mcp-pulse

name	mcp-pulse
description	Weekly tracker for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) ecosystem — new server implementations, adoption velocity, npm/GitHub signals, and protocol evolution. Thesis check — is MCP becoming the default tool-call rail for agents?
schedule	0 10 * * 5
commits	true
permissions	["contents:write"]
tags	["AI","MCP","agent-infra"]

Today is ${today}. Read memory/MEMORY.md before starting.

Voice

If soul/SOUL.md and soul/STYLE.md exist and are populated, read them and match the operator's voice in the notification. Otherwise use a clear, direct, neutral tone — punchy, position-first, no fluff.

Why this skill exists

MCP (Model Context Protocol) standardizes how agents make tool calls to external services — the way HTTP standardized transport. The bet: MCP becomes the default protocol layer connecting agents to every external service, and whoever controls the server-generation tooling controls the integration layer (Anthropic authored the spec and, via its 5/18/2026 Stainless acquisition, now owns SDK/server generation tooling too). For any agent framework, this is the single most load-bearing infra track. This skill tracks whether the thesis is advancing: new server implementations, adoption velocity, notable integrations, and ecosystem health. Pair with x402-monitor (Tue) — together they cover the two infrastructure layers agents need: payments (x402) and tool-calls (MCP).

Steps

1. Load current context

Read:

• memory/MEMORY.md — overall ecosystem context and last-known MCP stats
• memory/topics/mcp-ecosystem.md — MCP-specific baseline (create with seed if missing — see end of this section)

Extract from the topic file:

• npm_last_known — last recorded @modelcontextprotocol/sdk weekly downloads
• gh_repo_count_last — last recorded count of MCP-related GitHub repos
• known_servers — list of known major MCP server implementations
• last_run — date of prior run

If memory/topics/mcp-ecosystem.md doesn't exist, create it:

# MCP Ecosystem Tracker

*Last run: never*

## Seed Context (2026-05-18)
- Stainless acquired by Anthropic ~$300M+ (The Information, 5/18/2026). Stainless team now building MCP server generation tooling inside Anthropic. Previously generated SDKs for: OpenAI, Google, Cloudflare, Meta, Runway, Groq, Cerebras, Modern Treasury, and all official Anthropic SDKs.
- MCP (Model Context Protocol): open protocol Anthropic authored. Standardizes how agents make tool calls to external services. GitHub: modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol.
- Thesis: MCP becomes the default tool-call rail for agents. Anthropic owns the generation layer → controls the integration layer.

## Known Servers
- Official: filesystem, git, github, gitlab, google-maps, google-drive, postgres, sqlite, slack, brave-search, puppeteer, fetch, memory, sentry, time, sequential-thinking, everything (test server)
- Third-party high-quality: (populate from first run)

## Key Stats
- npm @modelcontextprotocol/sdk: unknown weekly downloads
- GitHub repos with MCP topic: unknown
- modelcontextprotocol org repos: unknown count

## Signal Log
- 2026-05-18: Anthropic acquires Stainless. Stainless team pointed at MCP server generation.

2. Check the modelcontextprotocol GitHub org

Fetch the list of repos in the modelcontextprotocol org:

gh api "orgs/modelcontextprotocol/repos?sort=updated&per_page=50" \
  --jq '.[] | {name, description, stargazers_count, updated_at, topics}'

From results:

• Note any repos created or updated in the last 7 days
• Record total org repo count (compare to gh_repo_count_last if it tracked org size)
• Flag new repos not seen before — these are official server or tooling additions
• Note star counts for modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol, modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk, modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk

If gh api fails, fall back to WebFetch:

https://api.github.com/orgs/modelcontextprotocol/repos?sort=updated&per_page=50

3. Search GitHub for new MCP server repos

Search for repos with MCP-related topics or descriptions updated in the last 7 days:

gh api "search/repositories?q=mcp-server+in:topics+OR+mcp-server+in:description&sort=updated&per_page=30" \
  --jq '.items[] | select(.updated_at > "'$(date -d '7 days ago' +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ 2>/dev/null || date -v-7d +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'") | {full_name, description, stargazers_count, updated_at, topics}'

Also search:

gh api "search/repositories?q=model-context-protocol+in:topics+OR+modelcontextprotocol+in:description&sort=updated&per_page=20" \
  --jq '.items[] | {full_name, description, stargazers_count, updated_at}'

If gh api fails, fall back to WebSearch: "mcp-server" site:github.com after:<7-days-ago>

From results:

• Filter to repos updated in last 7 days
• Cross-check against known_servers — flag NEW implementations
• Note the service being wrapped (Stripe, Notion, Linear, Jira, etc.)
• Rank by stars descending

High-signal repo patterns to watch:

• Official company MCP servers (Stripe, Notion, Linear, Atlassian, etc.)
• Repos from major infrastructure players (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Servers for high-demand services (databases, payments, CRMs, dev tools)
• Repos with 50+ stars — threshold for "real usage" signal

4. Fetch npm download trend

Use WebFetch:

https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/@modelcontextprotocol/sdk

Record npm_weekly_downloads. Compute delta vs npm_last_known if available. If 403 or no data, try:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/@modelcontextprotocol/sdk

Also check the Python SDK:

https://pypistats.org/api/packages/mcp/recent?period=week

If both fail, note in the log and skip the npm delta.

