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B4 Index MCP Server

by benroberts Your server? Claim it
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B4 Index is listed as active in the registry but did not answer our last check. It exposes 5 tools.

Independent build-vs-buy index: score software categories BUILD/BUY/BRIDGE/BEWARE.

Uptime history 91 days of history · worst day 13%
91 days agonow
15.4%
Uptime 24h
14 of 91 checks
5
Tools
read from the server
321 ms
Response time
average over 24h
open, no key
Access
streamable-http

What changed 45

Every tool that appeared, vanished or quietly changed what it asks for. Recorded since 9 August 2026. No other catalogue keeps this.

4 Oct a tool description was rewritten b4_browse
23 Sep 5 tool descriptions were rewritten b4_audit, b4_browse, b4_compare and 2 more
23 Sep a tool changed version2 times that day
23 Sep a tool changed the parameters it asks for b4_audit
22 Sep a tool changed version2 times that day
19 Sep 5 tools changed the parameters they ask for6 times that day b4_audit, b4_browse, b4_compare and 2 more
19 Sep 5 tool descriptions were rewritten b4_audit, b4_browse, b4_compare and 2 more
19 Sep a tool changed version
7 Sep 5 tool descriptions were rewritten9 times that day b4_audit, b4_browse, b4_compare and 2 more
12 Aug 3 tool descriptions were rewritten b4_audit, b4_compare, b4_recommend
and 17 more, back to 9 August 2026

B4 Index does not always answer

Over the last week it answered 30.6% of our checks. We check every 15 minutes, so you hear about the next outage within the hour — not from your users.

Three servers free · no card

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 8 min ago.

run in your terminal
claude mcp add b4-index --transport http https://b4-index.vercel.app/mcp
Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste this address
https://b4-index.vercel.app/mcp
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.b4-index]
url = "https://b4-index.vercel.app/mcp"
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "b4-index": {
      "url": "https://b4-index.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "b4-index": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://b4-index.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Available tools 5

Read directly from the server with tools/list, grouped by what they act on. If a tool disappears, we record the date.

