mothermachine

Name: mothermachine
Author: Ramp-Jet

Local

mothermachine.aiSearch0Updated 4d ago

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About mothermachine

mothermachine is a searchable directory of software that agents can adapt or operate, for coding agents and MCP clients. It supports need-, license- and interface-oriented discovery, with a CLI, agent skill and read-only MCP tools.

Key features

01Search software by need or interface
02Filter by license and vocabulary
03CLI search with Node 18 or later
04Agent skill for chat-based search
05Three read-only MCP tools

Use cases

01Find self-hostable alternatives to services
02Research existing software before building
03Locate software a coding agent can operate

MCP support

Its stdio MCP server exposes three read-only tools: search, listing and vocab. It fetches public search index and JSON files from mothermachine.ai.

Configuration

Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.

mcp.json · Universal config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ramp-jet-mothermachine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mothermachine"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Run commandnpx -y mothermachine

Local servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.

Packages

npmmothermachine1.1.1stdio

Tools

Saved tool list · updated 4d ago

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
open	boolean	No	Only open source listings by the site's rule: an open license, no source-available or Commons Clause terms, and no closed core.
limit	integer	No	How many results; default 8.
query	string	No	The need or product name, in plain words. May be empty when a filter is set.
effort	enum	No	How much work it is to make it yours.config-only \| light-edit \| fork-and-modify
operable	boolean	No	Only listings an agent can operate through an interface.
vertical	string	No	Restrict to one vertical; vocab lists the values.
adaptable	boolean	No	Only listings whose source is public with a named surface to change.
interface	enum	No	Only listings an agent drives through this interface kind. mcp also includes listings whose builder ships an MCP server beside another interface.mcp \| api \| cli \| sdk \| config \| gui
operability	string	No	How an agent drives it; vocab lists the values (native, official, wrapped, config, gui).

Details

From the project README

mothermachine skill

Search mothermachine.ai, a directory of software an agent can adapt or operate, from a coding agent or an MCP client. This repository is generated from the private source repository on every change to the skill; do not edit it here. More for agents is on the site: https://mothermachine.ai/agents.html

Try it

Ask your agent in your own words:

"Is there an open source Calendly alternative I can self-host?"
"Before I build this, what's out there for invoicing for a freelancer?"
"Find a CRM my coding agent can drive over MCP."

Each answer gives the repo, the install command, how much is yours to change, and what an agent can and can't do with it.

Run it

With Node 18 or later, nothing to install:

npx mothermachine "invoicing for a freelancer"

Install the skill

With the skills CLI, into every agent it knows about:

npx skills add Ramp-Jet/mothermachine-skill

Or straight from the site, with no CLI, into Claude Code's skills folder:

for f in SKILL.md scripts/search.mjs scripts/mcp.mjs; do curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o ~/.claude/skills/mothermachine/$f https://mothermachine.ai/skills/mothermachine/$f; done

Then /mothermachine <what you need> searches the directory from the chat.

MCP server

scripts/mcp.mjs is the same search as an MCP server over stdio, with three read-only tools: search, listing, vocab. No dependencies; Node 18 or later.

claude mcp add mothermachine -- npx -y mothermachine mcp

The official MCP Registry lists it as io.github.Ramp-Jet/mothermachine.

If you installed the skill, the server is already on disk:

claude mcp add mothermachine -- node ~/.claude/skills/mothermachine/scripts/mcp.mjs

What it fetches

The skill and the MCP server read the search index and other public JSON files from https://mothermachine.ai. The search runs on your machine, so your search words are not sent. Those requests reach the site's host like any page visit, which the privacy page covers. Neither one writes files or sends telemetry. They run only the scripts in this repository, with Node 18 or later.

If something goes wrong

mothermachine search failed: fetch failed means the site could not be reached. Check that your machine or sandbox allows network access to mothermachine.ai.
A script that will not start usually means an older Node. Run node --version; it needs Node 18 or later.
No matches? Try fewer words, or the name of the product you want to replace. --vocab lists every filter value.
MCP tools missing? Restart the client, then check that it lists the mothermachine server.

Support and security

Report a problem at https://github.com/Ramp-Jet/mothermachine-skill/issues. Send security reports privately to [email protected].

What is here

SKILL.md: the skill, read by the agent.
scripts/search.mjs: the search over the site's index/search.json, also a command line.
scripts/mcp.mjs: the MCP server over the same search.
scripts/cli.mjs and package.json: the mothermachine command on npm, which runs the two scripts above.
scripts/*.test.mjs: tests, run with node --test.
.claude-plugin/plugin.json and .mcp.json: the Claude plugin, which is this whole folder.
server.json: the listing on the MCP Registry.
.github/workflows/: release.yml publishes a new version to npm, and mcp-registry.yml lists it on the MCP Registry.
LICENSE: MIT, the same as the source repository.

Everything reads the live site, so an installed copy never goes stale on data; reinstall to pick up changes to the scripts.

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