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Censys

Censys

Remote
pipeworx.ioSecurity0Updated 5d ago

About Censys

Censys gives security analysts an MCP interface to internet-scan and certificate-transparency data. It retrieves details for an IP, searches hosts with CenQL, and finds certificates by domain, SAN, or fingerprint.

Key features

  1. 01Inspect services and software on an IP
  2. 02Search internet-facing hosts with CenQL
  3. 03Find certificates by domain, SAN, or fingerprint
  4. 04Return host location and autonomous system
  5. 05Run through the gateway or local stdio

Use cases

  1. 01Review ports and software exposed by an IP
  2. 02Find hosts in a specified country or ASN
  3. 03Investigate certificates associated with a domain

MCP support

It exposes MCP tools for host details, CenQL host search, and certificate search; calls require a Censys API key. It can connect through the Pipeworx gateway or run as a local stdio MCP server.

Configuration

Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.

Endpointhttps://gateway.pipeworx.io/censys/mcp
Copy install command
Claude CodeTerminal
Cursor.cursor/mcp.json
VS Code.vscode/mcp.json
Claude Desktopclaude_desktop_config.json
Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

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.

Tools

Details

From the project README

mcp-censys

Censys MCP — internet-scan search over the Censys Platform API (censys.com)

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1875+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.

Tools

ToolDescription
censys_hostWhat services, ports, and software are on IP — returns Censys internet-scan detail for a single host: open services (port/protocol/transport), software, location, and autonomous system. Example: censys_host({ ip: "8.8.8.8", _apiKey: "your-censys-token" })
censys_host_searchSearch Censys hosts for — finds internet-facing hosts matching a Censys query (CenQL), e.g. software, port, product, or ASN. Returns ip, matched services (port/service/transport), location, and autonomous system per host. Example: censys_host_search({ q: "services.service_name: HTTP and location.country: Germany", per_page: 25, _apiKey: "your-censys-token" })
censys_cert_searchSearch certificates for — searches Censys's certificate-transparency dataset by domain, SAN, or SHA-256 fingerprint. Returns fingerprint, names (SANs), issuer, and validity window per certificate. Example: censys_cert_search({ q: "names: example.com", per_page: 25, _apiKey: "your-censys-token" })

Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "censys": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/censys/mcp"
    }
  }
}
What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/censys/mcp returns the tools in the table above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth, connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1875+ data sources. The only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx reaches all of them from either one.

No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

This pack takes your own API key (_apiKey) — we don't front one for it, so there's no curl here that would run without it. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/censys_host. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.

Standalone (no gateway account)

This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "censys": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-censys"]
    }
  }
}

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-censys

It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.

Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Censys data" })

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

More

License

MIT

Comments

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