scan_mcp_server
Scan a public GitHub MCP-server repository for security issues.
Clones the repo (shallow, <60s, <200 MB), runs compuute-scan v0.6.2 in
static analysis mode (no code execution from the target), and returns a
structured report with severity counts, a 0-100 score, and the 10 most
severe findings.
WHEN TO USE:
- Before connecting to an unknown MCP server discovered via Anthropic
Registry, Smithery, mcp.so, or a Discord recommendation.
- Before installing a third-party MCP-server package into a production
pipeline.
- As part of an agent's pre-commit / pre-deploy due-diligence step
when adding new dependencies.
- As one input to a multi-source trust evaluation (combine with
publisher reputation, package install count, last-update recency).
WHEN NOT TO USE:
- For private repos. Use the on-prem CLI instead:
`npx compuute-scan ./path-to-private-repo`
- For deep exploitability assessment of a specific code path. This is
pattern matching, not dataflow analysis. Book a manual L2-L4 audit
at https://compuute.se/audit for that depth.
- For non-GitHub hosts (GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted). v1 supports
github.com only.
- For repos > 200 MB or clone time > 60s. The endpoint returns a 413
or 504 in those cases — fall back to local CLI.
EXPECTED RESPONSE TIME:
- Median: ~1-2 seconds for small repos (<100 files).
- p99: ~10 seconds for medium repos.
- Hard timeout at clone=60s, scan=120s combined.
EXPECTED COST:
- Free tier in MVP. Future Pro tier may charge per-scan or per-month.
DATA FRESHNESS:
- Scanner version is reported in response.scanner.version.
- L1 rule set freshness reflects compuute-scan releases — see
github.com/Compuute/compuute-scan/CHANGELOG.md for the latest CVE
and threat-intel response timeline.
EXAMPLES:
Example 1 — scan an MCP server you're evaluating:
github_url = "https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers"
→ score: 0, summary: {critical: 1, high: 94, medium: 22}
→ top_findings include SSRF, eval, etc.
→ recommendation: "AVOID — 1 critical and 94 high finding(s)..."
Example 2 — scan a clean reference implementation:
github_url = "https://github.com/microsoft/azure-devops-mcp"
→ score: 90+, summary: {critical: 0, high: 1}
→ recommendation: "REVIEW — 1 high finding(s)..."
Example 3 — scan your own dev MCP-server before publishing:
github_url = "https://github.com/yourorg/your-mcp"
→ audit your own surface before others install it
OUTPUT FIELDS (stable schema):
- repo_url (str): canonical URL of the scanned repo.
- score (int): 0-100, higher safer. Coarse summary, not a precision claim.
- summary (object): {critical, high, medium, low, info, files_scanned}.
- recommendation (str): action guidance derived from severity counts.
- findings_count (int): total raw findings (may include false positives).
- top_findings (list): up to 10 most severe, each with {id, title,
severity, file, line, owasp, cwe}.
- l0_discovery (object): MCP transport, tool count, dependency pinning.
- performance (object): clone_seconds, scan_seconds, repo_size_bytes.
- scanner (object): {name, version, layers_covered}.
- _disclaimer (str): MANDATORY triage disclaimer. Read it.
Args:
github_url: Public GitHub HTTPS URL (e.g. https://github.com/org/repo).
Must be public and < 200 MB. v1 is github.com only.
Returns:
Structured scan result. On error, returns {"error": code, "message": ...}
with HTTP-style code (invalid_url, clone_failed, scan_timeout, etc.).