Give AI Agents Domain and Network Intelligence with MCP

The Model Context Protocol lets AI assistants call external tools through one standard interface — the client discovers the tools on its own, no hand-written HTTP client needed. The server speaks Streamable HTTP: every request is a POST of a JSON-RPC 2.0 message to https://api.ops.tools/mcp with Accept: application/json, text/event-stream, and every request authenticates with your API key in the x-api-key header. MCP clients send that header for you — only add it when calling the endpoint by hand.

Connect Your Client

One URL and one header work everywhere: https://api.ops.tools/mcp with your API key in x-api-key. Pick the card that matches your client, copy the block, and replace YOUR_API_KEY.

claude mcp add --transport http ops-tools https://api.ops.tools/mcp --header "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

https://api.ops.tools/mcp

codex mcp add ops-tools --url https://api.ops.tools/mcp

# ~/.codex/config.toml — shared by the Codex CLI, IDE extension, and desktop app
[mcp_servers.ops-tools]
url = "https://api.ops.tools/mcp"
env_http_headers = { "x-api-key" = "OPS_TOOLS_API_KEY" }

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ops-tools": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.ops.tools/mcp",
      "headers": { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Create an API Key

Raw JSON-RPC Walkthrough

Every session starts with initialize. The result carries the server capabilities and agent instructions — including the auth and billing contract your agent should respect:

curl -X POST 'https://api.ops.tools/mcp' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -H 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "initialize",
    "params": {
      "protocolVersion": "2025-06-18",
      "capabilities": {},
      "clientInfo": { "name": "curl", "version": "1.0" }
    }
  }'

The initialize result announces the server and embeds those instructions for the agent:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "protocolVersion": "2025-06-18",
    "capabilities": { "tools": { "listChanged": false } },
    "serverInfo": { "name": "ops-tools", "version": "1.0.0" },
    "instructions": "Authenticate with the x-api-key header. Each tool call costs 1 credit except account_whoami and account_usage, which are free. HTTP 402 means the account is out of credits. Only scan assets you are authorized to test."
  }
}

Then call a tool. Tool calls use the tools/call method — ask for ops_ssl_check against example.com and the tool returns the certificate window: issuer, validity dates, and daysRemaining until expiry:

curl -X POST 'https://api.ops.tools/mcp' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -H 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 3,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "ops_ssl_check",
      "arguments": { "domain": "example.com" }
    }
  }'

The server responds with the tool result as a JSON payload inside the MCP content block:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "result": {
    "content": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "{\"domain\":\"example.com\",\"port\":443,\"certificate\":{\"subject\":\"CN=example.com\",\"issuer\":\"C=US, O=Let's Encrypt, CN=E5\",\"validFrom\":\"2026-08-30\",\"validTo\":\"2026-11-28\",\"daysRemaining\":18,\"isValid\":true,\"isExpired\":false,\"isSelfSigned\":false},\"chain\":{\"chainLength\":2,\"isValidChain\":true},\"protocols\":[\"TLSv1.3\"],\"cipherSuite\":\"TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384\"}"
      }
    ]
  }
}

The other tools follow the same pattern: ops_dns_lookup for records, ops_whois for registration data, and ops_http_analyze for security headers and grades. Records drive DNS management automation checks; registration data powers lead generation use cases and ownership research.

Tool Reference

Billing & Errors

Each tool call costs 1 credit, with two exceptions: account_whoami and account_usage are free, so point agents at account_whoami first to check creditAvailable/creditUsed and at account_usage to review daily usage before a long run. Usage lands in the same account usage logs as REST calls, and the initialize result carries agent instructions that spell out auth and billing, so well-behaved clients learn the rules on connect.

Discovery Surfaces

• https://ops.tools/llms.txt — A crawl-friendly summary of the product, the MCP endpoint, tools, and billing for LLM clients.
• https://ops.tools/.well-known/mcp-server-card — Machine-readable MCP server metadata other clients read to learn what this server offers.
• /open-api — The interactive API reference includes an MCP panel with one-click server connection.

Frequently Asked Questions