ARDF MCP Server

Give Claude access to 100+ APIs through semantic search

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects Claude to the ARDF marketplace - enabling semantic discovery and execution of APIs, tools, and services using natural language.

🚀 What is this?

Instead of manually finding and configuring APIs, Claude can now:

You: "Send a welcome email to new users"
Claude: *uses discover_skills("send transactional emails")*
Claude: "I found Resend Email API - it's perfect for this. Here's how to use it..."

Before ARDF MCP:

• You manually search for APIs
• You read documentation
• You write integration code
• You handle errors and fallbacks

After ARDF MCP:

• Claude searches 100+ APIs semantically
• Claude finds the right tool for your task
• Claude provides ready-to-use code snippets
• Claude suggests fallback options

✨ Features

• Semantic Search: Find APIs using natural language ("accept payments" → Stripe, PayPal, Square)
• 100+ Verified APIs: Email, SMS, payments, weather, maps, AI, and more
• Trust Scoring: APIs ranked by reliability, uptime, and community validation
• Cost Transparency: See pricing before you commit
• Smart Fallbacks: Claude suggests alternatives if primary API fails
• Zero Config: Works out of the box with Claude Desktop

📦 Installation

Option 1: NPX (Recommended)

npx ardf-mcp-server

Option 2: Global Install

npm install -g ardf-mcp-server

Option 3: Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ardf": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ardf-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Config file location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Restart Claude Desktop. Done!

🎯 Usage Examples

Example 1: Send Emails

You: I need to send password reset emails
Claude: Let me find the best email API for you...

*Claude uses discover_skills("send transactional emails")*

Claude: I found Resend Email API (trust score: 95/100)
- Pricing: Free up to 100 emails/day, then $20/month
- Authentication: API Key
- Here's a code snippet to send emails...

Example 2: Accept Payments

You: How do I accept credit card payments?
Claude: *uses discover_skills("accept credit card payments")*

Claude: I found 3 options:
1. Stripe Payment API (trust: 98/100) - $0.029 + 2.9% per transaction
2. PayPal Checkout (trust: 95/100) - 2.9% + $0.30
3. Square Payments (trust: 92/100) - 2.6% + $0.10

Which pricing model works best for you?

Example 3: Get Weather Data

You: I need weather forecast for users' locations
Claude: *uses discover_skills("weather forecast API")*

Claude: Found OpenWeatherMap API (verified)
- Free tier: 1000 calls/day
- Data: 5-day forecast, hourly updates
- Here's how to integrate it...

🛠 Available Tools

discover_skills

Search for APIs using natural language intent.

// Claude uses this internally
discover_skills({
  intent: "send transactional emails",
  limit: 5
})

// Returns top 5 most relevant APIs with:
// - Name, description, capabilities
// - Endpoint, authentication type
// - Pricing, trust score, relevance score
// - Quick start code snippets

get_skill_details

Get comprehensive info about a specific API.

get_skill_details({
  skill_id: "resend-email-api"
})

// Returns:
// - Full documentation URL
// - Authentication details
// - Pricing breakdown
// - Code examples (request/response)
// - Uptime stats, ratings, usage count

list_skills

Browse all available APIs, optionally filtered.

list_skills({
  category: "api",
  verified: true,
  limit: 20
})

// Returns paginated list of skills
// Useful for exploring what's available

🎬 Real-World Use Cases

Use Case 1: AI Agent Builder

You're building an AI agent that needs to:
- Send SMS notifications (Claude finds Twilio)
- Process payments (Claude finds Stripe)
- Generate PDFs (Claude finds PDF.co)
- Store files (Claude finds Cloudinary)

Claude discovers all APIs in seconds using ARDF MCP.

Use Case 2: No-Code Automation

You: Create a workflow that:
1. Monitors GitHub issues
2. Sends Slack notifications
3. Creates Trello cards
4. Emails the team

Claude: *discovers 4 APIs semantically*
Here's the complete integration code...

Use Case 3: Rapid Prototyping

You: I need to prototype a fintech app
Claude: *discovers payment, banking, KYC, fraud detection APIs*
Here are the top 10 financial APIs ranked by trust score...

🔐 Environment Variables

# Optional: Custom ARDF API endpoint
export ARDF_API_URL=https://your-ardf-instance.com

# Default: http://127.0.0.1:3001 (local development)

📊 Architecture

┌─────────────┐
│   Claude    │
│  Desktop    │
└──────┬──────┘
       │ MCP Protocol
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│ ARDF MCP    │
│   Server    │
└──────┬──────┘
       │ HTTP API
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│    ARDF     │
│ Marketplace │  ─────► 100+ APIs
│  (Semantic  │         (Email, SMS,
│   Search)   │          Payment, etc)
└─────────────┘

🆚 Comparison

| Feature | ARDF MCP | Manual API Search | Zapier | |---------|----------|-------------------|--------| | Semantic Search | ✅ Natural language | ❌ Manual Google | ⚠️ Keyword only | | Pricing | 🎯 Free + pay-as-you-go | ❌ Per-API pricing | 💰 $99+/month | | Setup Time | ⚡ 30 seconds | 🐌 Hours per API | ⚠️ Minutes | | Trust Scoring | ✅ Automated | ❌ Manual research | ⚠️ Limited | | Code Generation | ✅ Via Claude | ❌ Manual coding | ❌ No-code only | | Fallback Suggestions | ✅ Automatic | ❌ Manual | ❌ None | | Developer-First | ✅ API + CLI | ⚠️ Varies | ❌ GUI only |

🤝 Contributing

ARDF MCP is open-source and built with:

• MCP SDK by Anthropic
• TypeScript for type safety
• Node.js 18+ runtime

Want to add more APIs? Contributions welcome!

git clone https://github.com/MauricioPerera/ardf-sdk.git
cd ardf-mcp-server
npm install
npm run dev

📝 FAQ

Q: Is this free?

A: The MCP server is 100% free and open-source. ARDF API has a free tier (100 discoveries/month). Premium plans available for heavy usage.

Q: Does this work with Claude.ai web?

A: Currently MCP is only supported in Claude Desktop app. Web support coming from Anthropic soon.

Q: Can I add my own API to ARDF?

A: Yes! Visit ardf.dev/publish to list your API. Free tier available.

Q: What if ARDF API is down?

A: The MCP server will return clear error messages. You can also self-host ARDF API.

Q: Is my data secure?

A: ARDF MCP only sends your semantic search queries to ARDF API. No API keys or sensitive data are transmitted.

🔗 Links

• ARDF Website: ardf.dev
• API Documentation: ardf.dev/docs
• MCP Specification: modelcontextprotocol.io
• Report Issues: GitHub Issues

📜 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Built with by the ARDF team.

Give Claude superpowers. Install ARDF MCP today.

npx ardf-mcp-server

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