5. WebSearch for MCP news this week

Run these searches:

WebSearch: "model context protocol MCP server release ${year}"
WebSearch: "MCP server anthropic stainless ${year}"
WebSearch: '"model context protocol" integration announcement ${year}'

From results:

• New official server launches (a company publishing its own MCP server)
• Protocol spec updates or new versions
• Stainless/Anthropic news on MCP server generation progress
• Developer tutorials/blog posts showing real implementations
• Enterprise adoptions (a Fortune 500 shipping an MCP server = high signal)

Flag any result from the last 7 days. Discard opinion/speculative pieces — keep launches, integrations, official announcements.

6. Synthesize momentum score

Rate ecosystem velocity this week:

Signal	Points
New MCP server from a named company (Stripe, Notion, Linear, etc.)	+3 each
New MCP server repo with 50+ stars updated this week, not in baseline	+2 each
npm @modelcontextprotocol/sdk downloads up vs last known	+3
New official modelcontextprotocol org repo	+2 each
Stainless/Anthropic MCP-related announcement	+3
Notable blog post or tutorial (real implementation, not vaporware)	+1 each
MCP mentioned in mainstream dev context (HN, major tech blog)	+1

Momentum levels:

• 0–2: quiet week
• 3–6: building
• 7–10: accelerating
• 11+: breakout

Thesis check: After reviewing all data, answer in one sentence:

Thesis check: MCP-as-default-tool-call-rail thesis [advancing / holding / stalling / reversing] — [one concrete data point].

7. Update memory/topics/mcp-ecosystem.md

Rewrite with:

• Updated *Last run: ${today}*
• Updated Known Servers list (add newly discovered)
• Updated npm_last_known with this week's count
• Updated gh_repo_count_last with current count
• Appended entry to Signal Log:

  - ${today}: [N new repos] / npm [downloads]/wk / momentum: [level] / [top signal]
  

8. Send notification

Write to .pending-notify-temp/mcp-pulse-${today}.md (create the dir if needed), then:

./notify -f .pending-notify-temp/mcp-pulse-${today}.md

Format — match the operator's voice if soul files are populated, otherwise direct and neutral:

mcp pulse — ${today}

momentum: {level} ({score} pts)

{IF new company servers}
new official servers ({count}):
- {company}: {service_described_one_line} ({stars}★)
{end}

{IF new repos}
new implementations ({count}):
- {full_name}: {description_one_line} ({stars}★)   [top 3]
{end}

{IF npm_delta known}
npm @modelcontextprotocol/sdk: {downloads}/wk ({delta:+N vs last week} or "first data point")
{end}

{IF notable news}
signals:
- {one-line summary}   [top 2]
{end}

thesis: {advancing/holding/stalling/reversing} — {one data point}

{IF quiet_week}
quiet week. ecosystem still compounding.
{end}

Keep total under 900 chars. Do NOT use ./notify "$(cat ...)" — write the file first, pass the path.

If momentum score is 0 and no new repos and no news: log MCP_PULSE_OK: quiet and skip notification.

9. Log to memory/logs/${today}.md

Append:

## MCP Pulse
- **New repos (7d):** {count}
- **New company servers:** {count} ({names if any})
- **npm @modelcontextprotocol/sdk:** {downloads}/wk (delta: {delta})
- **Momentum score:** {score} ({level})
- **Thesis:** {advancing/holding/stalling/reversing} — {data point}
- **Notification:** sent / skipped (quiet)
- MCP_PULSE_OK

Required Env Vars

None. Uses gh CLI (GITHUB_TOKEN via workflow), WebFetch, WebSearch. No additional auth needed.

Sandbox Note

• gh api and gh search use gh CLI — handles auth internally, no env-var expansion in headers.
• npm API, PyPI stats, GitHub API fallbacks: use WebFetch (not curl — sandbox may block outbound). WebFetch bypasses the sandbox network gate.
• WebSearch: built-in tool, always available.

What to watch for (recurring signal classes)

• Official company MCP servers — Stripe, Notion, Linear, Atlassian, Salesforce, GitHub, Slack, Jira publishing their own MCP servers = protocol hitting mainstream.
• Stainless/Anthropic server generation updates — when the generation tooling ships, expect a spike in server-count that's automated rather than organic. That inflection point is the key event to catch.
• npm download velocity — @modelcontextprotocol/sdk installs measure developer adoption, more reliable than announcements.
• Enterprise adoptions — a Fortune 500 shipping an MCP server for internal use = institutional lock-in signal.
• Protocol spec versions — breaking changes or new capabilities (multi-step tool calls, resource subscriptions) that shift what agents can do.
• Non-Anthropic framework integrations — LangChain, AutoGen, LlamaIndex, CrewAI adopting MCP = protocol winning the inter-framework standard war.

Output feeds

• article skill — MCP Pulse data feeds infrastructure/agent-tools articles
• topic-momentum — MCP signal now has dedicated weekly data, will surface when high
• digest — MCP developments slot into the agent-infra section
• x402-monitor (Tue) — pair together to cover full agentic infrastructure: payments + tool-calls