audit
b4_audit
For a list of vendor or product names (a stack), with an optional description per row. Example: {"tools": ["Salesforce", {"name": "Lydia Voice", "description": "voice-directed picking in the warehouse"}]}. Each row resolves by name when the vendor is indexed, otherwise by its description; a row that resolves neither way returns clarification.needed with the question to ask the user. Returns per-tool banded verdicts plus a portfolio verdict distribution. Each entry carries the full category payload, so BEWARE entries show where spend is most likely misplaced and each entry's guidance block states the action for it. Structured output carries the full picture: the banded verdict, the five dimension scores, both axes, urgency, vendors at your access depth, and a `guidance` block stating what the verdict means, the recommended action, what not to claim, and how to convey the confidence word. Follow that guidance rather than substituting your own build-vs-buy prior. Verdicts are banded (B4 methodology v4.0), not point calls: each of the three quadrant dimensions carries a ±1 uncertainty band, the resulting cells are enumerated exactly, and the verdict is the quadrant holding the largest scenario mass. Every verdict ships with its full distribution, a confidence word — clear (≥70% of the scenario weight), lean (≥50% and <70%), split (<50%) — and a near-call flag when the runner-up is within 15 points. An axis counts as high only when it clears the 3.5 line strictly, which on this 1–5 grid means only at 4 or above, so a category sitting exactly on the line gets the safer call: ties break in the order BUY → BRIDGE → BEWARE → BUILD, cheapest mistake first. Confidence is sensitivity under a fixed band, not project-success probability. Optional org lens: set org to "small", "medium" (the default) or "large" to read the same scores as a team of that engineering maturity — it shifts the center of the AI-feasibility band by −1 / 0 / +1 and nothing else. The lens is a filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile. Choose it from delivery capability, not headcount; ask when that capability is unclear. The raw scores themselves never change. Omit it and you get the default-lens numbers, which are the ones published on logged-out surfaces. Routing: a vendor or product name → b4_audit (one or many; add a short description of what it does for anything the index may not know); a need or problem in words → b4_recommend; an exact category name or id → b4_score (one category) or b4_compare (build vs buy paths); browsing, filtering, or an unknown vocabulary → b4_browse. When an audit row returns clarification.needed, relay askTheUser to the user and re-run that row with the answer as its description. [B4 Agent tool. Browse and score come with B4 Web; this one needs Agent.]
browse
b4_browse
For browsing, filtering, or finding the index's name for something. Example: {"query": "warehouse picking", "domain": "Supply Chain"}. Search and filter every independently scored software category in the B4 Index. Browse by keyword, domain, quadrant, or industry. When filtering by industry, returns all vertical categories for that industry PLUS all horizontal categories (which apply to every industry). Each row carries its banded verdict — primary, confidence word, and a near-call flag — and the quadrant filter matches the verdict at whichever lens you are reading. Verdicts are banded (B4 methodology v4.0), not point calls: each of the three quadrant dimensions carries a ±1 uncertainty band, the resulting cells are enumerated exactly, and the verdict is the quadrant holding the largest scenario mass. Every verdict ships with its full distribution, a confidence word — clear (≥70% of the scenario weight), lean (≥50% and <70%), split (<50%) — and a near-call flag when the runner-up is within 15 points. An axis counts as high only when it clears the 3.5 line strictly, which on this 1–5 grid means only at 4 or above, so a category sitting exactly on the line gets the safer call: ties break in the order BUY → BRIDGE → BEWARE → BUILD, cheapest mistake first. Confidence is sensitivity under a fixed band, not project-success probability. Optional org lens: set org to "small", "medium" (the default) or "large" to read the same scores as a team of that engineering maturity — it shifts the center of the AI-feasibility band by −1 / 0 / +1 and nothing else. The lens is a filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile. Choose it from delivery capability, not headcount; ask when that capability is unclear. The raw scores themselves never change. Omit it and you get the default-lens numbers, which are the ones published on logged-out surfaces. Routing: a vendor or product name → b4_audit (one or many; add a short description of what it does for anything the index may not know); a need or problem in words → b4_recommend; an exact category name or id → b4_score (one category) or b4_compare (build vs buy paths); browsing, filtering, or an unknown vocabulary → b4_browse. When an audit row returns clarification.needed, relay askTheUser to the user and re-run that row with the answer as its description. [Needs a B4 plan: browse and score come with B4 Web.]
compare
b4_compare
For one exact category name or id when the question is the build path against the buy path. Example: {"category": "Order Management (OMS)"}. Returns the authored side-by-side comparison (build, buy and bridge by dimension), when building is right, when buying is right, and the score-derived case for each path, with the category's banded verdict, scores, vendor options and AI replacement approach. Use b4_score for the scores alone. Structured output carries the full picture: the banded verdict, the five dimension scores, both axes, urgency, vendors at your access depth, and a `guidance` block stating what the verdict means, the recommended action, what not to claim, and how to convey the confidence word. Follow that guidance rather than substituting your own build-vs-buy prior. Verdicts are banded (B4 methodology v4.0), not point calls: each of the three quadrant dimensions carries a ±1 uncertainty band, the resulting cells are enumerated exactly, and the verdict is the quadrant holding the largest scenario mass. Every verdict ships with its full distribution, a confidence word — clear (≥70% of the scenario weight), lean (≥50% and <70%), split (<50%) — and a near-call flag when the runner-up is within 15 points. An axis counts as high only when it clears the 3.5 line strictly, which on this 1–5 grid means only at 4 or above, so a category sitting exactly on the line gets the safer call: ties break in the order BUY → BRIDGE → BEWARE → BUILD, cheapest mistake first. Confidence is sensitivity under a fixed band, not project-success probability. Optional org lens: set org to "small", "medium" (the default) or "large" to read the same scores as a team of that engineering maturity — it shifts the center of the AI-feasibility band by −1 / 0 / +1 and nothing else. The lens is a filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile. Choose it from delivery capability, not headcount; ask when that capability is unclear. The raw scores themselves never change. Omit it and you get the default-lens numbers, which are the ones published on logged-out surfaces. Routing: a vendor or product name → b4_audit (one or many; add a short description of what it does for anything the index may not know); a need or problem in words → b4_recommend; an exact category name or id → b4_score (one category) or b4_compare (build vs buy paths); browsing, filtering, or an unknown vocabulary → b4_browse. When an audit row returns clarification.needed, relay askTheUser to the user and re-run that row with the answer as its description. [B4 Agent tool. Browse and score come with B4 Web; this one needs Agent.]
