The Model Context Protocol (MCP) Registry is an official service for publishing and discovering MCP servers, providing a centralized namespace system with integrated authentication and domain verification. It functions as both a registry for server discovery and a publishing tool that enforces ownership proof through domain-based organization.
The registry distinguishes itself through a CLI-driven publishing pipeline that bundles server metadata, validates authentication, and submits to the registry API. It implements DNS-based domain verification, requiring a TXT record or HTTP challenge file to link namespaces to controlled domains, preventing name collisions. Authentication is handled through GitHub OAuth for user login and GitHub OIDC for automated CI/CD workflows, enabling serverless publishing from GitHub Actions without stored secrets.
The system manages authenticated sessions using short-lived access tokens obtained from OAuth or OIDC flows, stored locally for CLI use. It supports automated CI/CD pipeline authentication, allowing MCP servers to be published directly from GitHub Actions workflows in automated deployment pipelines.
