Shodan InternetDB — IP Hostname & Service Intelligence

Shodan's free InternetDB API. Lookup any IP and get its open ports, detected services, hostnames, vulnerabilities, and tags (CDN, cloud, ICS, etc.). The data behind "what's actually running on this IP?" — derived from Shodan's continuous internet scanning. Free, no auth.

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1857+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.

Why this matters for AI agents

For security analysis, attack-surface reconnaissance (your own assets), or threat-hunting context, Shodan's data is canonical. InternetDB specifically is the free, lightweight subset — for full Shodan capabilities (search, historical, alerts), commercial Shodan API is needed.

Common flows:

• IP lookup. "What's running on 1.2.3.4?" → open ports, services, vulnerabilities.

• Pre-attack reconnaissance (defensive). Audit your own infrastructure as it appears externally.

• Pair with threat intel. Cross-reference with AbuseIPDB (reputation), PhishTank / URLhaus (URL threat).

Related MCP server: sec-shodan-mcp

Auth

None. InternetDB is free, no key, no signup. Generous rate limits.

For the full Shodan search API (historical scans, advanced search, real-time alerts), a Shodan membership is required (~$59/year for hobbyist tier). InternetDB exposes the static-snapshot subset.

What InternetDB returns

For a queried IP:

{
  "ip": "1.2.3.4",
  "hostnames": ["example.com"],
  "ports": [22, 80, 443],
  "vulns": ["CVE-2021-44228"],
  "tags": ["cdn", "cloud"]
}

Common pitfalls

• Snapshot, not real-time. InternetDB data may be days or weeks stale. The IP may have closed those ports since the last scan. For "current state," you need live scanning of your own assets.

• Vulnerability flags are heuristic. Shodan flags vulns based on service banner matching — nginx 1.18.0 → CVE-2021-23017. The actual instance may be patched (banners often retain old version strings post-patch). Never act on vulns alone — confirm with direct verification.

• CDN / proxy IPs. Cloudflare, Akamai, AWS CloudFront IPs surface massive port footprints because they front many sites. The data isn't about a specific website — it's about the proxy infrastructure.

• Tor exit nodes. Tagged tor in InternetDB. Reputation systems sometimes blacklist them; legitimate users (privacy-conscious) come through too.

• Coverage gaps. Not every IP is scanned. Behind-NAT, IPv6, and dynamically-assigned IPs may have no Shodan record.

• Don't use for attack. Shodan data is for defensive reconnaissance and research. Using it to identify and attack vulnerable systems you don't own is illegal and against Shodan's TOS.

Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shodan-internetdb": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/shodan-internetdb/mcp"
    }
  }
}

What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/shodan-internetdb/mcp returns the tools in the table above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth, connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1857+ data sources. The only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx reaches all of them from either one.

No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/shodan_internetdb_lookup_ip \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"ip":"8.8.8.8"}'

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/shodan_internetdb_lookup_ip. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.

Run it from npm

@pipeworx/mcp-shodan-internetdb is a local stdio bridge to the Pipeworx gateway: your MCP client starts it with npx, and it forwards every call to the same https://gateway.pipeworx.io/shodan-internetdb/mcp endpoint shown above. It needs network access; there is no offline mode.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shodan-internetdb": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-shodan-internetdb"]
    }
  }
}

Without a key it calls anonymously, capped at 50 calls a day. A free account raises that to 200 a day: get a key at https://pipeworx.io/signup and add "env": { "PIPEWORX_API_KEY": "<your key>" } to the server entry. The key is sent as a Bearer token, the same way a hosted connection sends it, so calls are metered and billed exactly as they are there.

It lists only this pack's tools by default. Set PIPEWORX_META_TOOLS=1 to also list ask_pipeworx and the other gateway-wide tools.

Behind an HTTPS proxy: Node's built-in fetch does not read HTTPS_PROXY by default. Newer Node releases honour it when NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 is set; check your Node version's documentation.

Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Shodan Internetdb data" })

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

More

• Docs and guides

• pipeworx.io

License

MIT