Purpose
Tool Directory MCP Server is used to let MCP clients look up an AI tool directory mid-task, instead of relying on old information frozen in training data to guess. It connects to a real-time directory maintained by human editors, featuring 2000+ AI tools.
Main Capabilities
- Tool status lookup (check_tool_status): Determine whether an AI tool is still alive, has shut down, or has been acquired. This is a fact on which large models often give incorrect answers; models will keep recommending products that were shut down months ago. This feature answers based on the AI Graveyard dataset in the directory, which maintains 150+ shut-down and acquired AI tools, and will suggest alternatives that are still operating when a tool is no longer available.
- Search the directory: Search among 2000+ AI tools (the hosted side uses Meilisearch hybrid semantic search).
- Compare tools: Tools can be compared, for example comparing Gamma and Beautiful.ai for making presentations.
- Find alternatives: For example, finding free-tier alternatives to Midjourney.
How to Use
This server provides two ways to use it:
Hosted endpoint (no installation required)
The server is also available as a remote MCP (Streamable HTTP), and clients can be pointed to:
- Claude Desktop / Claude Code
- Or use it in Claude Code
- Cursor / Windsurf / other MCP clients
Local stdio run
Use the same stdio command:npx -y tooldirectory-mcp.
This npm package is a lightweight stdio frontend on top of the official hosted endpoint at tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp; search (Meilisearch hybrid semantic) and directory logic are all on the hosted side. The tool schema is declared locally, so initialize and tools/list respond instantly without network requests; tools/call is proxied to the hosted endpoint. Zero runtime dependencies. Can be configured by setting TOOLDIRECTORY_MCP_ENDPOINT to override the upstream endpoint (for example, for testing).
Example Prompts
- "Is Jasper still operating? What happened to Inflection Pi?"
- "Help me find free-tier alternatives to Midjourney."
- "Compare Gamma and Beautiful.ai for making presentations."
- "What are the best AI tools for sales teams?"
Applicable Scenarios
Suitable for any MCP client and agent framework that needs real-time status, search, comparison, or alternatives for AI tools during a task, including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
Limitations
- Read-only, no API key required, no registration required.
- Every included tool has a lifecycle status; editorial reviews have named editors and a most recent verification date.
- Related machine-readable entry points include: Research hub (AI tool mortality statistics), directory feed / Graveyard feed, and the /mcp server documentation page.
- Other specific features, fees, prices, platforms, and usage steps are not provided for now.
