Catalog MCP Server

ai.tooldirectory/catalog

answering

Catalog is answering right now. Last checked 3 min ago. It exposes 6 tools.

Search the AI Tool Directory catalog: tool details, status checks, and alternatives.

Uptime history 41 hours of history

41 hours agonow

100.0%

Uptime 24h

91 of 91 checks

Tools

read from the server

307 ms

Response time

average over 24h

open, no key

Access

streamable-http

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 3 min ago.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add catalog --transport http https://tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "catalog": {
      "url": "https://tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.catalog]
url = "https://tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp"

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "catalog": {
      "url": "https://tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "catalog": {
      "url": "https://tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Available tools 6

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

tool

check_tool_status

Check whether an AI tool is still alive. Returns active, deceased, or acquired — with the date and cause if it shut down, and live alternatives if it did. Use this before recommending a tool to avoid suggesting one that no longer exists.

get_tool

Get the full profile of one AI tool by its directory slug: description, pricing, key features, editorial verdict and rating, the date it was last human-verified, lifecycle status, and the official site URL.

tools

list_tools

List the top-rated active AI tools in a category or for a job role, optionally filtered by pricing. Good for "what are the best AI tools for sales" or "free tools in <category>".

search_tools

Search the AI Tool Directory catalog (2,000+ AI tools) by keyword, use case, or category using hybrid semantic search. Returns ranked tools with slug, one-line description, pricing model, and rating. Use this to discover tools, then get_tool for full detail.

alternatives

find_alternatives

Find curated alternatives to a given AI tool by its directory slug. If the tool has shut down, returns live replacements. Good for "what should I use instead of X" questions.

compare

compare_tools

Compare two AI tools side by side by their directory slugs. Returns each tool’s profile (pricing, rating, editorial verdict, lifecycle) plus the editor’s head-to-head verdict and bottom line when one exists for the pair.

Endpoints

URL	Transport	State	Latency	Checked
https://tooldirectory.ai/api/mcp	streamable-http	answering	291 ms	3 min ago

Catalog — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can Catalog do?

It exposes 6 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: check_tool_status, compare_tools, find_alternatives, get_tool, list_tools, search_tools. 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 →

What is Catalog mostly used for?

Its tools cluster around tool and tools. That is what this server is built to work with — the grouping comes from the actual tool names, not from a category we assigned.

Is Catalog working right now?

We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 91 of 91 checks got a reply (100.0%), average response time 307 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.

How do I connect Catalog?

Copy the ready config from this page — we generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each with the file path that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.

Does Catalog need an API key?

No. Catalog completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 6 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.

How fast is Catalog?

It answers our handshake in 307 ms on average, which is faster than 45% of all working MCP servers we measure. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.