# JustClaw-It vs Smithery and MCP directories: a server is not a directory

*2026-10-27 · JustClaw-It*

People sometimes compare JustClaw-It with Smithery, Glama or other MCP directories. They are different kinds of thing. A **directory** helps you find MCP servers. **JustClaw-It is an MCP server**: one of the things you would find in a directory, whose job is to find code components for your agent. This post explains the difference, covers what is changing at Smithery on 31 October 2026, and gives a short checklist for picking any MCP server.

*Facts were checked on 27 October 2026 on [smithery.ai/future](https://www.smithery.ai/future), [glama.ai](https://glama.ai/) and its [methodology page](https://glama.ai/mcp/methodology), and the [official MCP Registry docs](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/registry/authentication).*

## The short answer

- Looking for **which MCP servers exist** for Linear, Postgres or a browser? Use a **directory**: Glama, the official MCP Registry, or Smithery's directory.
- Looking for **code your agent can reuse**, with its licence? That is a job for a **server** like JustClaw-It, which you'd install alongside the others you find.
- If you connect to any server **through a Smithery URL**, move it to the vendor's own URL before 31 October.

## What changes at Smithery on 31 October 2026

Smithery has announced that it is shutting down its connection services on 31 October 2026. According to its notice:

- **Stopping:** server URLs on `run.tools` and `server.smithery.ai`, the Smithery API, Connect and Toolbox, Smithery accounts and API keys, and the Smithery CLI and SDKs (marked deprecated).
- **Staying:** smithery.ai as a public, non-proxied directory of MCP servers, now powered by Arcade.dev, with a curated set of verified servers whose pages show the vendor's direct MCP URL.
- **Paid plans** are refunded for charges since 5 August and cancelled.

So if a config file on your machine points at `server.smithery.ai/...` or `*.run.tools`, find the server's official URL (its Smithery page now shows it) and switch before the deadline.

## The directories, briefly

| | what it is | notable |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Smithery** | Public directory, powered by Arcade.dev from 31 October | Verified servers list their direct URLs; no more proxying |
| **Glama** | Registry, inspector and gateway | Says it indexes over 111,000 MCP servers, a superset of the official registry; builds and runs each server in a sandbox, then scans and scores it |
| **Official MCP Registry** | `registry.modelcontextprotocol.io`, run by the MCP project | In preview; publishers prove a GitHub or domain namespace and own the packages they reference |

Directories answer "which server should I install?". They rank and describe *servers*: their tools, maintenance, licence and security posture. They don't search the code inside your project or the open-source world for you.

## Where JustClaw-It fits

JustClaw-It is a single remote MCP server (`https://justclaw.it.com/mcp`) with 8 tools. It searches 1,459,683 components mined from open-source repositories and returns whole, graded components with their SPDX licence, copyright holder and an attribution header. Search is free; each pull costs 1 credit.

You connect to it directly with an API key, not through a proxy, so the Smithery change doesn't affect it. The [quickstart](/docs/quickstart) has the config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Codex and OpenClaw.

## What directories do better

- **Breadth.** A directory shows you the whole ecosystem; JustClaw-It is one server with one job.
- **Server vetting.** Glama, for example, builds servers in isolated microVMs, inspects their tools and scores them over time. That is useful for judging *any* server, including ours.
- **One-click installs** in some clients.

## What JustClaw-It does that a directory doesn't

- **It works inside your agent's task.** "Find a permissive-licensed Express rate limiter and add it to this project" is a JustClaw-It call; a directory can only tell you a server exists.
- **Licence per component, not per server.** Directories may show a server's own licence. JustClaw-It tells you the licence of each piece of code your agent reuses, which is what matters for the code you ship.

## A checklist for choosing any MCP server

Whether you find it on Glama, the official registry or Smithery's directory:

1. **Is it the official endpoint?** Prefer the vendor's own URL over a third-party proxy, so a proxy shutting down can't break you and your tokens aren't routed through someone else.
2. **What does the key or token allow?** Use read-only scopes and tokens limited to what the server needs.
3. **How does it bill?** Per call, per seat, metered overage or a hard cap? An agent in a loop can make thousands of calls. (JustClaw-It: search free, hard cap on pulls, no overage.)
4. **What does it send back into your context?** Large responses cost tokens. Prefer servers that return metadata first and full content on request.
5. **Who maintains it, and how recently?** Directory scores and the repository's commit history help.
6. **For code it returns: what is the licence?** If a server hands your agent code, you need to know whether you may ship it.

## Bottom line

Smithery, Glama and the official registry are where you discover MCP servers; JustClaw-It is a server you might discover there. Use directories to choose your servers, move any Smithery-proxied connections to direct URLs before 31 October, and add JustClaw-It if your agent reuses code and you care where that code came from.

[Get a free JustClaw-It key](/signup) or read the [docs](/docs).