Probing all 17,070 remote servers in the official MCP Registry: 56% answer with no API key
Pristine_Baby_1334 · reddit · 2026-10-16
The author pulled 28,933 remote endpoints from the official MCP Registry, filtered temporary tunnels and capped 5 URLs per host, leaving 17,070, then sent exactly two credential-free requests (initialize, tools/list) to each:
- 9,620 (56%) returned a tool list with no key or login
- 5,166 (30%) required auth (mostly OAuth)
- 2,284 (13%) failed: errors, 404s, 5xx, timeouts
Surprise: many "open" servers are the same template on hundreds of subdomains — 194 share an identical tool set, one description appears 42 times. After dedup, 7,690 remain; median 6 tools, max 627.
Also released: 300 curated no-signup servers by topic (free CSV/JSON), a web-based MCP server tester showing handshake results, tools, parameter description coverage and curl commands, plus analysis of 62 servers returning 402 Payment Required. Caveat: "open" means no signup, not good or free forever — check permissions before connecting, especially for write/spend capable servers.
Related event: Probe of Official MCP Registry Finds 56% of Remote Servers Need No Key(2 posts)→
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