About three.ws Brain
three.ws Brain is an MCP server that gives AI assistants access to the three.ws multi-provider LLM router. It lists available models and runs chat completions through one interface, without wiring each vendor SDK separately. If the chosen model is briefly down, the router falls back to mirror or free-tier routes.
Key features
- 01List reachable LLMs with tier and availability status
- 02Run multi-turn chat completions through one interface
- 03Automatic fallback across mirrors and free tiers
- 04Open-weight free models usable without a key
- 05Paid models unlocked with a THREE_WS_API_KEY
Use cases
- 01Comparing answers from different LLMs to the same question
- 02Calling several models without integrating each vendor SDK
- 03Getting a reply when the preferred model is temporarily unavailable
MCP support
The server exposes two read-only MCP tools, one to list available models and one to run chat completions. Clients do not need to connect to each model provider directly.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
npx -y @three-ws/brain-mcpTHREE_WS_BASEBase URL of the three.ws API that fronts the LLM router (/api/brain/chat). Override only when self-hosting or targeting a preview deployment.THREE_WS_API_KEYSecretOptional three.ws API key (sk_live_… / sk_test_…) or OAuth access token, sent as a Bearer token. Required only to use paid first-party flagships (Claude, GPT-5, o3, Grok, Qwen Plus, DeepSeek). Free open-weight tiers (GPT-OSS 120B, NVIDIA NIM models) work with no key. Create one at https://three.ws/dashboard/developers.THREE_WS_TIMEOUT_MSPer-request timeout in milliseconds. Chat completions stream server-side and are collapsed into a single reply, so this is generous by default to ride out a long flagship answer.Local servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.
Tools
2Saved tool list · updated 2w ago
This tool takes no parameters.
Details
From the project README@three-ws/brain-mcp
Any model, one interface — discover LLM providers and run chat completions through the three.ws multi-provider router, from any AI agent.
A Model Context Protocol server that gives any AI assistant the three.ws multi-provider LLM router over stdio. Discover which models are available — Claude, the GPT-5.6 family, o3, Grok, Qwen, DeepSeek, NVIDIA Nemotron, IBM Granite, and more — and run a chat completion through whichever one fits, without wiring each vendor SDK yourself.
The router fronts every provider behind one endpoint and transparently falls back across mirrors and free tiers if the chosen model is briefly down. The free open-weight tiers (GPT-OSS 120B, NVIDIA NIM models) work with no key; the paid first-party flagships unlock with a three.ws API key.
Install
npm install @three-ws/brain-mcp
Or run with npx (no install):
npx @three-ws/brain-mcp
Quick start
Claude Code, one line:
claude mcp add brain -- npx -y @three-ws/brain-mcp
To unlock the paid flagships, pass your three.ws API key:
claude mcp add brain -e THREE_WS_API_KEY=sk_live_… -- npx -y @three-ws/brain-mcp
Claude Desktop / Cursor (claude_desktop_config.json or mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"brain": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@three-ws/brain-mcp"],
"env": { "THREE_WS_API_KEY": "sk_live_…" }
}
}
}
Inspect the surface with the MCP Inspector:
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx @three-ws/brain-mcp
Tools
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
list_providers | read-only | List every LLM the router can reach — key, network, tier, max output, live availability, and whether it needs auth. |
chat | read-only | Run a chat completion through the chosen provider; returns the full reply, the route taken, token usage, and timing. |
Both tools read live data — the provider set and completions vary between calls, so neither is idempotent. chat does not mutate any platform state, so it is annotated read-only.
Input parameters
list_providers — no parameters.
chat — messages (required: 1–100 turns of { role: "user" | "assistant", content }, content ≤ 16,000 chars), provider (provider key from list_providers, default gpt-oss-120b), system (optional system prompt, ≤ 8,000 chars), maxTokens (optional, 64–16384, default 4096, clamped to the model's ceiling).
Example
Both responses below are shape illustrations — the live provider set and generations will differ.
