How we rank
Edition 1.1, in force from .
1. The orders you can choose
A search with words is ordered by best match: how well the words match a server's name, title, description and tool names, then, with a small weight, its rank. A list without words is ordered by rank. You can always order a list by name instead.
2. What the rank is made of
The rank runs from 0 to 100. Each check below earns its points in full, in part or not at all. Only checks whose answer we know count: a check we cannot answer for a server is left out of its rank rather than counted against it.
| Part | Check | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Works | The server started and listed its tools in our own check (not run yet: left out for every server) | 30 |
| Adoption | Downloads a week, or in total, as the package registry publishes them; for a Hugging Face Space, its likes | 15 |
| Adoption | Articles that link its repository or its package | 5 |
| Provenance | Listed in the Official MCP Registry | 6 |
| Provenance | Listed in a curated catalogue (GitHub's MCP registry, Docker's MCP catalogue) | 5 |
| Provenance | Links its source repository | 4 |
| Documentation | Has a description | 4 |
| Documentation | Lists its tools | 5 |
| Documentation | Its tools carry descriptions | 3 |
| Documentation | States a licence | 3 |
| Maintenance | A release in the last 180 days (worth half as much for every 120 days after that) | 6 |
| Maintenance | Its package publishes an issue tracker, or its site a security contact | 4 |
| Security | No known advisory against the package versions it ships | 10 |
The rank is the share of the known points a server earns, lowered by how little we know about it: a server about which we know little cannot rank above one we know well that does as well.
How our own check reaches a server, and how its owner can stop it: Our checks.
3. What never changes the order
Nobody can pay for a higher rank or a better place in a list. Nothing on the site is paid for today; if we ever sell placement, it will be labelled, it will change placement only, and it will never change a rank or what we say about a server. Stars and followers on code hosting sites are not used.
4. Categories
A server is placed in up to four categories by rules on its name, title, description, tool names and tool descriptions, and on the keywords and categories its publisher gave it in its package registry or registry entry. Labels that directory sites add are not used. A publisher who claims a listing will be able to choose its categories.