How to Find MCP Servers (and Check One Works Before You Install It)

Finding an MCP server takes two steps: search somewhere that lists them, then check the one you picked actually answers. Most guides stop at the first step and hand you a list. This one covers the search you can script, how to narrow it to servers you can connect to without installing anything, and the check worth running before a server goes into your client.

TL;DR:

The official MCP Registry is searchable by name, in a browser or with one curl against its API [1][2].
Filter to remote servers if you want something to connect to by URL. In a search for postgres on 9 October 2026, 14 of 38 results had an address; the rest ship as packages you run yourself.
Use a directory when you want curation: popularity, categories, quality scores. The MCP directory comparison sets out what each one offers.
Check before you install. Of 1,100 registry addresses we called on 20 August 2026, 139 (12.6%) did not answer as an MCP server (census).

1. Search the official registry

The MCP Registry is run by the MCP project itself, and most directories read from it. Its web page has a search box and a "Show only latest versions" switch. The same search is one request to its API:

curl -sS "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers?search=weather&version=latest&limit=20"

Three parameters do the work [2]:

Parameter	What it does
`search`	Matches a substring of the server's name, not its description. Search `weather`, not `forecast for my city`
`version=latest`	One row per server instead of one per published version
`limit` and `cursor`	Page size, and the `metadata.nextCursor` value from the last answer to get the next page

Because the search reads names only, try the short noun a maker would put in a name: postgres, github, slack, jira.

2. Keep the ones you can connect to

Each result says how the server is delivered. A remotes entry is an address you can connect to. A packages entry is something you install and run on your own machine: an npm, PyPI, NuGet or Docker package. With jq, print one line per server:

curl -sS "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers?search=weather&version=latest&limit=20" \
  | jq -r '.servers[].server | "\(.name)\t\(if (.remotes // []) | length > 0 then "remote: " + .remotes[0].url else "package: " + ((.packages // [])[0].registryType // "none") end)"'

On 9 October 2026 the first lines were:

ai.smithery/smithery-ai-national-weather-service	remote: https://server.smithery.ai/@smithery-ai/national-weather-service/mcp
app.gamedayweather/gdw	remote: https://gamedayweather.app/mcp
cn.pianam.mcp/weather-mcp-china	remote: https://mcp.pianam.cn/weather-mcp/mcp

To keep only servers with an address, add a select:

curl -sS "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers?search=postgres&version=latest&limit=100" \
  | jq -r '.servers[].server | select((.remotes // []) | length > 0) | "\(.name)\t\(.remotes[0].url)"'

Remote is not the norm. Across the whole registry, 10,630 of 23,828 servers (44.6%) shipped only as a package with no address when our census opened. A package server runs with your permissions on your machine, so it deserves a closer read of its source than a remote one.

Some remote entries also list a headers block marked isRequired. That server wants a key before it answers anything, and the entry usually says where to get one.

3. When a directory is the better tool

The registry tells you a server exists and who published it. Its name check is about ownership of the namespace, not about what the server does [1]. Directories add the layer the registry leaves out: popularity, categories, usage counts, quality scores. Pick by the question you are asking:

"What do most people use for this?" A directory that sorts by usage, downloads or stars.
"Which ones describe their tools well?" Glama grades the description of each tool on the servers it indexes.
"What is new this week?" A directory with a recent or new-arrivals view, or this week's launch board.

The MCP directory comparison puts the six main directories side by side: catalog size, how a server gets in, and what you can filter by on each.

4. Check it answers before you install it

A listing records that someone published an entry. It does not record that anything answered. So before you add a server to your client:

Read the tool list in its README. It tells you what the server claims to do and how much of your model's context it will take: the tools/list reference shows what a tool definition carries.
Call a remote address once. Our MCP connection test takes the URL, runs the same handshake a client would, and reports which protocol revision answered and which tools came back, or why it failed. If you prefer the command line, the curl guide sends the same requests by hand.
Read a 401 as an answer. About a quarter of registry addresses ask for credentials (263 of 1,100, 23.9%, in the census). That is a working server guarding itself. The listing should say how to sign in.

One call tells you what that address returned at that moment. It is not a security review: it cannot show what a server does with your data once you grant it access.

Let your agent search

If you work inside an MCP client, you can skip the browser. MCP Hunter is itself an MCP server: add https://mcp-hunter.com/mcp to your client and ask it to search the board, or to check a server by URL. The server's page lists its tools.