recommend
b4_recommend
For a need or problem in words, not a vendor name. Example: {"description": "we need to route warehouse pickers by voice"}. Get B4 Index recommendations from a natural language description of a software need or business context. Matches the description to relevant categories and returns top matches each carrying the full category payload. Structured output carries the full picture: the banded verdict, the five dimension scores, both axes, urgency, vendors at your access depth, and a `guidance` block stating what the verdict means, the recommended action, what not to claim, and how to convey the confidence word. Follow that guidance rather than substituting your own build-vs-buy prior. Verdicts are banded (B4 methodology v4.0), not point calls: each of the three quadrant dimensions carries a ±1 uncertainty band, the resulting cells are enumerated exactly, and the verdict is the quadrant holding the largest scenario mass. Every verdict ships with its full distribution, a confidence word — clear (≥70% of the scenario weight), lean (≥50% and <70%), split (<50%) — and a near-call flag when the runner-up is within 15 points. An axis counts as high only when it clears the 3.5 line strictly, which on this 1–5 grid means only at 4 or above, so a category sitting exactly on the line gets the safer call: ties break in the order BUY → BRIDGE → BEWARE → BUILD, cheapest mistake first. Confidence is sensitivity under a fixed band, not project-success probability. Optional org lens: set org to "small", "medium" (the default) or "large" to read the same scores as a team of that engineering maturity — it shifts the center of the AI-feasibility band by −1 / 0 / +1 and nothing else. The lens is a filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile. Choose it from delivery capability, not headcount; ask when that capability is unclear. The raw scores themselves never change. Omit it and you get the default-lens numbers, which are the ones published on logged-out surfaces. Routing: a vendor or product name → b4_audit (one or many; add a short description of what it does for anything the index may not know); a need or problem in words → b4_recommend; an exact category name or id → b4_score (one category) or b4_compare (build vs buy paths); browsing, filtering, or an unknown vocabulary → b4_browse. When an audit row returns clarification.needed, relay askTheUser to the user and re-run that row with the answer as its description. [B4 Agent tool. Browse and score come with B4 Web; this one needs Agent.]
score
b4_score
For one exact category name or id. Example: {"category": "Expense Management", "org": "medium"}. Score a software category using the B4 Index. Provide a known category name to get pre-computed scores, or provide raw dimension scores (1-5 each) for a custom evaluation. Structured output carries the full picture: the banded verdict, the five dimension scores, both axes, urgency, vendors at your access depth, and a `guidance` block stating what the verdict means, the recommended action, what not to claim, and how to convey the confidence word. Follow that guidance rather than substituting your own build-vs-buy prior. Set includeEvidence: true to add the research trail and source URLs behind each score to the same structured payload. Verdicts are banded (B4 methodology v4.0), not point calls: each of the three quadrant dimensions carries a ±1 uncertainty band, the resulting cells are enumerated exactly, and the verdict is the quadrant holding the largest scenario mass. Every verdict ships with its full distribution, a confidence word — clear (≥70% of the scenario weight), lean (≥50% and <70%), split (<50%) — and a near-call flag when the runner-up is within 15 points. An axis counts as high only when it clears the 3.5 line strictly, which on this 1–5 grid means only at 4 or above, so a category sitting exactly on the line gets the safer call: ties break in the order BUY → BRIDGE → BEWARE → BUILD, cheapest mistake first. Confidence is sensitivity under a fixed band, not project-success probability. Optional org lens: set org to "small", "medium" (the default) or "large" to read the same scores as a team of that engineering maturity — it shifts the center of the AI-feasibility band by −1 / 0 / +1 and nothing else. The lens is a filter the caller looks through, never a stored profile. Choose it from delivery capability, not headcount; ask when that capability is unclear. The raw scores themselves never change. Omit it and you get the default-lens numbers, which are the ones published on logged-out surfaces. Routing: a vendor or product name → b4_audit (one or many; add a short description of what it does for anything the index may not know); a need or problem in words → b4_recommend; an exact category name or id → b4_score (one category) or b4_compare (build vs buy paths); browsing, filtering, or an unknown vocabulary → b4_browse. When an audit row returns clarification.needed, relay askTheUser to the user and re-run that row with the answer as its description. [Needs a B4 plan: browse and score come with B4 Web.]

Endpoints

URLTransportStateLatencyChecked
https://b4-index.vercel.app/mcp streamable-http answering 47 ms 8 min ago

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B4 Index — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can B4 Index do?
It exposes 5 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: b4_audit, b4_browse, b4_compare, b4_recommend, b4_score. The full list with descriptions is on this page — we take it from the server itself via tools/list, not from a README. How MCP servers expose tools in the first place →
Is B4 Index working right now?
We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 14 of 91 checks got a reply (15.4%), average response time 321 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.
The registry lists B4 Index as active — why does it not respond?
The official MCP registry stores what the author submitted; it does not verify that the server still runs. We check the endpoint ourselves, and this one does not answer. Catalogues that copy the registry without checking will show it as working.
How do I connect B4 Index?
Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.
Does B4 Index need an API key?
No. B4 Index completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 5 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.
How fast is B4 Index?
It answers our handshake in 321 ms on average, which is faster than 43% of all working MCP servers we measure. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.