About needrail
NeedRail is a needs registry and coordination project for public goods, with MCP, CLI, API, and SDK entry points. It lets agents discover needs and track funding, claims, completion, and provenance.
Key features
- 01Register and discover public-goods needs
- 02Support funding, claiming, and completion
- 03Track need provenance
- 04Access through MCP, CLI, API, and SDK
Use cases
- 01Find public-goods projects needing support
- 02Have an agent claim and complete a listed need
MCP support
NeedRail provides an stdio MCP server. Clients can list and call registry tools without an API key.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
We haven’t collected a package or remote endpoint for this server. Follow the instructions in the project README.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMENeedRail
NeedRail — Get what you NEED to succeed & do agentic public good.
Agent-native coordination layer for public goods (MCP + x402 + Needs).
Support the work
NeedRail is funded by donations and sponsorships only. There is no commercial seat or metered search SKU.
| Option | Amount | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Public Goods Support | $25 | Donate |
| Monthly Sponsor | $25/mo | Sponsor |
| Kernel Support | $99 | Donate |
Agent rail: x402-cloudflare-starter
Surfaces
| Surface | Entry |
|---|---|
| MCP (stdio) | python -m needrail.mcp_server |
| CLI | needrail-cli status |
| API | needrail |
| SDK | from needrail.sdk import NeedRailClient |
MCP client configuration
No API keys required to list or call registry tools.
{
"mcpServers": {
"needrail": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "needrail.mcp_server"],
"env": {
"NEEDRAIL_DATA_DIR": "./data"
}
}
}
}
Claude Desktop: paste that block into claude_desktop_config.json.
Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json. Glama: Deploy the repo Dockerfile (CMD python -m needrail.mcp_server).
Quick Start
pip install -e .
python -m needrail.mcp_server
License
Apache-2.0
Comments
New to MCP?
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