gatefareio/mcp-server
Official# @gatefare/mcp
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[](https://github.com/gatefareio/mcp-server/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers?search=gatefareio)
[](https://mcp.so/server/gatefare)
[](https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/gatefareio/mcp-server)
[](https://base.org)
> Give your AI agent a wallet and a marketplace.
>
> `@gatefare/mcp` is a Model Context Protocol server that connects Claude
> Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible agent to the
> [Gatefare](https://gatefare.io) catalog of paid HTTP APIs. Payments
> settle as USDC on Base via the open [x402](https://x402.org) standard
> — no SaaS keys, no subscriptions, no escrow. Non-custodial: signing
> happens locally; the private key never leaves your machine.

```
┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐
│ Claude / │ MCP stdio │ @gatefare/mcp│ HTTP + x402 │ gatefare.io │
│ Cursor / │ ─────────────► │ (this repo)│ ─────────────► │ proxy + │
│ your agent │ │ │ │ catalog │
└─────────────┘ └──────┬───────┘ └─────────────────┘
│
│ EIP-3009 sign
▼
┌─────────────┐
│ Base USDC │
└─────────────┘
```
## Quick start
### 1. Drop into your client
**Claude Desktop** — `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` (macOS) or `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` (Windows):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gatefare": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@gatefare/mcp"]
}
}
}
```
**Cursor** — `~/.cursor/mcp.json` or project-level `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gatefare": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@gatefare/mcp"]
}
}
}
```
Restart the client. The agent now has 5 read-only tools — discovery + safety. Try:
> *"Search Gatefare for weather APIs."*
### 2. Add a wallet to make paid calls
Add `env` to the same config:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gatefare": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@gatefare/mcp"],
"env": {
"WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY": "0xYOUR_KEY",
"WALLET_BUDGET_USD": "5.00"
}
}
}
}
```
Buyer tools (`call_api`, `get_wallet_balance`, `estimate_cost`) become available. The
`WALLET_BUDGET_USD` cap is a runtime safety net — for a hard cap, fund the wallet with
only what you're willing to spend.
> *"What's London's weather right now? Spend up to $0.001."*
### 3. (Optional) Publish your own APIs
Get a PAT at [gatefare.io/dashboard/tokens](https://gatefare.io/dashboard/tokens) and add:
```json
"env": {
"GATEFARE_PAT": "gfpat_..."
}
```
Publisher tools (`register_api`, `list_my_apis`, `update_api`, `get_revenue`,
`distribute`) appear.
> *"Publish my API at https://api.example.com/sentiment for $0.001 per call."*
## Tools
13 tools across 4 domains. Tools auto-register based on which env vars are set —
the agent never sees a tool it can't use.
### Discovery — always available
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `gatefare.search_apis` | Full-text search the catalog with filters (price, category, sort) |
| `gatefare.get_api` | Full details for one API by slug or `handle/urlName` |
| `gatefare.list_categories` | All categories with API counts |
| `gatefare.suggest` | Autocomplete suggestions for a query string |
### Buyer — needs `WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY`
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `gatefare.call_api` | Make a paid call. Handles 402 → sign → retry automatically |
| `gatefare.get_wallet_balance` | USDC + ETH on Base, plus remaining runtime budget |
| `gatefare.estimate_cost` | Project total cost for N planned calls |
### Publisher — needs `GATEFARE_PAT`
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `gatefare.register_api` | Publish a new paid API |
| `gatefare.list_my_apis` | Your published APIs with stats |
| `gatefare.update_api` | Edit metadata, price, target URL |
| `gatefare.get_revenue` | Revenue time series + totals |
| `gatefare.distribute` | Trigger on-chain `distribute()` payout (destructive) |
### Safety — always available
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `gatefare.report_abuse` | Report a malicious / stolen API (DMCA, fraud, malware…) |
## Configuration
| Var | Default | Required for |
|-----|---------|--------------|
| `GATEFARE_BASE_URL` | `https://gatefare.io` | — (override for self-hosted) |
| `WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY` | — | Any buyer tool |
| `WALLET_BUDGET_USD` | unlimited | Optional spend cap |
| `WALLET_NETWORK` | `eip155:8453` | `eip155:84532` for Sepolia testnet |
| `GATEFARE_PAT` | — | Any publisher tool |
| `LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | `debug` for verbose stderr |
## Examples
### Discover & buy in one breath (Claude Desktop)
> **You:** *Find me a sub-$0.001 weather API and call it for "Tokyo".*
>
> **Claude:** *Calling `gatefare.search_apis` with `max_price: 0.001`…*
> *Found `demo-weather` by @alice at $0.001/call.*
> *Calling `gatefare.call_api` with `slug: "demo-weather"`, `query: {city: "Tokyo"}`…*
> *Tokyo is 22°C, partly cloudy. Paid 0.001 USDC. Receipt: `settled-tx-0x9a…`*
### Programmatic — Python agent
```python
from mcp import ClientSession, StdioServerParameters
from mcp.client.stdio import stdio_client
server = StdioServerParameters(
command="npx",
args=["-y", "@gatefare/mcp"],
env={"WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY": "0x...", "WALLET_BUDGET_USD": "1.00"},
)
async with stdio_client(server) as (r, w):
async with ClientSession(r, w) as s:
await s.initialize()
result = await s.call_tool(
"gatefare.call_api",
arguments={"slug": "demo-weather", "query": {"city": "Tokyo"}},
)
print(result.content[0].text)
```
See [`examples/`](examples/) for runnable variants: Claude Desktop, Cursor, Python,
TypeScript, and a pure-discovery walkthrough.
