About lazaretto
lazaretto is an MCP server for checking packages, agent skills and MCP tools before installation or connection. It combines free advisory and hash lookups with paid behavioral scans that return evidence, while the server itself forwards HTTPS requests to the Lazaretto API.
Key features
- 01Lockfile checks against package advisories
- 02Known-bad artifact hash lookup
- 03Signed attestation lookup and verification
- 04Behavioral scans with evidence
- 05MCP tool and server analysis
Use cases
- 01Check project dependencies before installation
- 02Verify an artifact verdict from another source
- 03Inspect an MCP server before connecting
- 04Review MCP tool definitions supplied by a client
MCP support
Exposes Lazaretto checks and scans to MCP clients through a hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint or an optional local stdio server. Tools can check lockfiles and artifacts, verify attestations, and analyze MCP servers or tool definitions.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://lazaretto.dev/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http jamesdfinance-dev-lazaretto https://lazaretto.dev/mcp{"mcpServers":{"jamesdfinance-dev-lazaretto":{"type":"http","url":"https://lazaretto.dev/mcp"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"jamesdfinance-dev-lazaretto":{"type":"http","url":"https://lazaretto.dev/mcp"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"jamesdfinance-dev-lazaretto":{"type":"http","url":"https://lazaretto.dev/mcp"}}}{"mcpServers":{"jamesdfinance-dev-lazaretto":{"serverUrl":"https://lazaretto.dev/mcp"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
https://lazaretto.dev/mcpAuth requiredTools
9| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| sha256 | string | Yes | 64 hex chars, optionally sha256: prefixed |
Details
From the project READMElazaretto-mcp
Know what a package does before you install it.
An MCP server for Lazaretto: deterministic pre-install verification for npm packages, AI agent skills and MCP tools. The free lockfile check matches every exactly pinned dependency against OSV and OpenSSF malicious-package advisories with no account. A paid scan adds behavioral analysis with file-and-line evidence.
This package is a thin front end for the Lazaretto API. It ships no detection logic and does nothing but make HTTPS requests, so it is easy to audit.
Try it in one line, nothing installed
Check every exactly pinned dependency in your project against published malicious-package advisories. No account, no key, no install:
curl -s https://lazaretto.dev/check --data-binary @package-lock.json
Works with package-lock.json, npm-shrinkwrap.json, yarn.lock or
pnpm-lock.yaml. We keep no copy of your lockfile.
Tools
check_lockfile (free, no API key)
Checks every exactly-pinned dependency in your lockfile against published
malicious-package advisories. Reads package-lock.json, yarn.lock, or
pnpm-lock.yaml from the working directory, so the agent never has to paste a
lockfile through its context. One call covers the whole tree.
An empty malicious list is an all-clear only when unverified is also empty.
known_bad_lookup: free, no key. Is a sha256 content hash a known-bad artifact? Exact-hash match against an indicator store refreshed daily.find_attestation: free, no key. Has anyone already attested this artifact? Give a package identity like[email protected], an MCP server URL, or a sha256 content hash, and get the signed verdict if one exists, with its age, whether it was made under an older rules version, andcontradictedif the subject is now known-bad. A miss means no attestation is on record for this subject. It is not a verdict either way.verify_attestation: free, no key. A scan verdict ships with a signed attestation (compact JWS). Hand this tool one that another agent, a README, or a lockfile gave you: it confirms the signature is Lazaretto's, returns the attested claims, and flagscontradictedif a once-clearsubject is now known-bad, so a verdict can be trusted without re-scanning or re-paying. Still confirm the artifact you will run matchesclaims.sub.scan_artifact: fetches a target (npm or PyPI package, GitHub repo, ClawHub skill, raw URL, or inline text) without running it and returns a deterministic verdict (malicious,flagged,clear,error) with evidence. A full scan needs prepaid credits: theX-API-Keyheader on the hosted server, orLAZARETTO_API_KEYfor the stdio package. Buy them at https://lazaretto.dev/buy.scan_lockfile_deep: paid, one credit per package that returns a verdict. The behavioral counterpart tocheck_lockfile: reads the code of every exactly pinned dependency, up to 25 per call, instead of only matching names and versions. Trustcomplete_coverage:falsemeans something was capped, errored or only partly read, so the run is not a clean bill of health for the tree. Calling again with the same lockfile rescans, and bills again, the same first packages. The result lists every package it left innot_scanned.packages, asname@versionstrings. To continue a run, pass those aspackagesinstead of the lockfile:- Hosted server (
https://lazaretto.dev/mcp): passnot_scanned.packagesback aspackages, the whole list. It scans the first 25 and lists the rest innot_scanned.packagesagain. - stdio package:
packagestakes up to 25 per call, so work throughnot_scanned.packages25 at a time. The tool addsnext_callto the result, andnext_call.packagesholds the first 25 of that list.
- Hosted server (
check_mcp_tools: paid. For a server that runs over stdio, which is most of them, nothing can connect to it from outside, so there is no endpoint to check. Your client already read its tool list at startup though: paste that JSON and we analyze the same text with the same rules, contacting no server at all.scan_mcp_server: paid. Point it at an MCP endpoint before you connect to it. It asks the server to introduce itself and list its tools, then analyzes the text that server hands an agent: tool names, descriptions, parameter schemas, and its instructions. That text is documentation a model obeys, so it is an instruction channel the server controls. Catches tool poisoning (hidden directives to read~/.ssh/id_rsaor an agent config file), parameters whose purpose is to carry secrets or your conversation out, and standing orders about another server's tools. Evidence names the exact tool. It calls onlyinitializeandtools/list, never the server's own tools.
Reports are signals with evidence, not a warranty. clear means no known-bad
match and no rule fired. It is not a statement about risk.
Use it (hosted, zero install)
The server is hosted at https://lazaretto.dev/mcp. Add it to any MCP client
that supports remote (Streamable HTTP) servers. Nothing to install, no local
process.
{
"mcpServers": {
"lazaretto": {
"url": "https://lazaretto.dev/mcp",
"headers": {
"X-API-Key": "your-prepaid-key (optional; the free tools need no key)"
}
}
}
}
check_lockfile, known_bad_lookup, find_attestation and
verify_attestation work with no key. scan_artifact, scan_lockfile_deep,
scan_mcp_server and check_mcp_tools need credits: buy a pack at
https://lazaretto.dev/buy (an agent with a wallet can also buy credits itself
over x402 at POST https://lazaretto.dev/v1/credits/topup).
Self-host the stdio server (optional)
If you would rather run it locally over stdio instead of the hosted URL, the
npm package is lazaretto-mcp:
{
"mcpServers": {
"lazaretto": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "lazaretto-mcp"],
"env": {
"LAZARETTO_API_KEY": "your-prepaid-key (optional; the free tools need no key)"
}
}
}
}
Or from a clone:
git clone https://github.com/jamesdfinance-dev/lazaretto-mcp
cd lazaretto-mcp && npm ci
read -rs LAZARETTO_API_KEY && export LAZARETTO_API_KEY
node index.mjs
The stdio package pays only with prepaid credits on LAZARETTO_API_KEY. It
has no x402 client of its own, so a paywall result carries no x402 payment
challenge: per-call x402 payment must be made by the agent's own HTTP client
against https://lazaretto.dev/v1/scan, not through this package.
LAZARETTO_BASE_URL overrides the API host (default https://lazaretto.dev).
License
MIT. The Lazaretto service and its detection engine are separate and proprietary.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.