mcpbeat

Sideways MCP Server

com.usesideways/sideways
answering

Sideways is answering right now. Last checked 10 min ago. It exposes 6 tools.

Use Sideways for unexpected questions and lateral thinking prompts to break through mental blocks.

Uptime history 40 hours of history · worst hour 43%
40 hours agonow
50.0%
Uptime 24h
91 of 182 checks
6
Tools
read from the server
827 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 10 min ago.

run in your terminal
claude mcp add sideways --transport http https://usesideways.com/mcp
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sideways": {
      "url": "https://usesideways.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.sideways]
url = "https://usesideways.com/mcp"
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sideways": {
      "url": "https://usesideways.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sideways": {
      "url": "https://usesideways.com/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.

sideways
get-sideways-strategy-category-disrupt
Get a random Disrupt strategy. Use when stuck in safe patterns, avoiding risk, or when work feels too polished or predictable. Best for injecting energy and unpredictability. Use this when: break patterns, embrace chaos, make destructive moves, honor mistakes. Returns a labeled strategy card to help shift your perspective and break through blocks.
get-sideways-strategy-category-embody
Get a random Embody strategy. Use when too much in your head, experiencing physical tension, or disconnected from intuition. Best for grounding abstract work in physical reality. Use this when: physical, sensory, body-based approaches to creative problems. Returns a labeled strategy card to help shift your perspective and break through blocks.
get-sideways-strategy-category-expand
Get a random Expand strategy. Use when solutions feel too minimal, when avoiding decisions, or when there's room to explore more possibilities. Best for breaking self-imposed limitations. Use this when: add more, elaborate, embrace abundance, do both. Returns a labeled strategy card to help shift your perspective and break through blocks.
get-sideways-strategy-category-pause
Get a random Pause strategy. Use when rushing, feeling frantic, or unable to see the forest for the trees. Best for gaining clarity through distance and reflection. Use this when: rest, reflect, step back, examine, take breaks. Returns a labeled strategy card to help shift your perspective and break through blocks.
get-sideways-strategy-category-reduce
Get a random Reduce strategy. Use when overwhelmed by complexity, dealing with too many options, or when clarity is needed. Best for cutting through noise and finding the core. Use this when: simplify, subtract, remove, clarify, focus on essentials. Returns a labeled strategy card to help shift your perspective and break through blocks.
get-sideways-strategy-category-reframe
Get a random Reframe strategy. Use when stuck in a single way of thinking, facing opposition, or need to see the problem from a completely different angle. Best for breaking out of mental ruts. Use this when: change your perspective, reverse assumptions, adopt alternative viewpoints. Returns a labeled strategy card to help shift your perspective and break through blocks.

Endpoints

URLTransportStateLatencyChecked
https://usesideways.com/mcp streamable-http answering 786 ms 10 min ago
https://usesideways.com/sse sse answering 61 ms 11 min ago

Sideways — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can Sideways do?
It exposes 6 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: get-sideways-strategy-category-disrupt, get-sideways-strategy-category-embody, get-sideways-strategy-category-expand, get-sideways-strategy-category-pause, get-sideways-strategy-category-reduce, get-sideways-strategy-category-reframe. 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 Sideways working right now?
We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 91 of 182 checks got a reply (50.0%), average response time 827 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.
How do I connect Sideways?
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 Sideways need an API key?
No. Sideways 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 Sideways?
It answers our handshake in 827 ms on average, which is faster than 9% of all working MCP servers we measure. That is on the slow side — worth knowing if the tool sits inside an interactive loop. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.