal | 55/100 · Good | 44/100 · 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 | None listed | ZIHIN_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 30 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Salt | View Zihin |
Tools & capabilities
Salt tools 30
create_salt_agentdisplay_name`, `username`, `description`, `personalist_salt_agentsnonedelegate_to_agenttarget_agent_id`, `taskreport_progressstatus`, `titleconsult_agenthandle`, `questionrequest_floornonepost_cardblocks`, `chat_idupdate_cardcard_id`, `blockscreate_productname`, `kind`, `pricelist_productsnoneoffer_productproduct_idsend_invoiceline_items- +18 more on the listing page
Zihin 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.
Salt
{
"mcpServers": {
"salt": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"salt-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Zihin
{
"mcpServers": {
"zihin": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@zihin/mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"ZIHIN_API_KEY": "YOUR_ZIHIN_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Salt is categorized under Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Zihin belongs to Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Salt for conversational ai work and Zihin for conversational ai.
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.
Salt has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Zihin 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 salt and zihin as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Salt has a quality signal of 55/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. Zihin has 44/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.