### Not building an AI agent? Picking the right tool
If you want to **pay for x402 APIs from a backend** (no agent), use Coinbase's
official x402 SDKs — `x402-python` (PyPI), `coinbase/x402/go`, `…/java`, or
[`@x402/fetch`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/x402-fetch). They handle the
payment flow; you don't need this MCP server.
If you want to **browse the Gatefare catalog** from any language, hit the
REST API directly: [`gatefare.io/api/catalog`](https://gatefare.io/api/catalog)
([OpenAPI 3.1 spec](https://gatefare.io/openapi.json)).
Full breakdown of which tool fits which use case in
[`docs/integrations.md`](docs/integrations.md).
### Direct CLI (for debugging)
```bash
# Run the server in foreground; talks JSON-RPC over stdio.
npx -y @gatefare/mcp
# In another terminal, send a frame:
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}' | \
npx -y @gatefare/mcp
```
## Errors
Tool results include `isError: true` and a structured body
`{ error: <code>, message: <human>, details?: <any> }`. Codes are stable —
agents can switch on them for retry / surfacing logic.
| Code | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| `INVALID_INPUT` | Input failed zod validation |
| `WALLET_NOT_CONFIGURED` | Set `WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY` for buyer tools |
| `PAT_NOT_CONFIGURED` | Set `GATEFARE_PAT` for publisher tools |
| `BUDGET_EXHAUSTED` | Runtime budget cap hit |
| `INSUFFICIENT_BALANCE` | Wallet doesn't have enough USDC |
| `PRICE_TOO_HIGH` | Server's price exceeds your `max_price` |
| `API_NOT_FOUND` | Slug doesn't exist or is suspended |
| `UPSTREAM_ERROR` | Paid API returned non-2xx, or its 402 was malformed |
| `RATE_LIMITED` | Gatefare rate-limited the request |
| `NETWORK_ERROR` | Could not reach Gatefare |
| `GATEFARE_API_ERROR` | Gatefare returned a 4xx / 5xx |
## How it works (the 30-second version)
1. The agent calls `gatefare.call_api { slug: "demo-weather", … }`.
2. We `GET https://gatefare.io/p/demo-weather` (no payment yet).
3. The Gatefare proxy returns **402 Payment Required** with `accepts: [{network, payTo, maxAmountRequired, …}]`.
4. We sign an [EIP-3009 `transferWithAuthorization`](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-3009) for that exact amount and recipient on the configured network.
5. We retry the request with the signed `X-Payment` header (base64-encoded JSON, x402 v2).
6. Gatefare verifies the signature, settles the USDC transfer, and proxies the call to the upstream API.
7. We hand the upstream response (and a payment receipt) back to the agent.
The signature is single-use, time-bounded, and never leaves your machine for any
purpose other than this exact transfer to this exact `payTo`. The private key
is never logged.
## Security
- **Non-custodial.** Private keys live in your env, signing happens locally,
no Gatefare service ever sees them.
- **Network confusion-resistant.** A malicious gateway returning Sepolia-only
requirements to a mainnet user is rejected — we never sign for a chain
the user didn't configure.
- **Cryptographically random nonces.** No `Date.now()`-based collisions.