// list_providers (example response)
> {}
{
"ok": true,
"count": 34,
"available": 33,
"default_provider": "gpt-oss-120b",
"providers": [
{ "key": "gpt-oss-120b", "label": "GPT-OSS 120B", "network": "OpenAI · OpenRouter", "tier": "balanced", "maxOutput": 8192, "description": "Open-weight 120B from OpenAI. Fast, capable, free tier. Platform default.", "available": true, "requiresAuth": false },
{ "key": "claude-sonnet-5", "label": "Claude Sonnet 5", "network": "Anthropic", "tier": "balanced", "maxOutput": 16384, "description": "Near-Opus quality on coding and agentic work at Sonnet cost. Best for most tasks.", "available": true, "requiresAuth": true },
{ "key": "deepseek-r1", "label": "DeepSeek R1", "network": "DeepSeek", "tier": "reasoning", "maxOutput": 8192, "description": "Open reasoning model. Strong at math and code.", "available": true, "requiresAuth": true }
/* … */
]
}
// chat (example response)
> {
"provider": "claude-sonnet-5",
"system": "You are terse.",
"messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Name three Solana RPC methods." }]
}
{
"ok": true,
"provider": "claude-sonnet-5",
"model": "Claude Sonnet 5",
"network": "Anthropic",
"tier": "balanced",
"routed_via": null,
"content": "getBalance, getAccountInfo, getSignaturesForAddress.",
"usage": { "input_tokens": 24, "output_tokens": 14, "total_tokens": 38 },
"timing_ms": { "first_token": 412, "total": 980 }
}
routed_via is null when the requested provider answered directly; otherwise it names the mirror or free-tier route the router fell back to (so you always get an answer even if the first choice is briefly down).
Model availability is dynamic. Always call
list_providersfirst rather than hardcoding a key. The current Claude ids areclaude-fable-5,claude-opus-5,claude-sonnet-5,claude-opus-4-7,claude-sonnet-4-6, andclaude-haiku-4-5, but the live list is the source of truth.
Authentication
| Model class | Needs a key? |
|---|---|
| Free open-weight tiers (GPT-OSS 120B, and the NVIDIA NIM set: Nemotron 3 Super / Nemotron Super 49B / Nemotron Nano / DeepSeek V4 / Kimi K2 / Llama 4 Maverick / MiniMax M2) | No |
| Paid first-party flagships (Claude, GPT-5.6, o3, Qwen Plus, DeepSeek, …) | Yes — set THREE_WS_API_KEY |
Create an API key at three.ws/dashboard/developers. Without it, paid models return a sign-in error and list_providers flags them with requiresAuth: true.
Requirements
- Node.js >= 20.
- Network access to
https://three.ws(or your ownTHREE_WS_BASE).
Environment variables
| Variable | Required | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
THREE_WS_BASE | no | https://three.ws | API base URL (override to self-host or target a preview). |
THREE_WS_API_KEY | no | — | Bearer credential that unlocks the paid first-party flagships. |
THREE_WS_TIMEOUT_MS | no | 120000 | Per-request timeout (completions stream server-side). |
Errors
A failed tool call returns an MCP error result (isError: true) whose text is a single JSON object — { "ok": false, "error": "<code>", "message": "…" }, plus status and detail on upstream rejections:
error | Meaning | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
upstream_error | The router rejected the request — status carries the real HTTP code: 400 (bad arguments or an unknown provider key), 401 (paid model without a valid THREE_WS_API_KEY), 429 (rate-limited), 502 (the model's stream failed before producing output). | Act on status; for 401 set a key, for an unknown key re-run list_providers. |
timeout | No complete response within THREE_WS_TIMEOUT_MS. Long flagship generations can be slow — the default 120 s matches the router's own ceiling. | Retry, lower maxTokens, or pick a fast-tier provider. |
network_error | The request never reached the router (DNS, offline, TLS). | Check connectivity / THREE_WS_BASE. |
bad_config | THREE_WS_TIMEOUT_MS is not a positive number (thrown at startup). | Fix the env var. |
If the requested provider fails mid-flight the router transparently falls back to a mirror or free tier and the reply's routed_via names the route taken — you only see an error when every route is exhausted.
Links
- Homepage: https://three.ws
- Changelog: https://three.ws/changelog
- Issues: https://github.com/nirholas/three.ws/issues
- License: Apache-2.0, see LICENSE
Part of the three.ws SDK suite — 3D AI agents, on-chain identity, and agent payments.
Website · Changelog · GitHub
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.