gopher mcp

An MCP server that speaks the Gopher protocol, the pre HTTP internet, still running since 1991.

Gopher is a text menu protocol: you open a menu, it lists typed items (directories, text files, search services), and you navigate deeper. This server is a raw TCP Gopher client (port 70), no HTTP, no scraping.

Why it's original

Nobody else has a Gopher client as an MCP tool. The AI can now surf gopherspace, Floodgap, SDF, Veronica search, and read documents that predate the web.

Tools

| Tool | What it does | |---|---| | open_menu | Open a gopher menu and list its items (dirs, text, search, binaries) | | read_textfile | Read a plain text file (gopher type 0) | | search_veronica | Run a Veronica-2 search across gopherspace |

Usage

npm run build && node dist/index.js

Example flow:

open_menu { host: "gopher.floodgap.com", selector: "/" }
search_veronica { host: "gopher.floodgap.com", query: "retro games" }
read_textfile { host: "gopher.floodgap.com", selector: "/0/floodgap/new" }

Default host is gopher.floodgap.com (Floodgap Systems, serving gopher since 1999, blocklist updated April 2026, ~81,000 Veronica matches indexed). All keyless, no auth.

Quick start

npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js

The server uses stdio, so it can be connected to Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, MCP Inspector, or another compatible MCP client.

Tools at a glance

• open_menu: Open a Gopher menu (directory) and list its items. The default
• read_textfile: Read a plain-text file from gopherspace (gopher type 0). Useful for
• search_veronica: Run a Gopher search (type 7) - e.g. a Veronica-2 search on

Limits and privacy

This project is intentionally narrow. It should be treated as a practical helper, not a complete certification or security audit. Check the implementation and the returned data before using it with sensitive material. No credentials are required unless the project explicitly says otherwise.

Try it

After building, connect the server through your MCP client. The repository root also contains smoke-test.mjs for projects covered by the shared harness. A typical tool call starts with open_menu.

Premium tools

These tools need a license key:

• menu_inventory
• menu_search

Buy a key at https://mcp-marketplace.io/server/io-github-mrfentmen-gopher-mcp and set it in your MCP client config:

"env": { "MCP_LICENSE_KEY": "mcp_live_..." }

The key is checked against MCP Marketplace, cached for 24 hours, and keeps working offline once one check has succeeded. Every other tool on this server stays free.