- **Validity window clamped to 1 hour** even if the server requests more.
- **Strict input validation.** Slugs are `^[a-z0-9_-]+$` and URL-encoded;
no path traversal. `targetUrl` blocks `file://`, `localhost`, cloud
metadata IPs, `.local`, and `.internal` hosts at registration time.
- **Secret hygiene.** Tests assert that the private key and PAT never
appear in stderr / stdout, ever.
## Development
```bash
git clone https://github.com/gatefareio/mcp-server.git
cd mcp-server
npm install
npm run typecheck
npm test # 138 unit tests
npm run test:e2e # 10 e2e tests against live gatefare.io (set GATEFARE_E2E=1)
npm run build
```
To use a local checkout in your client config:
```bash
npm link
# in claude_desktop_config.json:
# "command": "gatefare-mcp"
```
### Architecture
```
src/
├── index.ts # entry — wires stdio transport
├── server.ts # McpServer instance + tool registration
├── config.ts # env parsing, capability detection
├── client.ts # REST client (wraps fetch)
├── x402.ts # 402 parsing + EIP-3009 signing
├── types.ts # shared types + GatefareError
└── tools/
├── discovery.ts # search_apis, get_api, list_categories, suggest
├── buyer.ts # call_api, get_wallet_balance, estimate_cost
├── publisher.ts # register_api, list_my_apis, update_api, get_revenue, distribute
└── safety.ts # report_abuse
```
### Test layout
```
tests/
├── config.test.ts # env parsing edges
├── client.test.ts # HTTP client error mapping
├── x402.test.ts # signing + parsing primitives
├── x402-flow.test.ts # full 402 → sign → retry handshake (mocked fetch)
├── server.test.ts # capability-driven tool registration
├── init.test.ts # subprocess: bootstrap, env crashes, secret leakage
├── stdio-protocol.test.ts # stdout pollution + recovery from tool errors
├── stability.test.ts # 100 concurrent calls, memory baseline, ReDoS
├── tools/
│ ├── discovery.test.ts
│ ├── buyer.test.ts
│ ├── buyer-flow.test.ts
│ ├── publisher.test.ts
│ └── safety.test.ts
└── integration/
└── e2e.test.ts # real gatefare.io, gated by GATEFARE_E2E=1
```
## Contributing
Issues and PRs welcome. See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the workflow,
style guide, and how to add a new tool.
## Related packages
Gatefare ships three first-party packages. They share the same x402
protocol and the same backend, so a project can mix them as needed:
| Package | Where | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| [`@gatefare/mcp`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@gatefare/mcp) (this one) | npm | Drop into Claude Desktop / Cursor / any MCP host to give the agent tools for catalog discovery + paid calls |
| [`@gatefare/client`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@gatefare/client) | npm | TypeScript / JavaScript agents that pay APIs in code, outside MCP |
| [`gatefare`](https://pypi.org/project/gatefare/) | PyPI | Python agents (LangChain, LlamaIndex, etc.) |
## License
[MIT](LICENSE) © Gatefare
## Links
- 🌐 Marketplace: [gatefare.io](https://gatefare.io)
- 📚 API docs: [gatefare.io/docs](https://gatefare.io/docs)
- 🤖 LLM context (single file): [gatefare.io/llms-full.txt](https://gatefare.io/llms-full.txt)
- 📐 OpenAPI spec: [gatefare.io/openapi.json](https://gatefare.io/openapi.json)
- 🐦 Twitter: [@Gatefareio](https://twitter.com/Gatefareio)
- 🔌 Model Context Protocol: [modelcontextprotocol.io](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)
- 💸 x402 standard: [x402.org](https://x402.org)
TDQS
Scored across 7 tools
Each tool has a clearly distinct purpose: search, details, categories, suggestions, reporting, reputation, and sample responses. Even get_api and sample_response are well-separated by their descriptions.
Most tools follow the verb_noun pattern (search_apis, get_api, list_categories, report_abuse), but suggest and publisher_reputation deviate (bare verb, noun_noun). Overall snake_case and gatefare prefix maintain readability.
Seven tools is ideal for this domain, covering discovery, inspection, reputation, and feedback without bloat or redundancy.
The surface fully covers the API catalog workflow: search, suggest, categories, detailed lookups, publisher trust evaluation, sample response verification, and abuse reporting—no obvious dead ends or missing critical operations.