generated: '2026-08-31'
method: probed
source: https://api.reefapi.com/mcp (JSON-RPC initialize + tools/list, 2026-08-31) + https://reefapi.com/mcp + https://github.com/reefapi/reefapi-mcp
name: ReefAPI MCP Server
slug: reefapi
status: live
deployment:
  mode: both
  endpoint: https://api.reefapi.com/mcp
  install: "git clone https://github.com/reefapi/reefapi-mcp && pip install -r requirements.txt && python server.py"
  package: https://github.com/reefapi/reefapi-mcp
  auth: api-key
  verified: probed
transport: streamable-http
protocol_version: '2025-06-18'
server_info:
  name: reefapi
  version: 1.27.2
registry:
  name: Official MCP Registry
  id: io.github.reefapi/reefapi-mcp
  url: https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=reefapi
  status: active
  published: '2026-06-23'
  manifest: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/reefapi/reefapi-mcp/main/server.json
authentication:
  scheme: http-bearer
  header: 'Authorization: Bearer <ReefAPI key>'
  key_prefix: ak_live_
  anonymous_discovery: true
  note: >-
    PROBED 2026-08-31. `initialize`, `tools/list`, `prompts/list` and `resources/list`
    all answer 200 with NO Authorization header — the full tool manifest with input
    schemas is anonymously introspectable. Only `call_engine` spends credits and
    requires a key. This is unusual and materially agent-friendly: an agent can
    discover the entire 183-engine surface before a key exists.
probe_notes:
- "A plain GET on /mcp returns 406 — it is JSON-RPC over POST only."
- "POST without a session returns -32600 'Bad Request: Missing session ID'; the server issues an mcp-session-id header on initialize and requires it on subsequent calls."
- "Accept header must be 'application/json, text/event-stream'; responses come back as SSE event: message frames."
capabilities:
  tools:
    listChanged: false
  prompts:
    listChanged: false
    count: 0
  resources:
    subscribe: false
    listChanged: false
    count: 0
tool_count: 5
tools:
- name: search_engines
  keyless: true
  inputs: [query]
  required: []
  description: Rank the engine catalog against English keywords or a short natural-language use-case and return the best-matching engines with their actions.
- name: get_catalog
  keyless: true
  inputs: []
  required: []
  description: The full ReefAPI catalog — every engine with a one-line title, grouped by category.
- name: get_engine_schema
  keyless: true
  inputs: [engine]
  required: [engine]
  description: Compact overview of one engine — every action with description, required params and return shape.
- name: get_action_schema
  keyless: true
  inputs: [engine, action]
  required: [engine, action]
  description: Full input contract for one engine action — every parameter (type, required, description, allowed_values, default, example, min/max), what it returns, pricing, and ready-to-run example_params.
- name: call_engine
  keyless: false
  inputs: [engine, action, params]
  required: [engine, action]
  description: Execute POST /<engine>/v1/<action> with `params`; returns the uniform { ok, data, meta, error } envelope. The only credit-spending tool.
design_note: >-
  Deliberate discovery-first architecture: five generic tools instead of one tool per
  API, because emitting 1,528 tools would blow past the ~30-50-tool ceiling where
  agents stop selecting correctly. The provider states this explicitly in the repo
  README. The raw tool manifest as returned by the live server is saved verbatim at
  mcp/reefapi-mcp-tools.json.
clients_documented:
- Claude Desktop
- Claude Code
- Cursor
- Windsurf
- ChatGPT connectors
raw_manifest: mcp/reefapi-mcp-tools.json