theHarvester MCP

theHarvester MCP Server: OSINT email and subdomain discovery for AI agents

theHarvester MCP Server wraps theHarvester in a Model Context Protocol server so Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP client can harvest public emails, subdomains, hostnames, IPs, and LinkedIn profiles for a domain on demand. Multi-arch Docker image, stdio transport, no API keys for the default free sources.

It is built for lead generation and prospecting: ask your agent "find public contacts for example.com" and it calls the harvest tool, which fans out to sources like crtsh, hackertarget, urlscan, and DuckDuckGo, then returns structured JSON. Harvests run asynchronously with configurable concurrency and timeouts, and results stay retrievable by harvest ID.

Quick start

docker pull devkind/theharvester-mcp

Add to .mcp.json (Claude Code) or your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "theharvester": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "devkind/theharvester-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Then ask your agent: "Harvest example.com using free sources."

Install in your client

Requirements:

• Docker
• Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, or any other MCP client
• No API keys for the default free sources

Standard config works in most MCP clients:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "theharvester": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "devkind/theharvester-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

claude mcp add theharvester -- docker run --rm -i devkind/theharvester-mcp

code --add-mcp '{"name":"theharvester","command":"docker","args":["run","--rm","-i","devkind/theharvester-mcp"]}'

Tools

Seven sources work with no API key: crtsh, hackertarget, dnsdumpster, rapiddns, urlscan, otx, and duckduckgo. Sources like shodan, censys, and virustotal need keys configured in the theHarvester install.

Example call and output

Tool call: harvest with {"domain": "example.com", "sources": "free"}

{
  "harvest_id": "a1b2c3d4",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "status": "completed",
  "duration_seconds": 42.5,
  "sources_used": ["crtsh", "hackertarget", "urlscan"],
  "summary": {"emails": 3, "hosts": 27, "ips": 12, "linkedin": 2},
  "emails": ["[email protected]", "[email protected]", "[email protected]"],
  "hosts": ["www.example.com", "api.example.com", "mail.example.com"]
}

Output is illustrative; real counts depend on the target domain and source availability. The harvest tool accepts domain (required), sources (free, all, or a comma-separated list), limit, and timeout; invalid domains are rejected before any network call.

Configuration

Environment variables: THEHARVESTER_TIMEOUT (default 120s), THEHARVESTER_MAX_CONCURRENT (default 2), THEHARVESTER_OUTPUT_DIR (default /app/output).

Responsible use

theHarvester collects only publicly published information, but OSINT tooling attracts scrutiny. Use this server only on domains you own or have written permission to research, and for lawful purposes such as security assessment, asset inventory, and business prospecting against public business contact data. Respect each source's terms of service and applicable privacy and anti-spam law (GDPR, CAN-SPAM, PECA) when acting on harvested contacts. The maintainers are not responsible for misuse.

Roadmap

• Official MCP Registry listing (io.github.devkindhq/theharvester-mcp)
• Docker MCP Registry, Smithery and Glama listings
• Pinned theHarvester version releases alongside latest (devkind/theharvester-mcp:<version> is built with theHarvester 4.11.1, latest tracks the newest release)
• CI workflow building and pushing the multi-arch image on tag (untested until the first tag)

License and contributing

MIT © Devkind. Issues and PRs welcome, see CONTRIBUTING.md and SECURITY.md.

Built by Devkind. Maintained by Kazim Ali.

Need OSINT and lead generation built into your stack?

Devkind builds custom MCP servers, AI agent workflows and commerce integrations. If you want this kind of harvesting wired into your CRM, enrichment or outreach tooling, talk to Devkind or email [email protected].