MCP server

Give Claude, or any other MCP client, the ability to check a name for you. The server runs on your machine, talks to the Namescope API with your key, and exposes five tools.

Last updated: 4 September 2026

What it is

The Model Context Protocol is how an AI assistant reaches tools outside itself. The Namescope MCP server is a small program that speaks it: the assistant asks for a name check, the server calls the same public API you would call yourself, and hands back the result.

It holds no data of its own. Scopes, credits and rate limits are enforced by the API exactly as they are for a direct request, so the server cannot do anything your key could not do.

Setting it up

You need an API key with the scans:read, scans:write and reference:read scopes. Create one under Settings → API keys.

Claude Desktop — add the server to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "namescope": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/namescope/apps/mcp/dist/main.js"],
      "env": {
        "NAMESCOPE_API_KEY": "ns_live_...",
        "NAMESCOPE_API_URL": "https://api.namescope.dev"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code — one command:

claude mcp add namescope \
  --env NAMESCOPE_API_KEY=ns_live_... \
  --env NAMESCOPE_API_URL=https://api.namescope.dev \
  -- node ./apps/mcp/dist/main.js

Tools

Tool	Does	Cost
namescope_scan_name	Checks a name across trademarks, domains, social, developer platforms and app stores	up to 100 credits, by module
namescope_get_scan	Reads a scan by id, optionally waiting for it to finish	free
namescope_list_scans	Lists the workspace's recent scans	free
namescope_usage	Plan, credit balance, limits and the key's scopes	free
namescope_reference	Nice classes, offices, TLD tiers or the adapter list	free

Only namescope_scan_name spends anything, and it is the only tool marked as writing, so a client that asks before write actions will ask before a scan.

Waiting for a result

Scans take time, and a tool call returns once. By default namescope_scan_name returns the scanId immediately and the assistant reads the result with namescope_get_scan.

Pass waitMs to have the server wait instead: it polls until the scan finishes, starting about once a second and widening to five, then returns the result inline. If the budget runs out you get the partial scan rather than an error — the checks that did finish are still worth reading.

Variable	Default	Meaning
NAMESCOPE_API_KEY	—	Required. Your API key
NAMESCOPE_API_URL	http://localhost:4000	API root
NAMESCOPE_MCP_MAX_WAIT_MS	120000	Ceiling for waitMs
NAMESCOPE_MCP_TIMEOUT_MS	30000	Timeout for a single HTTP request

Asking for a check

Once the server is connected you ask in plain language; the assistant picks the tools. A useful request names the classes or the markets, because that is what separates a real conflict from an unrelated mark.

Check whether "Tion Studios" is free for a game studio
in Türkiye and the EU — Nice classes 9 and 41.

The assistant will typically look the classes up with namescope_reference, start the scan, wait for it, and summarise what blocks the name and what does not.

When something fails

API failures come back as readable tool errors rather than crashes, so the assistant can explain the problem and, where it can, fix it and retry.

401 — the key is missing, unknown, revoked or expired
402 — the workspace plan does not include the API
403 — the key lacks a scope, or credit spending is switched off
429 — rate limit or credit balance exceeded