Results, 2026-10-24
| Server endpoint | Reachable | Initialize | Server info returned | Tools | Response times |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp |
Yes | HTTP 200, protocol version 2025-03-26 | DeepWiki, version 2.14.3 | 3: ask_wiki_question, read_wiki_contents, read_wiki_structure | Initialize 15.2s, tools/list 9.7s |
https://mcp.context7.com/mcp |
Yes | HTTP 200, protocol version 2025-03-26 | Context7, version 4.4.3 | 2: resolve-library-id, query-docs | Initialize 9.4s, tools/list 6.7s |
https://huggingface.co/mcp |
Yes | HTTP 200, protocol version 2025-03-26 | huggingface.co/mcp, version 0.4.31, title Hugging Face | 4: hf_whoami, hub_repo_search, hub_repo_details, hf_fs | Initialize 8.8s, tools/list 28.5s on the extended run (see note below) |
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp |
Yes, on the extended run only | HTTP 200, protocol version 2025-03-26 | exa-search-server, version 3.5.0, title Exa | 2: web_search_exa, web_fetch_exa | Initialize 27.0s, tools/list 40.4s, both on the extended run (see note below) |
Server names, versions, and tool names above are copied from the servers' own initialize and tools/list responses. Nothing in the table is taken from a directory listing or a documentation page.
Note on the Exa row: Exa did not answer inside the 15 second main window or a 30 second second window in this session. On the extended run with a 45 second window it answered initialize in 27.0 seconds and tools/list in 40.4 seconds. Slow through this probe path, but complete and self consistent.
Note on the Hugging Face row: in the main run, capped at 15 seconds per call, its tools/list came back with an empty body at the timeout. On a confirmation run with a 45 second window, the same request returned HTTP 200 with all 4 tools in 28.5 seconds. Both facts are part of the result: the server answers, and it answers its tool list slowly enough to fail a short probe window.
How the probe works
- Step one, initialize. A JSON-RPC initialize request with protocol version 2025-03-26 and a plain client identity. A healthy public MCP server answers with its own protocol version, capabilities, and server info.
- Step two, tools/list. After the initialized notification, a tools/list request. The count and the names in the table are the tools the server itself reported.
- Short timeouts, then one extended run. Calls were capped at 15 seconds in the main run. One server (Hugging Face) missed that window on tools/list, so it was retested once with a 45 second window, and both the miss and the extended result are reported. A daily probe has to pick a window and live with it: at 15 seconds, that server reads as no tool list.
- No accounts, no keys. The probe uses only what an unauthenticated visitor can reach. Servers that require sign in before tools/list, or that answer very slowly, show up in a short-window probe as initialize answered and tool list missing, which is why the probe reports its window alongside its results.
What this does and does not prove
A completed initialize plus tools/list proves the endpoint was up, spoke MCP, and was willing to describe itself to a stranger at the time of the probe. It does not prove the tools work well, that the answers they return are right, or that the server will be up tomorrow. That is why a scoreboard like this only means anything as a repeated run: same requests, same timeouts, results published with their dates, including the runs where a server does not answer.
It also shows the limit of probing from outside. Response times varied a lot between repeat calls in this session (the same initialize call took 8.8 seconds in one run and 39.4 seconds in another), and some answers only arrived inside an extended window. A daily version of this probe is feasible for reachability, identity, and tool counts. It is not, on this evidence, a reliable way to rank public MCP servers by speed.
For the citation side of the same question, whether search and AI answers point at the work at all, see the citation scoreboard. For the record format that lets a tool call leave a checkable record behind it, see AI agent receipts: what they are and how to check one.