Shodan InternetDB — IP Hostname & Service Intelligence

Shodan's free InternetDB API. Lookup any IP and get its open ports, detected services, hostnames, vulnerabilities, and tags (CDN, cloud, ICS, etc.). The data behind "what's actually running on this IP?" — derived from Shodan's continuous internet scanning. Free, no auth.

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1683+ live data sources.

Why this matters for AI agents

For security analysis, attack-surface reconnaissance (your own assets), or threat-hunting context, Shodan's data is canonical. InternetDB specifically is the free, lightweight subset — for full Shodan capabilities (search, historical, alerts), commercial Shodan API is needed.

Common flows:

• IP lookup. "What's running on 1.2.3.4?" → open ports, services, vulnerabilities.
• Pre-attack reconnaissance (defensive). Audit your own infrastructure as it appears externally.
• Pair with threat intel. Cross-reference with AbuseIPDB (reputation), PhishTank / URLhaus (URL threat).

Auth

None. InternetDB is free, no key, no signup. Generous rate limits.

For the full Shodan search API (historical scans, advanced search, real-time alerts), a Shodan membership is required (~$59/year for hobbyist tier). InternetDB exposes the static-snapshot subset.

What InternetDB returns

For a queried IP:

{
  "ip": "1.2.3.4",
  "hostnames": ["example.com"],
  "ports": [22, 80, 443],
  "vulns": ["CVE-2021-44228"],
  "tags": ["cdn", "cloud"]
}

| Field | Meaning | |---|---| | ports | Open ports detected by Shodan's scanners | | vulns | CVE IDs that Shodan's heuristics flag as likely vulnerable based on detected service banners | | hostnames | Reverse DNS or self-reported hostnames | | tags | Categorical tags (cdn, cloud, ics, vpn, tor, etc.) | | cpes | (in some responses) detected software fingerprints |

Common pitfalls

• Snapshot, not real-time. InternetDB data may be days or weeks stale. The IP may have closed those ports since the last scan. For "current state," you need live scanning of your own assets.
• Vulnerability flags are heuristic. Shodan flags vulns based on service banner matching — nginx 1.18.0 → CVE-2021-23017. The actual instance may be patched (banners often retain old version strings post-patch). Never act on vulns alone — confirm with direct verification.
• CDN / proxy IPs. Cloudflare, Akamai, AWS CloudFront IPs surface massive port footprints because they front many sites. The data isn't about a specific website — it's about the proxy infrastructure.
• Tor exit nodes. Tagged tor in InternetDB. Reputation systems sometimes blacklist them; legitimate users (privacy-conscious) come through too.
• Coverage gaps. Not every IP is scanned. Behind-NAT, IPv6, and dynamically-assigned IPs may have no Shodan record.
• Don't use for attack. Shodan data is for defensive reconnaissance and research. Using it to identify and attack vulnerable systems you don't own is illegal and against Shodan's TOS.

Quick Start

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

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

What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/shodan-internetdb/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 1683+ 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

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/shodan_internetdb_lookup_ip \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"ip":"8.8.8.8"}'

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/shodan_internetdb_lookup_ip. 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": {
    "shodan-internetdb": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-shodan-internetdb"]
    }
  }
}

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-shodan-internetdb

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 Shodan Internetdb data" })

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

More

• Docs and guides
• pipeworx.io

License

MIT